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Goodlove and Shek #2
Sufficient Evidence
Garrett Goodlove hates liars. As a lawyer, he’s forced to deal with more than his fair share of cheats and con artists, but lately, he’s been getting fed up.
Goodlove suspects that his latest client, a jolly babushka by the name of Aksana Ivanova, is a grandmaster of deception. His law partner disagrees. But how can they be sure?
Soon after they get her weapons-possession charge dismissed on a technicality, the Redwood Point DA arrests her on a charge of first-degree murder. Apparently, the weapon found in the trunk of her car was used in an assassination.
Perhaps Ms. Ivanova isn’t who everyone thinks she is.
If Goodlove can’t figure out when she’s lying and when she’s telling the truth, he won’t be able to defend her.
Worse, he comes to fear that keeping her out of jail might not be such a good idea.
Goodlove suspects that his latest client, a jolly babushka by the name of Aksana Ivanova, is a grandmaster of deception. His law partner disagrees. But how can they be sure?
Soon after they get her weapons-possession charge dismissed on a technicality, the Redwood Point DA arrests her on a charge of first-degree murder. Apparently, the weapon found in the trunk of her car was used in an assassination.
Perhaps Ms. Ivanova isn’t who everyone thinks she is.
If Goodlove can’t figure out when she’s lying and when she’s telling the truth, he won’t be able to defend her.
Worse, he comes to fear that keeping her out of jail might not be such a good idea.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2019
975 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Al Macy
26 books152 followersAl Macy writes because he has stories to tell. In school he was the class clown and always the first volunteer for show and tell. His teachers would say “Al has a lot of imagination.” Then they'd roll their eyes.
But he put his storytelling on the back burner until he retired and wrote a blog about his efforts to improve his piano sight-reading. That's when his love of storytelling burbled up to the surface, along with quirky words like “burble.”
He had even more fun writing his second book, Drive, Ride, Repeat, but was bummed by non-fiction's need to stick to “the truth” (yucko). From then on it was fiction all the way, with a good dose of his science background burbling to the surface.
Macy's top priority is compelling storylines with satisfying plot twists, but he never neglects character development. No, wait … his top priority is quirkiness, then compelling storylines, then character development. No, wait …
But he put his storytelling on the back burner until he retired and wrote a blog about his efforts to improve his piano sight-reading. That's when his love of storytelling burbled up to the surface, along with quirky words like “burble.”
He had even more fun writing his second book, Drive, Ride, Repeat, but was bummed by non-fiction's need to stick to “the truth” (yucko). From then on it was fiction all the way, with a good dose of his science background burbling to the surface.
Macy's top priority is compelling storylines with satisfying plot twists, but he never neglects character development. No, wait … his top priority is quirkiness, then compelling storylines, then character development. No, wait …
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
May 6, 2020
This is my first experience with reading a book by Al Macy. I enjoyed reading the story and it kept my attention throughout.
The book is well written and is realistic. The characters are interesting. I chose the book because the story takes place in Northern California’s Humboldt County. The protagonist is Garrett Goodlove, a criminal attorney. In this story he is defending an elderly lady, or, as the author puts it, a “jolly babushka” named Asksana Ivanova. If you enjoy legal thrillers, give this book a try. You will not be disappointed.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is five hours and fifty-seven minutes. Nick Sullivan does a great job narrating the book. Sullivan is an actor and audiobook narrator. He is great with the ethnic characters.
The book is well written and is realistic. The characters are interesting. I chose the book because the story takes place in Northern California’s Humboldt County. The protagonist is Garrett Goodlove, a criminal attorney. In this story he is defending an elderly lady, or, as the author puts it, a “jolly babushka” named Asksana Ivanova. If you enjoy legal thrillers, give this book a try. You will not be disappointed.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is five hours and fifty-seven minutes. Nick Sullivan does a great job narrating the book. Sullivan is an actor and audiobook narrator. He is great with the ethnic characters.
July 12, 2020
A fun read. The main character is an attorney and I especially enjoyed the internal dialogue narrating the logic of how to proceed through a defense case.
March 16, 2020
Ok, try as I might, I could not find anything to like about this book, storyline, characters, nothing! First off, I take legal thrillers very seriously, especially the legal aspect of the story. I’m not sure what ticked me off more, the fact that this story was so farfetched or the fact that the characters didn’t make any kind of sense to me. It was as if this story was written as a joke, and I’m not sure if that’s what the author was going for?
Garrett Goodlove was an attorney and not a very good one, in my opinion. He didn’t appear to take much seriously, that is, until Ms. Ivanova showed up to his office. She advised him she was arrested for having a gun in the trunk of her car. This much, the reader knows to be true, however, it’s how the search got started in the first place that came into question. Attorney Goodlove was charged with figuring out whether the police conducted an illegal search. As it would turn out, they did. The police claimed they couldn’t understand Russian and mistook something she said for “yes” when in fact she meant no. The judge made the right call by throwing it out. But that still didn’t explain how Goodlove’s client came to have this gun in her trunk?
Of course, she had a story to spin and Goodlove and his team weren’t a hundred percent sold on whether she was telling the truth or not. After all, dealing with shady clients was something Goodlove was accustomed to, and quite frankly, extremely sick of. When Ms. Ivanova’s gun’s ballistics shows up in another case which happened to be a murder, she goes back to Goodlove to seek his help with getting out of this jam. At this point in time, Goodlove is all but sure he doesn’t trust his client nor should he take her case. And the story moves from there.
Ooo-kay, as I stated at the beginning of my review, I tried to like this story, but there were too many issues with it. For one, the continuity was all over the place. One minute the characters are sitting in an office discussing something, and the next paragraph, Goodlove is being kidnapped and no one knows why? And when the readers learn what happens to Goodlove while kidnapped, it’s enough to scratch one’s head and go “huh?” None of what happened to him made any sense. I read it a few times to visualize what the character was going through and I could not make it make sense. I was so frustrated. The entire story frustrated me. I didn’t like the characters. They seemed silly and simple-minded. These are supposed to be lawyers? I just couldn’t buy what the author was selling with this story, but after having read his bio, perhaps therein lies where he got the idea to write this.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, this story was definitely not for me. I started to give it one star but decided to push ahead to three because, although I didn’t like it, the author managed to put forth a story. Even though I felt the story was so far out there. Everything about it kept rubbing me the wrong way, and one of the biggest issues was the way he described certain characters. I just didn’t feel it was something that a professional attorney would say. It felt forced as if the author had an ax to grind or hopping down from his soapbox. It felt personal in some of the insults with the interaction of characters.
The bottom line, I didn’t like this book—period! The Sexy Nerd gives Sufficient Evidence three insufficient stars. Umm, this was my first time trying this author, and unfortunately, I think it will be my last. I wasn’t feeling this book by any means!
To read original post, please go to https://www.thesexynerdrevue.com/2020...
Thank you.
Garrett Goodlove was an attorney and not a very good one, in my opinion. He didn’t appear to take much seriously, that is, until Ms. Ivanova showed up to his office. She advised him she was arrested for having a gun in the trunk of her car. This much, the reader knows to be true, however, it’s how the search got started in the first place that came into question. Attorney Goodlove was charged with figuring out whether the police conducted an illegal search. As it would turn out, they did. The police claimed they couldn’t understand Russian and mistook something she said for “yes” when in fact she meant no. The judge made the right call by throwing it out. But that still didn’t explain how Goodlove’s client came to have this gun in her trunk?
Of course, she had a story to spin and Goodlove and his team weren’t a hundred percent sold on whether she was telling the truth or not. After all, dealing with shady clients was something Goodlove was accustomed to, and quite frankly, extremely sick of. When Ms. Ivanova’s gun’s ballistics shows up in another case which happened to be a murder, she goes back to Goodlove to seek his help with getting out of this jam. At this point in time, Goodlove is all but sure he doesn’t trust his client nor should he take her case. And the story moves from there.
Ooo-kay, as I stated at the beginning of my review, I tried to like this story, but there were too many issues with it. For one, the continuity was all over the place. One minute the characters are sitting in an office discussing something, and the next paragraph, Goodlove is being kidnapped and no one knows why? And when the readers learn what happens to Goodlove while kidnapped, it’s enough to scratch one’s head and go “huh?” None of what happened to him made any sense. I read it a few times to visualize what the character was going through and I could not make it make sense. I was so frustrated. The entire story frustrated me. I didn’t like the characters. They seemed silly and simple-minded. These are supposed to be lawyers? I just couldn’t buy what the author was selling with this story, but after having read his bio, perhaps therein lies where he got the idea to write this.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, this story was definitely not for me. I started to give it one star but decided to push ahead to three because, although I didn’t like it, the author managed to put forth a story. Even though I felt the story was so far out there. Everything about it kept rubbing me the wrong way, and one of the biggest issues was the way he described certain characters. I just didn’t feel it was something that a professional attorney would say. It felt forced as if the author had an ax to grind or hopping down from his soapbox. It felt personal in some of the insults with the interaction of characters.
The bottom line, I didn’t like this book—period! The Sexy Nerd gives Sufficient Evidence three insufficient stars. Umm, this was my first time trying this author, and unfortunately, I think it will be my last. I wasn’t feeling this book by any means!
To read original post, please go to https://www.thesexynerdrevue.com/2020...
Thank you.
December 25, 2022
When Garrett Goodlove and Jen Shek take on a new client, Aksana Ivanova, they do not know quite what to make of her. On the surface, the affable septuagenarian émigré from Belarus seems like someone's favorite grandmother. So what is she doing with the automatic weapon that the police found in the trunk of her car on a routine traffic stop? Did she find it abandoned by the side of the road, as she claims? In this entertaining legal thriller the case becomes stranger and stranger as it proceeds, and Garrett faces some tough ethical choices.
April 29, 2021
Interesting Storyline
Defending a criminal is often hard work. But in this case the defense criminalizes the defendant! It seems that in the duration of a trial of a defendant, the lawyer begins to believe his client is guilty. Ethically, the lawyer is bound to defend his client, but in this case, the lawyer discovers his clients guilt. What should he do at this point? It is a wild ride that determines what he does!
Defending a criminal is often hard work. But in this case the defense criminalizes the defendant! It seems that in the duration of a trial of a defendant, the lawyer begins to believe his client is guilty. Ethically, the lawyer is bound to defend his client, but in this case, the lawyer discovers his clients guilt. What should he do at this point? It is a wild ride that determines what he does!
June 24, 2020
Another enjoyable read.
This is a round up from a 4 1/2. As with his first book, this was an excellent story and refreshing character development. It was a day and a half read. Which means I was able to put it down, but anxious to pick it back up.again. I thought some of the courtroom practice was irregular enough to give me pause, which is the justification for the 4 1/2.
This is a round up from a 4 1/2. As with his first book, this was an excellent story and refreshing character development. It was a day and a half read. Which means I was able to put it down, but anxious to pick it back up.again. I thought some of the courtroom practice was irregular enough to give me pause, which is the justification for the 4 1/2.
August 23, 2020
I'm quite thrilled to meet up with Garrett and Jen again.
I only met Mr. Macy this morning with the first book in the series. Managed to finish the second book just now. Still love the characters, the dialog, the detailed plot. Even happier to find book three is available for tomorrow.
I only met Mr. Macy this morning with the first book in the series. Managed to finish the second book just now. Still love the characters, the dialog, the detailed plot. Even happier to find book three is available for tomorrow.
April 22, 2021
The right thing
Great book! The characters are well developed and believable. The plot moves quickly and has lots of interesting twists that grab you on an intellectual level. The moral of the story is that sometimes you do something simply because it is the right thing to do, even if it goes against the law.
Great book! The characters are well developed and believable. The plot moves quickly and has lots of interesting twists that grab you on an intellectual level. The moral of the story is that sometimes you do something simply because it is the right thing to do, even if it goes against the law.
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December 9, 2022free ebook
the lawyers twin sister is deaf and does sign language
they are defending a old lady of possession of a gun the police found in her trunk. they got it thrown out as she did not give them permission to open the truck
then a mans head was found inside a shark and he was killed with that gun
the lawyers twin sister is deaf and does sign language
they are defending a old lady of possession of a gun the police found in her trunk. they got it thrown out as she did not give them permission to open the truck
then a mans head was found inside a shark and he was killed with that gun
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2020
Solid 4.5. Quick, entertaining
Dead bodies, an unexpected killer, lawyers and romance. The ingredients for A fun and interesting plot. Awesome disappointment at the ending, which came quickly.
Dead bodies, an unexpected killer, lawyers and romance. The ingredients for A fun and interesting plot. Awesome disappointment at the ending, which came quickly.
May 17, 2021
Intriguing legal novel
Great story that had you changing your mind several times on the guilty party. Loved the authors humor and realism. Characters are well thought out and add depth to the story.
Great story that had you changing your mind several times on the guilty party. Loved the authors humor and realism. Characters are well thought out and add depth to the story.
May 18, 2020
Enjoyable
I read this book in a very short time. I found the characters very believable. I shall read more of this series
I read this book in a very short time. I found the characters very believable. I shall read more of this series
June 26, 2020
Good read
I have fallen in love with this authors books. They always have a twist to them and I get a kick out of the characters.
I have fallen in love with this authors books. They always have a twist to them and I get a kick out of the characters.
August 2, 2020
Very enjoyable. Author worth following
August 13, 2020
A very well written book, easy to read with believable characters. Definitely an author to follow
Read
August 31, 2020Another excellent book. I find myself wanting more from this author.
September 15, 2020
Great read
I couldn't it down. Read it in 1 day. Good story line. The client as described by the author made me see her as what he described.
I couldn't it down. Read it in 1 day. Good story line. The client as described by the author made me see her as what he described.
October 15, 2020
Fast paced mystery
I gave a 5 star rating because I enjoyed the interesting characters, mystery, mixed with humor and fast pace. Will look forward to more of Mr. Macy's books.
I gave a 5 star rating because I enjoyed the interesting characters, mystery, mixed with humor and fast pace. Will look forward to more of Mr. Macy's books.
February 22, 2021
Kept my attention
Pretty good and I liked the twist. Like the way this author writes...gives you a picture you can actually visualize.
Pretty good and I liked the twist. Like the way this author writes...gives you a picture you can actually visualize.
February 28, 2021
At least 3.5 stars.. an enjoyable Friday evening read... especially while sheltering.
March 17, 2021
Loved it. All around great story. Surprise ending.
May 13, 2021
Good murder mystery
This book was fast paced. There were some times when I was on the edge of my seat. Good characterization. Interesting ending v
This book was fast paced. There were some times when I was on the edge of my seat. Good characterization. Interesting ending v
June 2, 2021
Enjoyable read...
I enjoyed this, it’s a bit different from the usual legal fiction. First book was good too. Will definitely read the next one.
I enjoyed this, it’s a bit different from the usual legal fiction. First book was good too. Will definitely read the next one.
August 15, 2021
A wonderful legal thriller with a few surprising twists and turns. Kept my attention from beginning to end.
October 3, 2021
Enjoyable
This book was fun to read. The plot was really good, and kept me guessing as to how it would end. I had an inkling about two-thirds of the way through the story.
This book was fun to read. The plot was really good, and kept me guessing as to how it would end. I had an inkling about two-thirds of the way through the story.
October 18, 2021
Keeps you involved
The kind of legal mystery that challenges you. Excellent writing, believable characters and dialog that feels natural. A good series worth following
The kind of legal mystery that challenges you. Excellent writing, believable characters and dialog that feels natural. A good series worth following
December 8, 2021
Interesting story
I found I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Kept me engaged and guessing til the end. The characters were well written and played their parts in the story perfectly
I found I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Kept me engaged and guessing til the end. The characters were well written and played their parts in the story perfectly
June 4, 2022
TRUThFUL and RIVETING
This was a ride to good story. Well-written, adventurous and humorous. I would definitely recommend this book. I read it well into the night.
This was a ride to good story. Well-written, adventurous and humorous. I would definitely recommend this book. I read it well into the night.
February 2, 2023
Good book!! At times I thought the book is eccentric but it turned out nicely
April 28, 2024
Great read.
I enjoyed this second book in his series. The book continues to keep my attention. Look forward to reading book 3.
I enjoyed this second book in his series. The book continues to keep my attention. Look forward to reading book 3.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews