"exciting legal thriller"

Jon Soliday serves as legal counsel to state Senator Grant Tully, who is running for governor in which the polls indicate his employer trailing against Langdon Trotter. However, Jon uncovers that Trotter submitted an invalid petition that, if revealed, would force the front runner out of the contest. Shockingly Tully tells Jon to not go public with the information because he says he fears a public backlash. Instead he prefers Jon let lawyer Dale Garrison use the fake petition to blackmail Trotter into throwing the race.

Surprisingly, Jon receives an anonymous blackmail note that demands he pays $250,000 to keep quiet about "the secret that nobody knows". He wonders if someone knows about the incident in 1979 when he had sex with a woman who died not long afterward. Still Jon goes about his job and though he detests the deceitfulness, he meets with Garrison anyway. Not long after their discussion, someone kills Garrison leaving Jon as the prime suspect as the last known person to have seen the victim and he wondering about the link back to his previous worst nightmare from two decades ago.

LIFE SENTENCE is an exciting legal thriller that provides so many twists and turns that readers will read in one sitting. The story line enables the audience to observe the relativity of information based on a person's LINE OF VISION as reasonably intelligent individuals interpret facts to fit their need and theory of the crime. The key charcaters including Jon are developed enough to enhance the who-done-it as it is the interpretation not just the facts that will make David Ellis' second legal thriller a fan favorite.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 10, 2003