Monday, August 30, 2010

Fatal Convictions by Randy Singer and a giveaway

Book description:
Alexander Madison is part lawyer, part pastor, and part con artist. When a Muslim imam is accused of instigating honor killings, Alex must decide whether to take the case that every other lawyer in town is running away from. He doesn’t realize until it’s too late that defending the imam may cost him the one thing in life he cares about most. Fatal Convictions is the story of a lawyer willing to risk it all and the women who must choose between faith and love.

My review:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In my opinion, Randy Singer passes up John Grisham in his writing of legal thrillers, and this is one of his better ones.

The main character is an interesting person: pastor and lawyer, what a combination. Singer always uses likable and believable characters, and this book is no exception.

When Alex is asked to defend a Muslim suspected of murdering a woman for converting to Christianity, he is thrown into the limelight and gets a lot of negative reactions. Not only did I enjoy the plot, but I also enjoyed learning more about Muslims. The author does a great job of his portrayal of Muslims. He doesn't set out to show them all as murderous terrorists, but he also does not try to paint them all as peaceful either.

I had one issue with the book. I know it is fiction, but the main character who pastors a church in addition to being a lawyer, has no problem with lying and does it several times. This should not be the norm for any Christian, but especially a pastor, so I do take issue with that. It was never indicated that he shouldn't lie, or that there are consequences of lying. Other than that, this was an excellent read, and I highly recommend Randy Singer's books, especially to people who enjoy the John Grisham type of book.

About the author:

Randy Singer is a critically acclaimed author and veteran trial attorney. He has penned ten legal thrillers, including his award-winning debut novel Directed Verdict. In addition to his law practice and writing, Randy serves as a teaching pastor for Trinity Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He calls it his "Jekyll and Hyde thing"—part lawyer, part pastor. He also teaches classes in advocacy and ethics at Regent Law School and serves on the school's Board of Visitors. He and his wife, Rhonda, live in Virginia Beach. They have two grown children. Visit his Web site at http://www.randysinger.net/.

Giveaway:

Courtesy of the author's publicist, I have a certificate good for a free copy of Fatal Convictions, redeemable at any Christian bookstore, or by mailing it to Tyndale Publishing. To enter, comment whether you have ever read one of Randy's books. Ten days from now, I will use Random.org to pick a winner, and the certificate will be mailed to the winner.

Thanks to Debbie at Side Door Communications for the review copy.

Fatal Convictions is available from Tyndale Publishing.

14 comments:

Annette W. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carole said...

I have always loved courtroom drama, probably beginning with my discovery of Perry Mason more years ago than I care to admit. Someone recently recommended Randy Singer to me, so I started with his first book, Directed Verdict (I know his books aren't in series, but I still like to read in order). Loved it! Then I read The Judge Who Stole Christmas, another enjoyable read. I'm slowly working my way through Randy's books and appreciate the chance to win Fatal Convictions. And I always enjoy your thoughts, Mark.

cjarvis [at] bellsouth [dot] net

Andi said...

I have never read any of Randy Singer's books and I have heard nothing but excellent reviews of this one. Thanks for the chance!
Andi

Mozi Esme said...

I don't recall reading any of his books - this one sounds interesting!

janemaritz at yahoo dot com

We posted about this giveaway at Winning Readings: http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2010/08/fatal-convictions.html

Linda Kish said...

I have not read his books yet. You say he is better than John Grisham in his legal thrillers. I love Grisham's books so his must be great.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Benita said...

Sadly I;ve not read any of Randy's books. It's certainly high time to read one now.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Bakersdozen said...

I haven't read his books yet. I will definitely add them to my rather large wishlist. vidomich(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

This books sounds very good. I haven't read anything by this author.


CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

Annette W. said...

I have never read any of Randy Singer's books. This does look interesting though...what a combination of lawyer and pastor!
derekannette at gmail dot com

(I removed my first comment when I realized I didn't do as you asked. Sorry!)

karenk said...

i haven't read any of mr singers books...yet...thanks for the chance to read this one.

karenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com

Carol M said...

I have never read any of Randy Singer's books but I would like to. This sounds good! I really like courtroom drama.
mittens0831 at aol dot com

Steven said...

Haven't read any yet but this looks like a good one to start with. :-)

wmmahaney said...

I have not read any of Randy Singer's books but this one sounds great and I would love to read it.
wmmahaney(at)att(dot)net

Julia M. Reffner said...

I have never read Randy, but really want to read this one. I'm quite interested in the topic choice.

julesreffner(at)gmail(dot)com