RICH JUSTICE - Robert Bailey


 Flamboyant attorney, Jason Rich, whose billboards dot the surrounding Georgia landscape proclaiming to "Get Rich" when in need of a lawyer - generally for simpler things like divorces or accidents but recent events (the first two books in the series) had Jason Rich going big time and defending his sister and then a friend, on murder charges. But the events have taken a toll on him personally and he's barely scraping by - disgraced, disbarred, and a black-out alcoholic.

One of the sources of Rich's problems is Tyson Cade, the local drug lord whose reach includes members of Rich's extended family. So when Jason wakes from a deep, drunken stupor to the sound of approaching emergency vehicles, and he has a gun in his hands, he instinctively tosses the gun in a lake just before he is arrested for the murder of Tyson Cade. Even Jason isn't sure whether or not he did it.

Though Jason wants to defend himself, he's ordered to have another attorney on his team. But who will help the most arrogant lawyer around? He gets a boost from an unlikely source - the woman he's defeated in court most recently!

I've never been big into 'legal thrillers' but I really like Robert Bailey's work. Bailey writes with an exuberant energy and his stories move along at a brisk pace. And even though we feel we can pretty much anticipate an outcome, we're kept anxious with the who and the how and Bailey does manage to throw a curveball or two (a football metaphor would be more appropriate).  I did NOT see the end coming, even though there were some hints along the way.

While this can be read as a stand-alone book, there's just enough background of character and history or relationships that makes it slightly better if you are familiar with what has gone before. What has happened in the first two books in the series is rather integral to the events of this particular book. But Bailey does manage to give the reader just enough background to make this a potential standalone. 

The story is exciting and definitely the 'thrill' of the 'legal thriller' but it's Bailey's handling of characters that really works so well.  Jason Rich is definitely not your typical leading man.  Most definitely flawed, but still somehow cocky and arrogant he has a knack, if for nothing else, finding the right people to surround himself with.

There's a potential relationship here that I hope we'll see more of in future books - Jason has had enough of a rough go and I'm not sure I want to see one more volume of everyone beating up on the man. Let his new-found ability at defending violent crimes take him somewhere else. Please. But don't give up on this set of characters.

Looking for a good book? Rich Justice is the third book in the Jason Rich series by Robert Bailey and it might just be the best.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Rich Justice

author: Robert Bailey

series: Jason Rich #3

publisher: Thomas & Mercer

ISBN: 9781662516641

Kindle Edition, 515 pages

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