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Judgment Calls Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Judgment Calls


When a distant voice tells an Iowa farmer (Costner) to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield, he obliges to the request. Soon, Shoeless Joe Jackson (Liotta) and others return from the dead to play a game. Jackson hadn't played much since he was banned from the major leagues for participating in the Black Sox scandal of 1919. Even the novelist (James Earl Jones) shows up at the diamond. The phrase "If you build it, they will come" has become such a popular catchphrase in the major leagues that it has inspired the building of Baltimore's Camden Yards, Cleveland's Jacobs Field, and Turner Field in Atlanta, to name a few.
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The review of this Book prepared by Teddy






Henry Holt, July 2003, 23.00, 352 pp.
ISBN 0805073868

Thirteen years old Kendra Martin turns tricks to fund her heroin habit. Two johns pull her into their car, beat her, sodomize and rape her. They leave her for dead in an isolated park. Two Samaritans find her and call 911. The emergency room doctors save her life. After she recovers she identifies one of the perpetrators as Frank Derringer, an ex-con out on parole who is supposed to stay away from underage girls as the condition for his continued freedom.

Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid goes against the advice of her immediate superior and decides to charge Derringer with numerous felonies that will put him away for a long time. At first her case looks solid but Frank's defense attorney makes such a compelling argument that a serial killer committed the crime that her boss and his superior force her to drop out of the prosecution. Samantha isn't willing to let the case slip away from her and see justice perverted so she starts her own independent investigation, an action that almost gets her killed.

Alafair Burke, the daughter of well renowned crime thriller writer James Lee Burke, has inherited her father's talent for writing a compelling and enthralling novel. This legal thriller has plenty of action scenes, surprises and courtroom scenes so readers will find themselves thoroughly enjoying JUDGMENT CALLS which is, as hard as it is to believe, the author's debut novel. The protagonist has a vulnerable side that will endear her to readers as well as a bulldog tenacity that allows her to do her job in spite of overwhelming odds. This reviewer can't wait for the second Samantha Kincaid legal thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner



Chapter Analysis of Judgment Calls

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Plot & Themes

Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases 10%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 40%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 30%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 20% Tone of story    -   very humorous How difficult to spot villain?    -   Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story:    -   2000+ (Present) Time/era of movie:    -   1980's-1999 Kind of sports story:    -   baseball What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?    -   50% Kind of investigator    -   police procedural, American Kid or adult book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Sports story?    -   Yes Legal Thriller    -   Yes Legal Plotlets    -   finding out whether someone is really guilty Crime Thriller    -   Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown)    -   Yes

Main Character

Gender    -   Female Identity:    -   Male Profession/status:    -   a lawyer creature    -   farmer Age:    -   20's-30's    -   20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality    -   White American Ethnicity/Race    -   White/American

Setting

United States    -   Yes    -   Yes The US:    -   Pacific NW    -   Midwest Farm/Ranch?    -   Yes Farm/Ranch:    -   farm    -   lot of descript of crop raising

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   generic/vague references to death/punishment    -   no torture/death Any profanity?    -   Occasional swearing Amount of dialog    -   significantly more dialog than descript

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