Star Witness

Rating:
Summary: A terrific read,a glimpse into otherworldly possibilities
Review: California multi-media lawyer Willa Jansson has spent most of her adult life trying to be the ultimate yuppie, reacting to being raised in a counter-culture lifestyle by two hippie parents. Willa strives to blend in with the rest of society, but seems to find herself swimming upstream. Her latest case is accepted under duress because she owed a favor to a psychiatrist friend. She defends a person charged with felonious hit and run, and vehicular homicide. The defendant, under hypnosis, states he was not in the car at the time of the accident. ...... Suppressed memories maintain that the accused was the victim of a UFO abduction and his subsequent injuries support his claims as to what the aliens did to him. There is no physical evidence supporting the claims of the DA. Still a lot rests with the jury (at least one member) being open minded to the claim that the defendant was abducted. Reluctantly, even though she is wary of the pending media circus, Willa rejects a plea bargain and a more acceptable line of defense. She decides to try to convince a small town jury that there are many unknown and unexplained happenings in the universe and this is one of them. As Willa persists with her investigation, it becomes clear that someone is willing to go to great lengths to insure that some truths never see the light of day. ..... Lia Matera constructs her usual brilliant who-done-it while subtly weaving a lot of known UFO lore into the story line. The impressive bibliography adds credence to the research and theories behind this tale. The female protagonist is a woman to be admired as she is an independent female fighting to do what she believes is the right thing, even if it means placing herself at risk and being the recipient of ridicule and scorn. Ms. Matera is one of the leaders in a genre teeming with much talent. ....Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: missing time
Review: grown-up hippie, willa jansson, a truly unique practioner of law, launches an outer limits defense of a mycologist accused of vehicular manslaughter. defense experts provide a veritable symposium on unexplained phenomena. engagingly wacky tone and wide ranging speculation complete with a bibliography.

Rating:
Summary: Good, simple story about a law case
Review: I'm reviewing this as a book on tape - more on that below.

Part of my positive reaction to this book, I am sure is a negative reaction I've recently had to several books on tape that I've listened to lately. Some have tried too hard to be overly-complicated. Some have injected way too much romance, so much that you forget it was supposed to be a legal thriller with a bit of romance, not a romance with a bit of legal thriller. However, this story is a no-frills, just-the-facts-ma'am legal story - thank goodness!

Now, this is not to say that it is not entertaining and the facts are not truly bizarre.

Matera's book is set in California and involves a man who is arrested for vehicular manslaughter, but he claims he can't have done it since he was being probed by aliens in their spaceship at the time. Matera neither ridicules nor endorses the concept of alien abduction, much to her credit.

The audiobook version was performed by Alexa Bauer and she did an absolutely wonderful job. Kudos all around!

Rating:
Summary: Delightful mystery with a new element -- an alleged UFO abdu
Review: Lia Matera's mysteries are usually fun, but I particularly enjoyed this one. My work is in the paranormal community (a magazine dealing with UFOs, psychic phenomena, ghosts, etc.), and Matera has quite accurately captured the atmosphere of ufology today -- the eccentric and level-headed participants, the internecine rivalries. I was amazed by her perceptiveness and really quite even-handed treatment of this subplot in her novel. Don't be misled by these comments, however; this is not a UFO book; it is first and foremost a mystery. Matera's protagonist, Willa Janssen, is caught up in the complexities of defending a client with an impossible alibi; she doesn't know whether to believe him or not; yet she must make a convincing case to the jury. Is is possible that her client WAS abducted by aliens? Is he delusional? or Was he driving the car that caused the deaths of another car's occupants?

Rating:
Summary: Great Murder mystery
Review: Very entertaining and the theme is a trail about some one bieng abducted by a UFO is contriversing and Willa is the main charector is at her cranky hair pulling best and the suprise ending is bad either....