By: Richard North Patterson Publisher: Ballantine Books Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Ballantine Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 512 Publication Date: November 28, 2000 Release Date: November 28, 2000
Product Description: Long estranged from her blue-blooded New England family, attorney Caroline Masters is summoned home to defend her niece against charges of murder. Police found twenty-two-year-old Brett Allen blood-splattered and incoherent near the scene of the crime, the weapon covered with her fingerprints.
Caroline has doubts of her own about Brett's innocence. But as the sensational trial heats up, she'll find disturbing inconsistencies in the testimony of the prosecution's star witness and find herself facing some of the challenges of her life and career--from trusting her former lover, state prosecutor Jackson Watts, to risking the federal judgeship she's worked her whole life for, to exposing a dark family secret that could save her niece or destroy them both.
Hate This I have wasted so much money purchasing books that have simply been re-named or re-published in a different cover... usually at an airport so I can't return it. I hate when they do this.
Why Rename? Yes this book deserves 5 stars, the first time I read it. I find this extremely disturbing, as one reviewer said i.e. releasing books as if they were new. They have done this with all the best reads one can find. I was shopping at a local Walmart lately and noticed a group of women, like myself, who are additcted to "reading" discussing this problem. For example this author Richard North Patterson,s books, also the whole series of Kay Scarpetta Mysteries, authored by, I believe, Patricia Cornwall, and all were upset by this phenomenom. Some other people were unaware this is happening, so now when people are browsing paperbacks, in particular, I warn them how old the book really is. There are many elderly readers, whose memories are not the best, and this only is creating confusion in their lives. O.K. The book was great. Does that mean we are suppose to "forget" that we even read it before. I think not. This is a bad marketing ploy, and detrimental to senior citizens, especially. Are they being targeted? I cannot answer this question, but if that is the idea behind it, making money is not the most important thing in life. The same goes for CDs that are essentially the same old, same old, in new packaging. Shame on those who are money-grabbers. As the Bible states "the love of money is at the root of all evil". Be careful out there, and God Bless.
New to Richard North Patterson First off, I want to say that Caroline Masters was originally published as The Final Judgment. I went nuts trying to find The Final Judgment. A review on this site lead me to read Caroline Masters (identified as The Final Judgment in the review). The reviewer recommended reading Degree of Guilt and Eyes of a Child first because Caroline Masters is a minor character in those books. Good advice.
I enjoyed the continuing character in all three books. Somewhat like James Patterson's detective, Patricia Cornwell's medical examiner, and Sue Grafton's private eye.
This book was not a page turner for me like David Baldacci or John Grisham or Brian Haig (a new discovery), but it was a good read.
My only complaint is that sometimes it borders on soap opera.
not so good Richard North Patterson is usually a very good storyteller. But my biggest problem is I knew who the killer was about a quarter of the way into the story. It was all there for you. The only suspense left was would Caroline Masters have her new job waiting for her after the trial. I expected much more.
A Not-Quite-Final Judgement I am grateful to the other reviewers who clued me in to Carolyn Masters being a reissue of Final Judgement. I, too, almost bought it without realizing. Patterson's books (along with Turow, Grishom, et al)are some of my favorite rainy-day reads, and I hate to see his reputation tarnished by a tawdry publisher's trick. Final Judgement is a wonderful book, almost prescient, considering what the Bushies just did to women's right to choose. Read it (under either title, I guess).
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