STATE'S EVIDENCE

Author: R. Barri Flowers ISBN: 0843955716 4/2006 SUSPENSE Publisher: DORCHESTER

In Eagles Landing, California, Assistant District Attorney Beverly Mendoza has been selected to prosecute a disturbing case, the brutal murder of a local judge and the rape of his wife. The defendant, Rafael Santiago, once vowed to get revenge against the judge for sending him to prison, and the judge’s wife picked him out of a line-up. It seems like an open-and-shut case. But appearances can be very deceiving. At the same time, homicide detective Stone Palmer is investigating the rape and strangling of a young woman. Career criminal Manuel Gonzalez is in custody for the crime, but he pulls the rug out from everyone when he claims he’s the one who murdered the judge. Could it be a case of mistaken identity? Or two desperate, violent men out to manipulate and beat the system?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Warning, I'm writing a sexist review: Men cannot write romance. Men think sex is romance. They are wrong. R Barri Flowers's book STATE'S EVIDENCE is a well-written thriller with an opening scene that would cause anyone to keep turning the pages, but it's not romantic.

Now, on his side, R. Barri probably didn't write the book as a romance anyway. He wrote a crime novel and Dorchester sent the book to RRAH for review. He probably cares more what Stateman's Journal thinks of his work than what I think of it.

What I think of it, however, is that STATE'S EVIDENCE will make the top sellers list because it's fast-paced, intriguing, satisfying, and I highly recommend it to you.

Cynthia Whitten