The Last Plea Bargain/Giveaway

If you like John Grisham, you will LOVE Randy Singer!

Randy is a critically-acclaimed, award-winning author and veteran trial attorney.  He was recently a finalist with John Grisham and Michael Connelly for the inaugural Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction sponsored by the University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal.  
Randy runs his own law practice and was recently named to Virginia Business magazine's select list of "Legal Elite" litigation attorneys.  He also serves as a teaching pastor for Trinity Church in Virginia Beach, VA.  He calls is his "Jekyll and Hyde thing" - part lawyer, part pastor.  He teaches classes in advocacy and civil litigation at Regent Law School.
Randy and his wife, Rhonda, live in Virginia Beach and have two adult children.
You can learn more about Randy by visiting his website found at www.randysinger.net.

Randy's latest legal thriller, The Last Plea Bargain, released March 1 and is loosely drawn from a civil case where Randy represented Hamilton Somerville's daughters.  In 2002, Donna Somerville was indicted for first-degree murder of her husband, Hamilton, in Virginia.  The prosecution alleged that Donna Somerville had poisoned her husband with a legal cocktail of hospice drugs and the case drew national media attention, including a multi-page story in Vanity Fair and a Lifetime movie, Widow on the Hill.  Donna was found not guilty in the criminal case in 2004, but in 2010, she was found legally responsible for her husband's death in the civil case.

Book Synopsis:
Prosecutor Jamie Brock is known in the legal world for her refusal to plea bargain with criminals, no matter the stakes.  But despite her legal toughness, Brock is fighting her own demons as she awaits the execution of Antoine Marshall, who sits on death row convicted of murdering Brock's mother and wounding her father.  Marshall claims to have experienced a religious conversion while in jail but still holds fast to his claims of innocence.
Brock's nemesis, powerful defense attorney Caleb Tate, represented Marshall in his initial, but now faces his own challenges as he's indicted for the murder of his wife, Rikki, for allegedly poisoning her with a lethal cocktail of drugs.  Tate maintains his innocence, claiming that Rikki, a former Las Vegas show girl, was an addict, and even takes an on-air lie detector test.
Brock leads the fight against Tate for the prosecution, wanting nothing more than to nail him on the charges.  But things get crazy when someone devises a way to bring the entire justice system to a screeching halt.  To break the logjam and convict her nemesis, Jamie must violate every principle that has guided her young career.
She finds that to convict the devil, sometimes you have to cut a deal with one of his demons.



My Thoughts On The Book:
When you read as many books as I do, sometimes the more forgettable stories begin to all sound the same - similar plots and simple if all but forgettable characters.  Randy Singer, his stories and his characters do not fall in this category!  I knew when I read and reviewed his novel, False Witness,  that I was a huge fan from page one.  The Last Plea Bargain did not disappoint!  This story allows the reader to take a long hard look at revenge, mercy, and the question of where the God of justice is when tragedy strikes.  Randy's character description is genius and storytelling is superb.  He draws you into the story in the first few paragraphs and you are hanging on for dear life until the end.  If you start The Last Plea Bargain, there is no turning back until you have turned the very last page. Move over Mr. Grisham - Randy Singer is in town!

Now for the GOOD NEWS:  Thanks to the folks at Tyndale one of you can win your own copy of The Last Plea Bargain!  I'll keep this giveaway open until this Thursday, April 5th.  Here's how you can gain multiple entries for a chance to win your copy:

1. If you are not already following my blog via Google Friends, then become a follower for TWO entries.  Please leave a comment telling me you have done so.  Also, leave an email address where I can reach you in the even that you are the winner.
2. Leave a comment telling me who your favorite fiction writer is for ONE entry.
3. Go HERE to read a review of another novel I've read and reviewed recently.  Rank the review in the box provided on that post.  Come back here and leave me a comment telling me you have done so for THREE extra entries!

*The winner will receive a gift certificate for one copy of The Last Plea Bargain, which can be purchased from your local bookstore.
Thank you Tyndale for sending me a copy of The Last Plea Bargain for the purpose of review and participation in this blog tour.

Happy Reading,
Jennifer