FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
This powerful debut thriller by Alafair Burke (daughter of crime writer James Lee Burke), introduces readers to an intriguing new investigator who offers a gritty-yet-compassionate legal eagle's￯﾿ﾽeye view of how the system deals with sex crimes, drugs, and violence. Samantha Kincaid is a deputy district attorney in Portand, Oregon. Though she's usually assigned to the Drug and Vice Division, her passion for justice leads her to take on a brutal assault case where the victim is an underage prostitute who was attacked and left for dead. The case has been assigned to the Major Crime Team but is in danger of being sidelined because of problems with the investigation. Sam sets out to prove that this was more than simple assault: She thinks it was attempted murder. The danger grows, both in court and in the field, as Sam uncovers unexpected connections to even more serious crimes, including a deadly conspiracy, a prostitution ring, and more. Alafair Burke's personal experience as a former deputy D.A., combined with a flair for well-drawn characters and bold plotting, mark her as a writer to watch. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid walks into her office in Portland's Drug and Vice Division one Monday morning to find the sergeant of the police bureau's vice unit waiting for her. A thirteen-year-old girl has been brutally attacked and left for dead on the city's outskirts. Given the lack of evidence, most lawyers would settle for an assault charge; Samantha, unnerved by the viciousness of the crime, decides to go for attempted murder. But as she prepares for the trial, she uncovers a dangerous trail leading to a high-profiles death penalty case, a prostitution ring of underage girls, and a possible serial killer. And she finds her judgment - not only in matters of the law but in her personal life - called into question.

FROM THE CRITICS

The Washington Post

This is a solid debut, and the publisher promises that we'll be hearing more from tough, tart, sexy, high-minded Samantha Kincaid. — Patrick Anderson

USA Today

After leaving the DA's office and before she started teaching criminal law at New York's Hofstra School of Law, [Burke] wrote Judgment Calls, the first of a series about an ambitious young assistant district attorney, Samantha Kincaid, who is struggling to make a name for herself while putting away drug dealers and rapists. — Ayesha Court

Publishers Weekly

Burke's earnest, fast-paced debut introduces a sharp new crime series revolving around Deputy DA Samantha "Sam" Kincaid, a hip, 30ish lawyer working in Portland's Drug and Vice Division. As a former DA herself, and now a teacher of criminal law, Burke brings a hyper-reality-TV quality to the text, as well as a sometimes overzealous attention to technical minutiae. Kendra Martin, 13, has been prostituting herself to support a heroin addiction begun after her mom's boyfriend insisted that "popping wasn't really like shooting up." When Kendra is found left for dead, Kincaid is determined to bring to justice the violent sex offenders who brutally raped and beat her. Narrated in a crisp first person and injected with good-natured humor ("It's a fundamental truth that the number and density of cuss words increases exponentially as the number of cops and DAs in a room goes up"), the book is tightly plotted and detail laden. The secondary characters are less vivid than the assertive, likable Kincaid, but they serve their purpose. Kincaid's ex-boyfriend, Det. Chuck Forbes, is involved in the investigation of Kendra's case and another possibly related crime; Tim O'Donnell, a crude senior DDA on Portland's Major Crimes Team, is suspiciously eager to have Kendra's case tried under his jurisdiction. Cracking the case not only drags up an earlier death-penalty conviction but uncovers the roots of a prostitution ring that shakes up the entire Major Crimes Team and tests Kincaid's faith in her own judgment. This is a solid first effort from Burke, daughter of another "crime fighter writer," James Lee Burke. Agent, Philip Spitzer. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

When 13-year-old prostitute Kendra Martin is beaten and raped, the lack of evidence seems to prevent serious charges from being laid. Enter Samantha Kincaid, Portland, OR, deputy district attorney frustrated by both the savagery of the beating and what she perceives as her employer's seeming lack of interest in the case. Working alone, Sam is left to dig for evidence, a search that soon leads to a prostitution ring, the discovery of similar crimes, and talk of a serial killer. Further complicating matters is Sam's involvement with a police officer under suspicion for the role he may have played in a connected case. Burke, the daughter of the brilliant James Lee Burke, writes with both a clarity and a self-assuredness that belies her first-novelist status. The plot lines are tightly woven, and she adroitly ties things together in the end. This is the first in what should be a popular series and is recommended for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/03.]-Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Oxford, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews