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The Rubricatae Chronicles #1
Judging Angels
Christmas Eve finds renowned, but now disgraced, defense lawyer George Able paying a final visit to his two children, Brian and Sandy. It is a final visit of a different sort to his estranged wife and her lover: George has a .38 in his coat pocket. Later that night, he finds himself on a deserted highway in deep dark country with missing bullets and missing time. It looks like a Christmas Miracle, especially when he meets a beautiful redhead who offers him a second chance. But the seemingly naive Red Morgan proves to be a troubling mix of love, lethality and, possibly, lunacy.
When George’s daughter is kidnapped by a man who might be associated with Morgan, the Able family and the criminal justice system are faced with a threat they are not equipped to handle. As a rescue attempt snowballs into a crime spree from the top of Illinois to its tip, a family must put aside its problems even as moral compromises undermine their good intentions. And while Red Morgan is too useful to send away, her dream of a white Vegas wedding with George faces one obstacle...
Judging Angels is the first volume in The Rubricatae Chronicles. The novel draws on police procedural, urban fantasy, and heroic quest to provide the reader with an original Catholic psychological thriller that blends genres and provides more twists and tension than a murder trial. Timothy Capps, a recognized death penalty defense expert, tells this exciting, yet thoughtful, tale with the relish of a seasoned lawyer’s closing argument. And just as trials must probe the motives of defendants, the reader will discover that the real story is on the inside: ordinary people tempted to do the worst things for the best reasons.
When George’s daughter is kidnapped by a man who might be associated with Morgan, the Able family and the criminal justice system are faced with a threat they are not equipped to handle. As a rescue attempt snowballs into a crime spree from the top of Illinois to its tip, a family must put aside its problems even as moral compromises undermine their good intentions. And while Red Morgan is too useful to send away, her dream of a white Vegas wedding with George faces one obstacle...
Judging Angels is the first volume in The Rubricatae Chronicles. The novel draws on police procedural, urban fantasy, and heroic quest to provide the reader with an original Catholic psychological thriller that blends genres and provides more twists and tension than a murder trial. Timothy Capps, a recognized death penalty defense expert, tells this exciting, yet thoughtful, tale with the relish of a seasoned lawyer’s closing argument. And just as trials must probe the motives of defendants, the reader will discover that the real story is on the inside: ordinary people tempted to do the worst things for the best reasons.
500 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 27, 2017
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Tim Capps
2 books7 followersTimothy Capps began his legal career as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps during Operation Desert Storm, where he led a colorful career throughout the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. His dogged defense of military clients got him thrown off of one ship and out of an entire country - fortunately, not the U.S. (He considers these his most well-deserved military awards). Before the Navy he served in the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) division as an Arabic linguist.
After the Navy, Capps spent a few years as first a public defender, then a prosecutor. He then began a private criminal defense practice that established his expertise in death penalty cases. When the death penalty was abolished in Illinois in 2011, Capps received one of the pens used by the Governor to sign the bill into law. None of his eligible clients received the death penalty. He retired and began a dubious blog as St. Corbinian's Bear and finished his first novel, Judging Angels.
Capps draws upon various life experiences and interests for his writing, but in Judging Angels, he puts his insider's knowledge of criminal defense to work in a novel that is not so much a legal drama, but a story about ordinary people making horrible choices under the worst temptations imaginable. The kind that involve guns and beautiful redheads, for readers who are not as interested in moral choices. Capps is a second-generation writer, following his mother who had a novel and a collection of humorous essays published.
Capps lives in southern Illinois on a small goat farm with his wife of many years, Kathryn, near his four children. His Yorkie, Buster, keeps anything he perceives as a threat at bay by barking at them day and night. His favorite goat is Panda, whom he sometimes sneaks into the house to watch quality television.
After the Navy, Capps spent a few years as first a public defender, then a prosecutor. He then began a private criminal defense practice that established his expertise in death penalty cases. When the death penalty was abolished in Illinois in 2011, Capps received one of the pens used by the Governor to sign the bill into law. None of his eligible clients received the death penalty. He retired and began a dubious blog as St. Corbinian's Bear and finished his first novel, Judging Angels.
Capps draws upon various life experiences and interests for his writing, but in Judging Angels, he puts his insider's knowledge of criminal defense to work in a novel that is not so much a legal drama, but a story about ordinary people making horrible choices under the worst temptations imaginable. The kind that involve guns and beautiful redheads, for readers who are not as interested in moral choices. Capps is a second-generation writer, following his mother who had a novel and a collection of humorous essays published.
Capps lives in southern Illinois on a small goat farm with his wife of many years, Kathryn, near his four children. His Yorkie, Buster, keeps anything he perceives as a threat at bay by barking at them day and night. His favorite goat is Panda, whom he sometimes sneaks into the house to watch quality television.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2017
Excellent, urban fantasy novel with a frank, and at times painful exploration of a marriage in its darkest moments. The story deals with characters in difficult situations discovering that it's not always the best idea to do "anything" to save someone else.
It was hard to put this one down. Can't wait for the next installment!
It was hard to put this one down. Can't wait for the next installment!
Displaying 1 of 1 review