Rating: 
Summary: van a pagar
Review: a balanced, if superficial, treatment of capital punishment. solid writing style and sense of place. the quintana series has a latter day ricky and lucy romance at its core without the original's comedic genuis.
Rating: 
Summary: Gail Connor Solves Another One
Review: Another interesting novel in the series featuring Gail Connor, attorney, and Anthony Quintana, defense lawyer. Gail and Anthony are sort of engaged to be married, but in the last edition of this series, she threw his ring into a murky pond at the country club, and although they're still seeing each other, marriage plans are on hold.Gail is approached by a dear old friend, who had been their housekeeper years ago, to handle the appeals for her grandson, Kenny Ray Clark, who had been convicted of the brutal stabbing death of a young woman 12 years ago. All of his appeals so far have been unsuccessful, and this is his last chance to avoid execution. After just a cursory investigation, Gail realizes how flimsy the evidence was and is convinced that Kenny did not receive a fair trial and is innocent. Gail becomes obsessed with stopping the execution. Anthony tried to warn her not to become involved, because he knows her so well and realizes that she will be overwhelmed by the appeal process and her own emotions. But eventually, when he sees that she cannot be deterred, he agrees to help. Gail also involves her cousin Jackie Bryce who is now a rookie cop in the police department headed by her father who was in charge of the murder case 12 years ago. When the execution date is set, the action and pace intensify as Gail races against time to discover who really killed the victim. There are many people who want the crime to stay unsolved and for Clark to be put to death, and none of them are happy with Gail's meddling and probing. This legal thriller is provocative, well paced and believable, and I'll look forward to more installments in the saga of Gail and Anthony.
Rating:
Summary: Still A Good Series
Review: Barbara Parker's books are always fast-paced and move along at a great clip. This one is no exception. However, I found little things annoying me. Too much legal jargon which wasn't explained for the non-lawyer readers. Too many Spanish phrases that weren't translated -- I speak a bit of Spanish and had to stop reading to think through what was being said; I'd find it more annoying if I didn't speak Spanish at all. And Anthony seems to be nothing but a stereotype -- a wealthy Miami Cuban who's a flashy prince of the city without much substance beneath the gold rings and cufflinks. I'd love to see him do something out of the "norm" to show another dimension to him. Still an enjoyable read.
Rating: 
Summary: really good read
Review: I have to say that I am a HUGE fan of these Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana books. I look so forward to each one and again, I was not disappointed. It was a very interesting plot, a satisfying read and left me wanting the next in the series to come out soon.(but of course, as we all know, I have at least a year or more to wait!)If you havn't read any books in this series, you are missing something worth reading, but you need to go back and read the whole series, so you can understand the relationship between the two charcters and their family dynamics.But .....don't let that stop you from starting with this one, it's a great story.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting and Thought-Provoking
Review: I waited so long for this book to come out that I was worried it would be a letdown. I was wrong! I found the murder plot to be intriguing, and as usual, the sparks between Anthony and Gail added a lot of interest. I was especially interested in the death penalty aspect of the novel, and was impressed by Parker's level of detail. It is obvious that she knows her stuff, and she educates the reader about the intricacies of the system without preaching. I found the ending to be satisfying as well. As one other reviewer stated, the one thing missing is the sultry Miami locale which always adds so much flavor to Parker's books, but the plot and suspense more than make up for it. I am the mother of an active 1-year-old, and although I am usually exhausted at the end of the day, no amount of exhaustion could keep me from this book! I finished it in four nights, just because I couldn't wait to see how the plot was resolved. If you like suspenseful legal thrillers, this one is for you!
Rating:
Summary: Don?t let the unlikelihood fool you?.
Review: Into NOT enjoying Barbara Parker's 6th outing for the legal couple, Anthony Quintana/Gail Connor. It is certainly a stretch to believe that Connor, a civil attorney, and a sole practitioner at that, would become involved with a death-penalty appeals case. Forgiving that, sit back and enjoy what is Parker's most ambitious and well-written tale of the series! In it, some of the past jealousy dances over Connor's relationship with her ex-husband do not play a role, and her civil practice and single parenting responsibilities don't dominate the story line, as they have in past outings (this is positive; Quintana's jealousy does not become him). Nor does Quintana appear as self-assured and in control of situations in the "wilds" of northern Florida, as he does in his native
Miami. One of the most important and touching passages of the book deals with his realization and communication to Connor that she is a better attorney than is he, himself, because of the passion and dedication with which she serves her clients. The client, Kenny Ray Clark, is on his final stretch of death row in Florida for a murder it becomes obvious he did not commit. Central to proving this is the role played by a new character, Jackie Bryce, a local deputy, and Connor's cousin.
Connor's family relationships are the background focus of the tale, and the sense of desperation the group feels while racing the clock to prove that someone else killed Amber Dodson and covered up the murder by blaming Kenny Ray, is palpable. Although there are a lot of victims in this tale, few are as tragic as the Mendozas, a local immigrant family who found themselves in the way of a land grab by the real perpetrator's of Amber's murder. You'll find yourself unable to put the book down as Connor and Quintana peel away the layers of the cover up, in a race against death. Strong characterization, tense and thrilling plotline, and her signature byproduct of the incredible bond between Quintana and Connor all will heighten your enjoyment of this Parker
effort. Read all 6, Parker is a terrific storyteller!
Rating:
Summary: Don¿t let the unlikelihood fool you¿.
Review: Into NOT enjoying Barbara Parker's 6th outing for the legal couple, Anthony Quintana/Gail Connor. It is certainly a stretch to believe that Connor, a civil attorney, and a sole practitioner at that, would become involved with a death-penalty appeals case. Forgiving that, sit back and enjoy what is Parker's most ambitious and well-written tale of the series! In it, some of the past jealousy dances over Connor's relationship with her ex-husband do not play a role, and her civil practice and single parenting responsibilities don't dominate the story line, as they have in past outings (this is positive; Quintana's jealousy does not become him). Nor does Quintana appear as self-assured and in control of situations in the "wilds" of northern Florida, as he does in his native
Miami. One of the most important and touching passages of the book deals with his realization and communication to Connor that she is a better attorney than is he, himself, because of the passion and dedication with which she serves her clients. The client, Kenny Ray Clark, is on his final stretch of death row in Florida for a murder it becomes obvious he did not commit. Central to proving this is the role played by a new character, Jackie Bryce, a local deputy, and Connor's cousin.
Connor's family relationships are the background focus of the tale, and the sense of desperation the group feels while racing the clock to prove that someone else killed Amber Dodson and covered up the murder by blaming Kenny Ray, is palpable. Although there are a lot of victims in this tale, few are as tragic as the Mendozas, a local immigrant family who found themselves in the way of a land grab by the real perpetrator's of Amber's murder. You'll find yourself unable to put the book down as Connor and Quintana peel away the layers of the cover up, in a race against death. Strong characterization, tense and thrilling plotline, and her signature byproduct of the incredible bond between Quintana and Connor all will heighten your enjoyment of this Parker
effort. Read all 6, Parker is a terrific storyteller!
Rating:
Summary: Possibly Parker's Best
Review: Kenny Ray Clark is on Florida's death row for the 12-year-old murder of a young housewife. At the behest of his grandmother, known since childhood by Miami attorney Gail Connor, Gail reluctantly takes on his appeal case. Knowing that the case is beyond her expertise and that time is rapidly running out, Gail nonetheless dives into reinvestigating the murder and the desperate search for new evidence. Although Gail's fiance, Anthony Quintana, cautioned her against taking the case and getting involved, he, too, gradually comes to accept that Kenny Ray was wrongfully convicted. Putting themselves in harm's way to find the one witness or scrap of evidence that could get Kenny Ray a new trial, time is running out and somebody means to stop them at any cost. The pace of this novel is page-flipping intense as you find yourself rooting for Kenny Ray every step of the way. Will Gail be able to save him from execution? You know the answer to that -- you have to read the book! And you will love it. This is to my mind THE best Barbara Parker to date.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly Parker's Best
Review: Kenny Ray Clark is on Florida's death row for the 12-year-old murder of a young housewife. At the behest of his grandmother, known since childhood by Miami attorney Gail Connor, Gail reluctantly takes on his appeal case. Knowing that the case is beyond her expertise and that time is rapidly running out, Gail nonetheless dives into reinvestigating the murder and the desperate search for new evidence. Although Gail's fiance, Anthony Quintana, cautioned her against taking the case and getting involved, he, too, gradually comes to accept that Kenny Ray was wrongfully convicted. Putting themselves in harm's way to find the one witness or scrap of evidence that could get Kenny Ray a new trial, time is running out and somebody means to stop them at any cost. The pace of this novel is page-flipping intense as you find yourself rooting for Kenny Ray every step of the way. Will Gail be able to save him from execution? You know the answer to that -- you have to read the book! And you will love it. This is to my mind THE best Barbara Parker to date.
Rating:
Summary: Still A Good Series
Review: The political question of the appropriateness of the death penalty is intertwined in this complexly plotted but ultimately unsatisfying work. Without revealing too much, I will say that there are only two possible outcomes in any "innocent man on Death Row" work. The choice an author makes usually relates less to the appropriateness for the work itself than to the views of the author on what is ultimately a political question. Here other plot choices clearly could have been made. The problem is that the factual innocence of most of the newly freed from Death Row have come from DNA testing, and not lawyer theatrics. Parker commits to a lawyer-centric plot for obvious reasons, and it is in this mode the work and its ingenious plot slips a bit. Entertaining to the end, its at the end that you yearn for what could have been.
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