The Murder List

Almost lawyer Rachel North is married to superstar defense attorney Jack Kirkland and she dreams of being his partner in their own law firm, finding justice for the accused. First though she needs to complete an internship and she has chosen Jack's most hated rival, Assistant District Attorney Martha Gardiner as her new mentor.

In The Murder List by Hank Phillippi Ryan this internship creates strife in the family. Rachel knows how much Jack hates to lose cases, so she decides to go "undercover" and work as an intern with Gardiner to find her weaknesses and relay them back to Jack. Such a smart idea, she thinks, guaranteed to lead to success in the future. (The Murder List will be released by Tom Doherty Associates on August 20.)

The story is told in two time periods. The first is when Rachel worked as Chief of Staff for Senate President Tom Rafferty including her experience on a murder case jury in which Jack was the defense attorney and the second portion covers her time as an intern with Gardiner.

Of course Gardiner knows who Rachel is and pointedly makes comments about Jack, just to keep Rachel on her toes. She drags her to the site of a murder on the first day of Rachel's internship and uses every opportunity to keep her unbalanced.

Finally after several weeks, Rachel feels she is making strides with Gardiner and she relaxes into her own scheme of finding weaknesses. But there's a cat and mouse game going on with Rachel thinking she is outsmarting Gardiner. But who is the cat and who is the mouse?

A twisting, turning, spin you on your head plot that then freaks you out with the shocking ending. Don't miss this book. It is Hank Phillippi Ryan at her most devious.



Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley.