The Protest by Rob Rinder - Review

As you know from previous reviews I'm sure, I've read all of Rob Rinder's books and I actually quite rate them as far as books written by celebrities go. I've been waiting for this for months and it finally came through on my hold at the library. I guess a lot of others wanted to read it too! 

We're back with barrister Adam Green. He's got two cases to sort out. In the first one, a protestor called Lexi is arrested on the charge of murder. She's a protestor, a little bit like one from Just Stop Oil, and she throws paint or something at this world famous artist, Max something, who is at a very fancy exhibition of his work. But there's cyanide in the paint and Max dies. Lexi is immediately arrested because everyone saw her do it, but she is insistent that she didn't mean to kill him. She was protesting, yes, but nothing more. Adam believes her, so he and the solicitor he is working under must investigate her claims. Adam doesn't like Lexy and she doesn't endear herself to the reader, either, but he wants justice for her. At the root of it Adam is a fundamentally decent  fellow who wants the best for his clients. 

Meanwhile, he is defending a soldier over the death of a fellow soldier in the last days of a conflict, something like conflict in Iraq or something like that. In this, Adam is defending in barracks not in a court, and I think the jury is made up of soldiers too. As I remember, it was easy to feel sorry for all sides here, and it was interesting to see Adam in a different setting.

As with previous books, there wasn't a lot of Adam's personal life shown. There seemed to be fewer phone calls with his mother. I would like more of a look at his personal life in the future - and maybe a significant other for him! - and I will of course I'll read the next one when it's out. I'm giving this three and a half out of five. It did drag a bit for me - I think there was a bit in the middle that was a bit woolley - but overall I enjoyed it. 

The Suspect by Rob Rinder - Review

After I previously read The Trial by Rob Rinder, I was intrigued when I heard about his next book, which stars the same barrister, Adam Green. I requested this at the library and although I had to wait a few weeks for it to arrive, it did, and I picked it up soon afterwards. I knew I wasn't able to renew it because it had other holds on it - clearly other people were keen to get to it too!

So yes, we're back in chambers with Adam Green. He's been off his probation period for a year now and he's doing well. He's doing a lot of boring, repeat offender cases. Georgina, who he did his probationary year with, is on the up and up thanks to her mentor. She will be on the side of the prosecution for what is a sensational case. The murder of Jessica, a presenter on a huge morning show. Think This Morning and you'll be close.

She died on national TV. She had an allergy to soy, and everyone on set was aware of it, including celebrity chef Sebastian. He served up a beef ragu to her which turned out to have a soy dressing on it, and she died live on air. It seems like an open and shut case, especially when it is revealed that Sebastian and Jessica had, until recently, been having an affair. 

Adam is put on the defence side. Sebastian won't say anything in defence of himself, so Adam sort of tries to investigate. It turns out Sebastian's wife Rachel was also on set that day, and there are a number of other intriguing lines to follow. Adam does, of course, because he's just like that. 

He is also on the case of a young lad whose brother is involved in gangs, and who takes the rap for his brother when guns are found in their flat. I think this case will come back in further books and may bite Adam on the bum, but he is very principled and I like that about him. 

I liked the main mystery too, it's a good one and seemed all too real. I liked the way it unravelled and I think that the pacing in this book was much better. Rob is a good writer and it's obvious he knows the setting intimately. I liked Adam's friendship with Lydia, who is the probationer this year under the same mentor that Adam had. I would like this friendship to continue. 

I can't wait for the next one! I'm giving this four out of five. 

The Trial by Rob Rinder - Review

I was intrigued when I was in the Lake District back in July and I saw this book in every book shop I went in (which was a lot. I like books). Because you know Rob Rinder, right? Also known as Judge Rinder. I never saw his TV show but I've seen him on Celebrity Gogglebox and I also liked his documentary about his family and the Holocaust. I'm also quite interested in the phenomenon of celebrities turning to writing books, which I've talked about before. So I was intrigued enough to give this a go. 

First off I have to say that Rob is actually a decent writer. The writing flows perfectly well for me. There's a sprinkling of humour throughout. The plot flows really well; one of my only criticisms is that I feel like the end all came together a bit quickly. I also think that this reads a lot like the first in a trilogy or a series, and I wouldn't be sad about that because the writing is good. Better than some writers for sure! 

Secondly, I know that Rob was a barrister and judge so it's no surprise that the main character, Adam, is also a barrister. There are bits in the book that I think "Oh that definitely must have happened" whether it's something in court or something in chambers, and whether it's something good or something bad. 

So, Adam is a trainee barrister. He's twenty five. He's on a tenancy year (I think that's the name) alongside another trainee, Georgina, and at the end of the year he or she will be taken on permanently. So it's a big deal. And Adam feels like he's been failing the whole time. Georgina is much more outgoing, much more social, and she has the backing of her pupil master. Adam doesn't fully get how to play the game, and his master is Jonathan. Jonathan is a serial adulterer, and he's quite lazy as a lawyer and gets Adam to do a bunch of donkey work. They have one case with a guy called Kavanagh, who has been accused of fraud, and who Jonathan is trying to keep on the good side of because he has a lot of money. Then Adam's mum is always on the phone to him trying to set him up with young (Jewish) girls his age and he's trying to fob her off. So that's where we find Adam at the beginning of the book. 

Right at the beginning of the book a police officer is giving evidence in a trial. He is Grant Cliveden and he's somewhat of a celebrity - he used to be a bodyguard for the Queen and once saved her from an assassination attempt, and then he's brought down a bunch of big time drug rings, and he's been on TV a lot. He's known. He is in the Old Bailey giving evidence when he has a funny turn and ultimately ends up dying. At first they think he's had a stroke, but then it turns out he's been poisoned. 

There's one suspect: Jimmy Knight. Jimmy had a few convictions for petty crimes in his youth, and was then banged up ten years ago for armed robbery of the post office he was working in. He swears he didn't do it and that Cliveden framed him. He's been out for two weeks and met up with Cliveden in a nearby pub on the day of his death. Plus his laptop shows that he was googling Cliveden when released, and there's a phone found in his flat which had sent messages to Cliveden. Jimmy maintains that the phone isn't his, and says he didn't do it. He can't really explain himself but is adamant he didn't do it. 

The case is on a legal aid basis so Jonathan wants to spend as little time on it as possible. But Adam kind of believes that Jimmy didn't do it. He starts investigating - but that threatens his own life because he has secrets in his past that he doesn't want to come to light in his current profession.

I liked Adam a lot and I liked the story. I did guess some of the twists, but didn't mind it. I'm giving this four out of five.