An Anonymous Justice Novel

Renegade by Nancy Allen; Grand Central Publishing, 368 pages, Legal Thriller

Publisher’s Description

Kate Stone swore an oath to uphold the law.
But is it time to take justice into her own hands?

THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE…
Assistant DA Kate Stone has just suffered the biggest loss of her career. She’d worked so hard to prosecute a serial assaulter of women, and it was a case she should have won. But a corrupt judge allowed Max James to walk free. When he confronts her outside the courthouse, she punches James, and he goes down hard. After the footage is plastered across every TV screen, Kate’s boss demands that she either attend anger management meetings or give up the job she lives for.

CAN BE DIFFERENT FROM THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH.
Begrudgingly, Kate attends her first meeting. Inside is a group of people all failed by the justice system. Their mission: to do everything in their power to help right wrongs, even if outside the law. Unsure who to trust among this unlikely team of renegades, Kate begins to dig into Max James’s secret life and her explosive discoveries will lead to a stunning new twist in the case. And turn her into the prime suspect.

My Thoughts

Oh, my goodness. This is a book I won’t soon forget. And it’s the first in a new series so I can’t tell you how excited I am. The story is unique, the characters flawed, and it’s a legal novel like I’ve never read before. 

This story captured me immediately and the pages flew. I mentioned that this is a legal novel, but if you aren’t a fan of legal thrillers, worry not. This involves characters who work in legal firms, but there are no courtroom drama scenes. Honestly, it’s in a category all of its own.

When District Attorney Kate Stone losses her battle in court, she is quite upset. Her strong feelings about women who suffer abuse make the loss worse than ever. The only explanation for what she just experienced appears to be a corrupt judge. So as she walks away from the courthouse her emotions are high. When she meets Max James, who was allowed to walk free without as much as a reprimand, she is more than eager to deal with him. But when it goes viral it may have negative consequences.

I won’t go any further, since if you’re like me you want all of the twists and turns to come as a surprise.  The characters were well written, and at one point we are introduced to several at a time, which can be a bit much. But Allen gives us a reminder as the names come up again. She quickly reviews a bit of history that accompanies the character. Perfect for someone like me who becomes overwhelmed by too many names.

Obviously, I was very impressed by her writing style and unique, though at times disturbing, story.

My Concerns

The main character, Kate Stone wasn’t someone who I fell in love with. To say she was flawed, most definitely described her. At times she acted a bit dense and certainly she didn’t have a personality that won me over. But the more I digested those facts, the more I understood. Being flawed only made her, as well as the other characters, more believable.

The ending was good, but not quite satisfying. That’s where I docked it 1/2 star.

Final Thoughts

Yes. Yes. Yes. This is both a book and an author to check out. I always hesitate to hype a story up too much because then it’s near impossible for it to live up to expectations. So let’s leave it at this, I’ll stop writing and you can just trust me and read the book.

My thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a gift copy. I was completely free of stipulations regarding my review.

RATING: 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 STARS

• Creative story
• Believable characters
• Easily imagined settings
• Dialog felt true to characters
• Page turner early on
• Nice writing style

About the Author

Bestselling author Nancy Allen practiced law for fifteen years as Assistant Missouri Attorney General and Assistant Prosecutor in her native Ozarks, trying over thirty jury cases. She served on the faculty of Missouri State University for fifteen years, teaching law classes. She is the author of the Ozarks Mystery series. With James Patterson, Nancy is co-author of New YorkTimes Bestseller Juror #3 (2018) and Jailhouse Lawyer (2021). Renegade is the first book in her AnonymousJustice series.

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