Rating: 
Summary: A Page Turner
Review: For someone who was never into "lawyer" books, I found this one to be engaging from the first page to the very last. While admittedly I do not possess a law background, I was not as upset as some of the other reviewers who criticized certain rulings in the book. All that aside, this story was thrilling, suspenseful, with a great surprise ending. (Don't worry, I won't spoil it for ya!) I couldn't put the book down, I just wanted to know the truth and who was behind it all. If some of you are saying this isn't one of Scottoline's best works, well, I can't wait to get my hands on her other books!
Rating:
Summary: Make no mistake in identity, Ms Scottoline scribes a winner
Review: Harriet Klausner Accused cop killer Alice Connolly asks attorney Benedetta Rosato to visit her at the Philadelphia Central Corrections facility, a maximum security prison that houses murderers, rapists, and society's worst dregs. To Bennie's shock, Alice looks like a twin sister, which is something the prisoner claims to be true. Alice has been charged with killing her lover police detective Anthony Della Porta. She insists that she did not murder him, his associates in the department killed him. Bennie agrees to take on the already botched legal defense of Alice. As the lawyer and her all female legal team plunge into the case, they quickly find the circumstantial evidence as overwhelmingly condemning their client. At the same time, Bennie wonders about her relationship with Alice and begins to look into that also. As her legal defense struggles, Bennie begins to question whether the entire justice system, from convicts to the police to the judge, are not tied in some form of conspiracy with drug traffickers. Than again, her client remains the most obvious person to have committed the crime. Readers will not mistake the identity of one of the top writers of legal thrillers, the brilliant Lisa Scottoline. Her latest novel, MISTAKEN IDENTITY, combines a fabulous legal case with personal insight into the main protagonist. The story line never slows down as the legal case and the accompanying investigation are filled up by a taut tale of non-stop action. The secondary plot involving Alice's alleged relationship to Bennie augments the prime tale with an intriguing personal drama. No question will remain to sub-genre fans that John Grisham is the male Scottoline. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Mistaken identity, Scottoline is not Grisham
Review: Have you ever read a Grisham legal-thriller ?. In my opinion Mr. Grisham has provided an involuntary strong influence on Lisa Scottoline, this book looks like a copycat but cannot attain the level of the former writer. With a quick pace marked by short chapters and with a poor language improper for a legal-thriller, the author is determined to trap the reader into the plot and scores, because as the pages go by, she learns how to exploit the story setting the mystery out and then turning it into tight suspense which snowballs toward the last chapters, but when you finish the book and look at it as a whole in retrospect, it is easy to perceive loose ends during the course of the events as the author falls sometimes in traps set by her own creative ideas, leaving some important situations unresolved or sidestepped, this go hand to hand with the flabby character drawing and shows a definitive poor writing style.
Rating:
Summary: Bennie's Twin or Not? Just one of the good mysteries herein
Review: Here we have Scottoline's sixth offering, and no exception to a repertoire that only improves as it enlarges. In this book, (Ms.) Bennie Rosato herself enjoys the limelight occupied by her associates Mary and Judy from other stories (although they both appear with small parts herein); so it's nice we finally get to learn much more about the principal herself. Moreover, the author baits our hook in chapter 1 that the murder defendant, Alice Connelly, may be Bennie's unknown identical twin - and appearances at a minimum seem convincing. We're kept in limbo on this question until chapter 41 (of 44), adding a great deal of suspense to a story otherwise already pretty compelling. Even the book's title vacillates in our minds as first a clue then a red herring re the twin mystery. But while we get the twin question settled finally by DNA (one way or the other), unlike so many tales of this genre, several plot elements are left to further pondering at the end. In fact, that the book ends on a situation hardly totally settled may speak to perhaps the ethical issues the Publisher often asserts is part of Scottoline's appeal. So, another good member of the growing Scottoline roster (now up to 8), with all of suspense, plot, and a sophisticated ending to entertain and keep pages turning late into the night.
Rating:
Summary: Whose scalp is it?
Review: I agree, this author is no John Grisham--but I don't read John Grisham so that's a plus for me! I agree with comments that the plot is a little contrived--sometimes hurried and then strung out-- and I still don't know the 'sister's' eventual fate--guess I'll have to wait for the next book. I would like to see some more development of the relationship between Bennie and her love interest. Definitely a stay up all night to finish book!
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down.
Review: I am a big fan of Lisa Scottoline, especially of this one. What a great story. Lots of twists and turns. Great ending.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting plot but disappointing methods.
Review: I became very interested in this book when I read the first two chapters in a promotional. The plot about the lawyer finding a heretofore unknown twin sister in jail was engaging and the initial writing caught my interest. HOWEVER, when I finally got to read the book itself, I couldn't stomach it. What bothers me the most is the massive amount of profanity used by the characters. Call me naive, (although after 20 years in the military, I can't say that I am) but I didn't know that any literature that was considered fit to be sold to the general public had so much bad language in it. Also, it's important to me in a book to be able to like at least some of the main characters, and by that I mean that they should have some admirable character traits, or at the least, engaging personalities. I have to admit that I've skimmed the sections with the worst language, which is much of the book, but I haven't found anyone likeable yet. I'd skip on this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been better
Review: I don't usually read court room dramas. This had the interesting twist of the defendant and defense counsel being twins who'd never previously met. The book falls apart at the end because as the reader I was more interested in the twin aspect than the outcome of the trial. There's no resolution between the two women.
Rating:
Summary: An up-all-nighter!
Review: I have read all of Ms. Scottoline's legal thrillers and think this one is the best! The plot is action packed, fast-paced and unpredictable. The characters are wonderful, you feel like you have known them all your life and you continue to think about them long after you finish this super novel. This book is sure to be a national bestseller!
Rating:
Summary: Nearly 500 pages is way too much for this slim plot
Review: I have read the many readers reviews of this book and I respectfully disagree. In this book, the two associates of Bennie, the heroine, are far more interesting than she is, and much more sympathetic.It is hard to believe that Bennie's live-in-lover would put up with her total lack of interest in him. This is, of course, what you might expect with her in-your-face, all female employee firm senior partner status. As for the plot, given what Bennie knows about her "sister" (and I am being careful about giving up any of the plot, such as it is), it is impossible to understand her conviction that her sister is not guilty of the crime she is charged with. There is absolutely no information she has(or has revealed to the reader)that could lead her to that conclusion, particularly in light of the horrible, unrelated acts she knows her sister is guilty of. This is (possible)sister love, taken to its most ridiculous. Lou, her retired cop investigator, is impossible to believe. The conclusion, given all that you then know, is most unsatisfying although I understand that fairy tale endings are the usual conclusion to most thrillers. She is no Grisham, but that's OK, because his last few books have been preachy(Street Lawyer, Testament, etc)and more interested in politically correct themes.
|
