Read Joe Dillard - 03 - Injustice for All Online
Authors: Scott Pratt
Tags: #Fiction, #Crimes Against, #Legal Stories, #Judges, #Judges - Crimes Against
Joe Dillard - 03 - Injustice for All
| Injustice for All | |
| Joe Dillard [3] | |
| Scott Pratt | |
| Penguin USA, Inc. (2010) | |
| Rating: | **** |
| Tags: | Judges - Crimes Against, Legal Stories, Judges, Crimes Against, Fiction |
**A powerful legal thriller featuring the hero of *An Innocent Client*, Joe Dillard **
Prosecutor Joe Dillard watched in shock as friend and fellow lawyer Ray Miller was pushed to the brink of suicide in the court of Judge Leonard Green. So when Joe arrives at a crime scene to see Green swinging from a tree, it is duty rather than remorse that drives him to catch the killer. But soon the investigation takes Joe away from the halls of justice into his own home. And he's not sure he can face the answer he'll find...
Table of Contents
Praise for the Novels of Scott Pratt
“Newcomer Scott Pratt brings a fresh voice to a crowded field in his stellar debut,
An Innocent Client
. Joe Dillard is the best defense lawyer in his small town in Tennessee. He’s also desperately trying to leave the practice of law. Tired of cutting deals for the guilty, Dillard hopes to end his career on a high note—by representing one innocent client. A murder at a local strip club may give him his chance. Artfully plotted, carefully nuanced, and immensely readable,
An Innocent Client
is a terrific debut novel. Joe Dillard is an engaging, complex character who is worth rooting for. We will be hearing much more from Scott Pratt. Highly recommended.”
—Sheldon Siegel, New York Times bestselling author
of Judgment Day
“A well-crafted, compelling debut, and Scott Pratt is a talent to watch.”
—Jeff Abbott, national bestselling author of Collision
“A smart, sophisticated legal thriller. Scott Pratt knows his stuff and it shows.”
—Alafair Burke, author of Angel’s Tip
“The most impressive first novel I’ve read in years. Think Harlan Coben meets John Grisham. Scott Pratt has written an unputdownable legal thriller, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
—Jason Starr, award-winning author of The Follower
“I’ve read
An Innocent Client
and am truly stunned. It’s Scott Turow and Grisham on meth. The opening chapter is maybe the most compelling I’ve read in a decade.”
—Ken Bruen, Shamus Award-winning author of Cross
“As polished and engrossing as any John Grisham or John Hart legal thriller, Scott Pratt’s stunning debut novel,
An Innocent Client
, sings with intrigue, crusty Tennessee characters, and gut-wrenching personal choices. To protagonist Joe Dillard’s wish for ‘just one innocent client,’ I’d say, ‘Watch what you ask for.’ To everyone else, I’d say, ‘Go buy this book now.’ ”
—Louise Ure, Shamus Award-winning author
of The Fault Tree
ALSO BY SCOTT PRATT
In Good Faith
An Innocent Client
eISBN : 978-1-101-18725-8
OBSIDIAN
Published by New American Library, a division of
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First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, May 2010
Copyright © Scott Pratt, 2010
All rights reserved
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Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Injustice for All
, my third novel, is dedicated
to Lil’ Smacks, the toughest girl I’ve ever known.
Acknowledgments
Thanks first of all to Shirley Pratt, my mom, for being my biggest fan. Thanks also to the gentlemen at the Philip Spitzer Literary Agency—Philip Spitzer, Lukas Ortiz, and Luc Hunt—for working so enthusiastically on my behalf. Thank you once again to Jon Ruetz, a man of many talents, who did a splendid job helping me get the manuscript into shape, and thank you to all the talented folks at Penguin, especially Kristen Weber and Brent Howard, who work so hard to put these projects together.
I’d also like to thank former assistant U.S. attorney Dan Smith, who took the time to explain to me how the feds allocate resources in certain situations, and Ian Harmon, who shared his computer expertise.
And finally, thank you to Kristy, Dylan, and Kody, my favorite peeps, for believing in me, for keeping me positive, and for being such a fruity bunch of human beings. I love you, I love you, I love you.
justice:
the quality of being just, impartial, or fair.
—Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
Prologue
May 2007
My name is Joe Dillard, and I’m leaning against a chain-link fence watching a baseball game at Daniel Boone High School in Gray, Tennessee, on a spectacular, sun-drenched evening in early May. The sky is a cloudless azure, a mild breeze is blowing out toward left field, and the pleasant smell of fresh-cut grass hangs in the air.