Rachel Dylan: Deadly Proof

By Kelly Bridgewater

In the biggest case of her career, attorney Kate Sullivan is tapped as lead counsel to take on Mason Pharmaceutical because of a corporate cover-up related to its newest drug. After a whistleblower dies, Kate knows the stakes are much higher than her other lawsuits.

Former Army Ranger turned private investigator Landon James is still haunted by mistakes made while serving overseas. Trying to forget the past, he is hired by Kate to look into the whistleblower's allegation and soon suspects that the company may be engaging in a dangerous game for profit. He also soon finds himself falling for this passionate and earnest young lawyer.

Determined not to make the same mistakes, he's intent on keeping Kate safe, but as the case deepens, it appears someone is willing to risk everything--even murder--to keep the case from going to trial.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

I enjoy a good legal thriller. When most people think of legal thrillers, they usually think of John Grisham. In the Christian genre, there have been Robert Whitlow, James Scott Bell, and Cara Putnam, but now they're is a new author to add to this list. Rachel Dylan. Dylan has written a number of romantic suspense for Love Inspired Supense, but this is her first full-length novel with Bethany House Publishers. With a legal thriller, I expect to be drawn into the legal world with a hint of mystery on the edges of the novel.

The writing was clear and concise. I had no problem imagining the scene and following the numerous characters throughout the novel. Dylan has a good grasp on point of view and took a good tour of the story. I never was confused with who the speaker was. Even though, there was four main characters who had the opportunity to tell their stories.

As for the characters, there were four main characters. Kate, Ethan, Nicole, and Landon all shared the point of view for the story. Kate was the main lawyer who Dylan wanted you to follow since she started the book in her point of view. Kate is a vibrant lawyer who stands up for what she believes and has worked hard for her climbing position in her law firm. Ethan is a fellow lawyer friend, who stands by what he believes, but as the story progresses, he stands to question what he stands for. I believe Landon is the love interest, and Nicole is a fellow lawyer at Ethan's office.

As a plot, Dylan does a great job at showing the inner workings of a lawyer's daily job. I learned more about what they do on a daily basis and was wrapped up in the lawyer's world. The story rings authentic and doesn't make me doubt anything she wrote about lawyer. For the mystery, it didn't really ring true to me. While the story was trudging along, Dylan would slip in an incident for Kate to be in that would allow her life to be threaten, and for Kate to call Landon and bring him into the story. I really didn't think the mystery was realistic to stay in the story. It didn't a little bit of work.

The romance appeared way too rush for me too. Once Landon and Kate meet, they are starting to fall in love with each other. Kate would get in trouble and Landon would come rescue her. Their emotions happened way too fast. I wanted to see their relationship slowly develop, not happen at their first encounter. As sad as this is, the spiritual element seemed a little too over the top. It felt like preachy to me. It was a little over the top.

Overall, Deadly Proof by Rachel Dylan is a fresh new voice in the legal romantic suspense genre. While the legal plot held my attention, I really didn't enjoy the suspense or the romance. They seemed too one-dimensional for the story.

I received a complimentary copy of Deadly Proof by Rachel Dylan from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

 

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars