Snap Judgment: A Sam Brinkman Legal Thriller

Samantha Brinkman, Clark’s flawed but sympathetic L.A. defense attorney protagonist, must deal with more than one explosive case in her highly suspenseful third outing (after 2016’s Moral Defense). When someone slashes the throat of USC freshman Alicia Hutchins, the natural suspect is Roan Sutton, Alicia’s ex-boyfriend. Roan allegedly posted nude pictures of Alicia online, along with her address and an invitation for site visitors to help Alicia realize her rape fantasies. But before the evidence establishing whether Roan’s guilty of either the revenge porn posting or the murder can be found, he turns up dead, an apparent suicide. Alicia’s father, a prominent litigator, turns to his friend Sam for help, in anticipation of the LAPD considering him a person of interest in Roan’s death. Meanwhile, gangster Javier Cabazon, who knows of Sam’s role in arranging the death of a thug who killed a baby, insists that she lead him to a witness he wants dead. Clark keeps up the frenetic pace, but never allows the plot’s tricky developments to overwhelm her characterizations. [em]Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House. (Aug.) [/em]