The Truth of It All

Julia Geary #1

by Gwen Florio

A hot-button legal case fuels a community's smoldering hostility--but the dark secret at its heart could set the town ablaze.

Public defender Julia Geary moves through life in simmering resentment--at her husband, a soldier killed in Iraq, leaving her a single mother; at her low-paying job; and at her overbearing mother-in law, whose home she shares. She longs for a breakout case, and it arrives when members of the high school soccer team report seeing a teammate--Iraqi refugee Sami Mohammed--assaulting a girl in the locker room.

In a town where animosity against refugees has already reached a fever pitch, Julia throws all her energy into Sami's defense. She finds an ally in high school principal Dom Parrish, who believes Sami is innocent, and the case suddenly turns red hot.

Then she begins receiving vicious threats against her family, and a senseless act of violence leaves Sami in a coma. And finally, a crop of new evidence emerges that points to the town's most prominent citizens and pits Julia against powerful forces set on burying the truth once and for all.

If Sami survives and Julia can prove him innocent, it will be the case of a lifetime. But now it's her life that's on the line.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Legal, Thriller

336 pages, Hardcover

First published August 10, 2021

About the author

Gwen Florio is the author of the Lola Wicks crime series ("gutsy," says the New York Times) as well as SILENT HEARTS (Atria, 2018), a standalone set in Afghanistan. A new crime series starts in November 2020 with the publication of Best Laid Plans (Severn House). Her first novel, MONTANA, won the Pinckley Prize for debut crime fiction, and a High Plains Book Award. Florio is a veteran journalist who has covered stories ranging from the mass shooting at Columbine High School and the Oklahoma City bombing trials, to the glitz of the Miss America pageant and the more practical Miss Navajo contest, whose participants slaughter a sheep. She's reported from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, among other countries, as well as Lost Springs, Wyo. (population three). She lives in Missoula, Montana. She is represented by Richard Curtis,

Reviews

[Theresa Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This novel is a tension-packed page-turner. Julia Geary is a low-paid public defendant whose husband, Michael, was killed in Iraq, leaving her and her four-year-old son living less-than-peacefully with Michael’s mother. Julia is assigned to defend an Iraqi refugee, Sami Mohammad, whose teammates claim was assaulting a girl in the girl’s locker room.

The town is already in a pitch of anti-refugee fervor, and Julia has to look past her own anger toward whichever Iraqi killed her husband to see the truth of this kid who has already been through a lot just to make it to America with his family. The powerful people in town, meaning white people who have money, seem to have everything going their way.

Julia has to battle against her own prejudices as well as against the people in town with more standing. This is a well-written book that will grip you from page one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES AUGUST 10, 2021.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite including some very familiar tropes, this book still held a few surprises and was refreshingly good. Julia Geary is a widow, a mother to four year old Calvin and a lawyer. She lives in a mutually awkward relationship with her mother-in-law and works as a public defender. She hasn’t dated anyone since her husband was killed in Iraq a few years ago and her life is currently depressingly boring. All that is about to change!

She is given the task of defending 18 year old Iraqi refugee Sami Mohammed on charges of….some sort of assault against student Ana Olsen in the girl’s changing rooms at the school gym. Neither the victim nor the alleged perpetrator are saying anything. The only way the assault is even known about is a that a group of boys (Sami’s soccer teammates) came forward at the urging of one of their mothers to say that one of them them saw Sami running out of the girl’s changing room. Something certainly happened - Ana has clear hand and finger shaped bruises on her arms but denies being raped, nor is there any evidence suggesting it.

This case though has set the small town of Fish Creek on edge. The internet is blowing up and sensationalising the story, soon Sami is a vicious rapist and abuser who should be strung up. Julia herself comes under attack for daring to defend the case, despite it being her job to do so. Her son gets expelled from preschool over it! The calls and emails trolling Julia are relentless. Sami’s family is also under siege. It is as if the town has lost its collective mind. I won’t say more about the plot but there are some interesting twists.

This story was very well written and the characters were complex and so very relatable. My heart was breaking for Sami and also Ana because of course things were not as they seemed. I loved the way Beverly, the mother-in-law, took the bull by the horns and very graciously defused a
lot of the tense situations. Beverley and Julia ended up, while not friends, with a lot more respect for one another at the end of the book.

I thought the depictions of the racial and misogynistic slurs were realistic and also very frightening. I can’t imagine how horrible it would be to be subjected to such vitriol. The small town setting was also pitched perfectly and, I think, only sharpened the antipathy as there was nowhere to hide. The story also illustrated the dangers of trial by media which is so common these days. I think it’s a timely reminder to not believe everything you see on line and to not be so quick to judge. All in all I really enjoyed the book. Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for and advance copy of the book that I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

[MiMi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Julia Geary obviously is not at her dream job. As a low paid public defender representing repeat offenders who can’t afford their own private counsel and labeled as the war widow she doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the midst of grieving her husband and still living with her mother-in-law Julia is assigned an “opened & closed” case. Sami, a young refugee from Iraq is accused of assaulting a classmate. There’s a handful of witnesses and he’s adamant that he didn’t do it. Julia’s husband was killed while on a mission in Iraq. She is assigned to represent Sami. You see how this could be an issue?

I did not like her attitude towards Sami. At all. From the beginning she held bias against him and I’m glad Claudette called her out on it. I don’t like the fact that she immediately had in her head he was guilty because who he was. Throughout the whole book she was trying to convince herself as his public defender that he didn’t do it even though he said he didn’t do it and the “eye witness” account and “evidence” was flimsy and a sack of you know what. The facts just didn’t add up and it was full of holes. She rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. She was worried about her own image and not the welfare of her own client. It was just all about her and her feelings and how other people would look at her. I didn’t care about her image all I wanted her to do was get justice for Sami instead of doing less than a half-assed job to close this case.

As a while though, she didn’t seem as if she knew what she was doing. Either that or she just didn’t want to deal with it. While grieving her husband, representing someone from the country her husband was killed, and dealing with harassment and threats from the townspeople her representation was terrible. She just seemed like an incompetent lawyer.

I didn’t like how the author wrote the passages of an event from the past. It was just placed in the middle of present time. The transition wasn’t the good in my opinion. For the most part, there weren’t many surprises throughout the book, it was very lackluster and underwhelming.

Im giving this book as a whole a 2.5 because I feel like she sort of redeemed herself in the end and the story did illicit some emotion from me. One scene though did get to me of course, angered me actually. Emotions from the ignorant, racist, and viles ways the characters were written in this story. Human beings can be so evil it’s disgusting.

I really don’t feel like going into the 2nd book BUT I’m curious on where this new relationship will go and Claudette’s new journey.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the main character and the storyline and plot. The way the author wrote kept me turning the pages and interested in the story and outcome. I would definitely read more from this author.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review! I think this is a wonderful read. It shows how things truly go in the real world with prejudgment due to race and or ethnicity. It has a rollercoaster of things going on but keeps your interested. I think its a must read.

[Barb Reinhold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia Geary is a Public Defender and a widow whose soldier husband died in Iraq. She’s also a single mother with a stressful job that demands much overtime and dealing with difficult clients. She lives with her mother-in-law Beverly whom one, if they were tactful, would call overbearing. In truth, she’s just plain obnoxious. It’s a day-to-day struggle for Julia who has no other option than to live in Beverly’s home and it pushes her stress level even higher.

At work, Julia is frustrated at being passed over for the big cases, but she finally gets one. In a town filled with animosity toward immigrants, members of the high school soccer team allege that a team mate assaulted a girl in the locker room. That team mate is an Iraqi refugee named Sami Mohammed and he becomes Julia’s new client.

Julia throws herself into the case with everything she’s got and soon, inevitably in a town where hatred of imigrants like Sami is rampant, she begins receiving death threats. Worse, Sami is now in a coma after he was viciously attacked.

Finally, evidence implicating a respected and prominent town resident is found which gives Julia hope will exonerate Sami.

One of the things I liked about the book is the author’s skill at creating interesting and multi-dimensional characters. Julia is a strong protagonist struggling on several fronts. If there’s one word to describe Julia is “survivor.” She’s also a courageous seeker of truth and justice for her client, no matter what the cost.

Another thing is that she clearly researched what being anPublic Defender entails so that Julia and her colleagues appear true to life

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the author’s writing style, which is purely a matter of personal taste. Despite that, I gave the book five stars because it has a great plot and great characters.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can’t decide between writing a young adult fiction or adult fiction, the author apparently tried to appeal to all ages. The attempt ended up being a novel with mo depth, not a single interesting character, and absolutely nothing worth reading. The obvious attempt to use news headlines to create a fictional story was an unimaginative failure.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is written in the first person of the main character. And that is the problem. The book is all about her. There is no character development and the plot developments are clunky. There are no surprises. The author should have concentrated on the students.

[Mark Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia Geary is not a happy camper. She’s “mad as a feral cat” as she approaches her thirtieth birthday. She’s living with her mother-in-law Beverly, a “human switchblade, all spring-loaded lethality.” But Beverly isn’t Julia’s only problem. Not by a long shot. She’s also a single mother, juggling a career as a public defender in the town of Duck Creek. “Vail of the North” feels very much like Montana, but the state isn’t specified. Julia wants bigger cases. And her boss, Chief Public Defender Bill Decker, is happy to oblige. There’s a brand new incident and Julia would be “perfect for this particular defendant.”

Why?

Because Julia’s young husband lost his life as a solider in Iraq four years prior. And the defendant in this “perfect” new case is an Iraqi high school student, a refugee, accused of raping a white female student. The alleged attacker is Sami Mohammed. He’s not being cooperative. Julia tries to see the individual behind each case, each accusation. But Sami is making it tough. “The way the boy had looked at her, through her, as though she weren’t even there. The kind of look someone gave you if you’d ceased to exist in any meaningful way, so that it wouldn’t matter if you were erased from the earth. With an IED, for instance. He hadn’t killed her husband; she knew that … But the emptiness in those eyes—given the right circumstances, he could have. And if he could have done that, what might he have done to that girl?”

The whole town, it seems, happens to agree with that particular sentiment. The town has leapt to the “guilty” conclusion. Instantly, there are protestors. Sami’s case comes on the heels of community agitation and controversy over refugee resettlement programs. And some of the wrath is aimed squarely at Julia for, well, doing her job. She loses her son’s slot in a daycare center for the same reason—adding to Julia’s woes.

So Julia, naturally, digs in. She’s her own investigator and has more than a few questions about the circumstances about the alleged assault, which happened in the girls’ locker room and which included more than a few witnesses. The victim, Ana Olsen, claims the light wasn’t good enough for a solid identification of Sami.

The Truth of it All is crime fiction, sure, but it’s not the traditional set-up with a dead body in the first ten pages and a whole lot of clue-finding to follow. It’s as much character study of Julia Geary and the struggles of work politics, home politics, and politics politics. Julia digs in the library, visits Sami’s edge-of-town home, does her own snooping in the locker room in question. On the personal front, she ponders, slowly, the possibility of a new romance that might just tame some of that feral edge. But the “romance” angle is grounded and real-life gritty. It’s played as just another tangle in Julia Geary’s complicated, unsemtimental life.

And most of those complications begin with her status as war widow—she wouldn’t be living with her mother-in-law, for starters, if her husband had survived the war. Even though it’s been a few years, Julia’s late husband Michael is never far from Julia’s thoughts and the case with Sami provides fresh reason to revisit everything about her late husband’s sacrifice.

It's a bit of cliché when the cop on the case gets placed on leave, theoretically making it harder to solve what needs to be solved but continuing to fight on, valiantly, nonetheless. Julia’s separation comes via budget woes, but the effect is the same—and Florio’s adept and nifty plot twist, now possible due to Julia’s newfound status as an ordinary citizen—is pretty darn sweet.

The Truth of It All clicks on three levels—mystery, character-study, and commentary on the modern-day pastime of rushing to judgment. That’s a fine triple play.

[Addie BookCrazyBlogger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia Greary is a single mother living in Duck Creek, trying to balance her duties as a public defender with her duties as a mom, all the while living in a constant state of resentment. She resents her husband for dying in Iraq from an IED explosion, her mother-in-law for her pointed remarks and now she’s resentful of her boss, for giving her an impossible case to win. Sami Mohammad, an eighteen year old from Iraq living in a town that is brimming with hostilities towards refugees, has been accused of raping a younger girl in their high school locker room. Julia throws her all into defending her client but her family is receiving threats and Sami is violently attacked, leaving him in a coma. With evidence pointing to prominent members, how far will someone go to bury the truth? I thought this book really points out the vitriol against refugees and it’s a no hold back on how truly awful people can be. From outright white supremacy slogans to micro aggressions, it was very compelling to read this story about how Julia confronts her own biases to defend her client. I will say that I struggled with Julia’s character for the first 1/3 of the book but she really did grow on me, mostly because she grew within the story.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the small town of Fish Creek, it centers on the alleged sexual assault on Ana by 18 year old Sami
Mohammed, an Iraqi refugee and the public defender defending him. Julia lost her husband in the Iraqi war and now she and her four year old son share a home with her mother-in-law. It leads to a tense and stressful life for all of them. Things become much more tense when Julia takes the case and is confronted by a town harboring a lot of prejudices and animosity. Sami is tried in the media and most of the town want him lock up and the key thrown away. Neither Sami nor Ana have anything to say but the powers that be in Fish Creek sure do and much of it becomes directed at Julia and her family.
I'm glad I took a chance on The Truth of it All as I usually read cozy mysteries and lighter fiction. From the start I was drawn into Julia's life and found her to be a well developed, engaging character. The story kept the tension throughout, keeping me wanting to read just one more page. That's the sign of a well crafted story.
My thanks to the publisher Crooked Lane and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

What really happened between Sami and Ana? Did anything at all happen? Julia Geary, a public defender and a recent widow living with her mother in law Beverly, finds herself stuck with a horrible case. Sami is an Muslim immigrant and he won't talk but everyone else does. And they start harassing Julia, who has already has it hard enough. There are some plot holes but the characters are compelling. I liked seeing the evolution of the relationship between Julia and Beverly, as well as the portrayal of crowd mentality and social media (frightening though it may be.). Floria has a way with the flawed heroine and while Julia doesn't have the usual troubles, she's got enough. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Truth of it All is a standalone legal thriller by Gwen Florio, continuing with her feisty female protagonist books. Julia Geary is a broken and grieving public defender who is given an accused sexual assault case to represent. Different from the usual misdemeanour crimes she handles, this case causes personal angst and the ire of the town. Struggling with her own life, Julia is keen for it to be sorted quickly, but something is remiss and things get complicated. A well written and enjoyable expose of Middletown American with its ugly under currents. A realistic crime who dunnit with a three-and-a-half-star rating and promising portent for another adventure. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book. It moved along and had some very good issues of bigotry and immigrants in a small town. Amazing, Aren’t we all immigrants - those of us who are not Native American?? An Iraqi high school boy is accused of molesting another student girl in the locker room. His teammates are the witnesses who accuse him. The public defender whose husband had died as a soldier in Iraq is called to defend the boy. She is conflicted and still grieving the loss of her husband and all of their dreams. Loved her colleague in the public defenders office, Claudette. Her mother in law is also a surprisingly good ally. Looking forward to other books in the series and others by this author.

[Hugh Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

not exactly a chic lit but the petit public defender has a high school Iraqi immigrant accused of rape with a victim who will not talk and outraged villagers.

she lives with her mother-in-law and 4 year old son in the house her deceased husband was raised in. He died in Iraq, victim of an IED so she is hardly unbiased when defending an Iraqi.

She becomes emotionally involved with ... everyone, including the high school principal, ex-husband of the prosecuting attorney with a stellar record. the ugliness of the mob threatens to derail her and her client's family. tense but a little too emotion-laden for me.

[Ribbqah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young lawyer, recently widowed, lives with mother-in-law & preschool son, and must defend a high school refugee boy from a rape charge. She is still grieving and angry about her husband’s death in Iraq and learning to adjust. Did not enjoy the first half of book due to her irrational thoughts and self pity parties. Glad I continued because the second half was challenging and revealed the truth about the rape situation and the lawyer learning to move forward with her professional and personal life.

[Graham Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading this book on the train when I heard the announcement: "This train is terminating here; please exit the train Now!". And I had to suddenly re-orient myself and make a run for a connecting train that was about to depart from another platform.

It's been a while since I became so engrossed in reading something. Of course we pretty much know how it's going to end, but the journey to get there is exciting.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A criminal investigation based on view from public defender set in a high school in a community where recent immigrants have settled. Plot line and character development of PD and her relationships with others in her life kept my interest. You knew someone was wrongly accused but what really happened?

[jacqueline s. liptz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging story

This story is about loss of a loved one and how it affects your relationships and your work. How can a public defender build a case for a young man she doesn’t respect and has negative feelings about. The protagonist struggles to help this student while dealing with her personal frustrations regarding him and his culture. It was interesting and a page turner.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit worn premise teenage boy excused of locker room rape of ,local teenage girl. Public defender doesn't want the case but someone has to do it. Community threatens boy's family, boy, and public defender. The story seemed disconnected.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Cindy B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provocative and engaging this murder — legal — mystery captures interest. Profanity (F and others) sporadically ruin this (otherwise 4-1/2–5 star well-narrated read. 3-1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️🔅

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened for 4 hours. Part of the issue is it is written in first person. Others issues are: it’s boring, the audio narrator is dry, all the racial crap, I just don’t care anymore. DNF

[Houlahan houlahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it. A slow burner but the main character is so likeable, punchy, pushy and clever. Well worth your time.

[LaShana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not peak my interest

[Robyn Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

B- Audible

[Renee Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not something I’d recommend, but it’s not boring. Just not action packed. Just teen bullying and lawsuits.

[Sue Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that mimics the state of our Country today. This is fiction but could easily be a true story in any city, town or village.

[Valerie Colquhoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hated this character’s assumptions about her client and the poos representation she provides.