Abi Silver

This story had two strands: Constance and Judith defend Debbie, a trans woman accused of murdering her ex-wife, and Andy agrees to be the legal expert on Court TV, which is to televise Debbie's trial live and provide commentary on it. The effects of Court TV on the participants in the trial were well-presented. I wasn't sure what to make of Greg's involvement in it. I can't remember why he and Judith fell out, but I do know I never trusted him.

I thought the beginning with the chase scene was boring and unnecessary, and I was flagging a bit at the very end, but the middle 80% was gripping and fast-paced.

I am surprised these are not more widely read - this is an excellent series.… (más)

Ehhh. I was drawn in by the AI angle, but should have paid more attention to the 'legal thriller' subtitle. Abi Silver is a lawyer, so she knows her stuff and the courtroom scenes were well-paced, but shaping the characters into believeable people would have helped to perk up the rest of the story. I feel like the author picked an article about autonomous vehicles from a newspaper and decided to build a novel around the barest facts, without bothering to add too much flesh to the technological bones.

James Salisbury is the CEO of a company which builds autonomous vehicles, or cars which drive themselves (like Knight Rider, but without the personality). He is being driven by one of his fleet, which alternates between manual and autonomous control, when a family of a mother, two obnoxious children and a baby in a pram steps into the road in front of his car. The two children are killed and an investigation begins - not to mention a moral dilemma for James. He claims he can't remember the accident, but faces jail if he was driving and the failure of his company and vision for the future if the car was in control. So far, so intriguing. After the first dramatic chapter, however, the bulk of the book is a boring combination of meetings and backstory. The Laytons never really convinced me as a grieving family - the best scene for me was the mother's post-verdict admission, which was hinted at earlier on and which I couldn't help but sympathise with. Those were some annoying kids! The two lawyers, Judith and Constance, have probably been introduced in the first novel, so I can't really comment on their personalities or lack thereof, but the other characters were all stereotypes - the noble CEO, fashionista trophy wife, frustrated mother of young kids, protegee bearing a grudge, etc. I didn't care about any of them.

Some great concepts, well-researched - and I would buy a self-driving car, even if a few children had to be sacrificed - but not exactly a thrilling read.… (más)

I enjoyed this book even more than the first. It concerns the death of a woman who falls from a high floor in the hospital where she has had her bunions removed. A Syrian cleaner Ahmad is charged with her murder, even though it is by no means clear that she was pushed.

Constance and Judith represent Ahmad and help the police get to the bottom of things. The timeline was more linear here than in the first instalment, which I prefer. It took a while for the "Aladdin" element to emerge, and again it was at the edge of reality/speculation. My only quibble was the way the victim's treatment was private one minute and on the NHS the next...?… (más)