Directed Verdict

Author: Randy Singer

One-sentence summary: A risk-taking trial lawyer takes on a widow's case, which seeks to bring justice not only to a cruel and powerful man, but also to the nation who condones and supports his actions.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: The story of the trial and the trial details.

Our least favorite thing about it: Some of the plot “twists” were unbelievable and seemed contrived.

Main Topics of Discussion: Justice, Law, Persecution, Truth, Ethics, Missionaries

Our favorite quote: “When the laws on the books don’t match what justice required, you change the laws on the books, not the definition of justice.” (p.69)

Notes: Our general impression of this book was that it was good, but not great. However, our individual ratings ranged from 6 to 8, so we had varying opinions on this book. We all loved the story of the trial and the details of how a trial proceeds, the questioning, the jury selection, and the opening/closing arguments. This part of the book was most interesting to all of us and we really enjoyed it.

Several of us really enjoyed how this author (a Christian) infused his beliefs into the book. The story was about persecuted missionaries in Saudia Arabia, which resulted in one death. The surviving missionary, a woman, provided a Christian perspective to the trial and ethical questions throughout the book. Some of us were not so impressed with the seemingly out-of-place conversion story of Bella’s mother. It just didn’t quite seem to fit comfortably into the story. It seemed forced to some of us.

One issue we had with the book were the simple character generalizations and descriptions. The characters were physically described as they would be in a young fiction, Nancy Drew-like novel. Also, the main twist of the novel was centered around behavior from a particular character that was very out-of-character, which didn’t feel believable to us at all. It seemed that the author took the person that was least likely to do those things and had them do exactly that.

The ending of the book was fast-paced and action-packed, but was a bit cheesy for us. A car chase and blazing guns just seemed a little theatrical. Sometimes a book can be cheesy and predictable but if it doesn’t cause us to break out of the narrative while we are reading, we can accept it. But, if it’s so jarring to the story that we do break out of the narrative while reading, then it makes the book that much less enjoyable. So, while the story about the trial was interesting and good, the overall book lacked some finesse that makes a novel great.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Amberly read the wrong book! She read another book by Randy Singer and realized it almost immediately after we started the discussion! Lindsay also pointed out the difference between a full lion and a half lion!

What We Ate: Four kinds of homemade pizza by Chef Josh: 1) Fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and tomato sauce; 2) Salami, mozzarella and tomato sauce; 3) Bacon, artichoke, mozzarella, and 4) Prosciutto, olive, mozzarella and tomato sauce. A fresh Italian salad, and homemade “Swoon” pies with RC Cola for dessert!