Plea of Insanity (Plea of Insanity - Jilliane Hoffman)

Member Name: dizzysummer03

Product:	Plea of Insanity - Jilliane Hoffman
Date:	18/09/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tackles a challenging subject which is something of a social taboo

Disadvantages: Too many unanswered question for me

Plea of Insanity is written by Jilliane Hoffman, the bestselling author of 'Retribution.' I hadn't read any of her other novels, and to be honest I think this was one of those library books that you get home, re-read the back and aren't too sure why you picked it up, but I decided to give it a shot anyway and see what I thought.

When star surgeon David Marquette's wife and three children and found viciously murdered and he himself with life threatening injuries, the evidence all points to the crime being committed by Marquette himself and worse, that he may have been behind a number of similar unsolved murders in the past, only this time one of his victims called police before they were killed and he didn't have time to escape so he turned the knife on himself, using his medical knowledge to ensure that he is not seriously injured.

Young prosecutor Julia Valenciano is flattered and thrilled to be asked to act as second seat in the states case against Marquette, and also into the bed of the chief prosecutor Rick Bellido. When Marquette enters a plea of not guilty due to insanity, Julia must fight to determine whether Marquette is truly insane or a cold-blooded psychopath who will use his medical knowledge to save himself from the death penalty.

As the trial progresses Julia must face up to the demons of her past and confront what lies ahead in her future as she struggles to understand what the nature of Marquette truly is.

I thought that this was an alright storyline, I've read a couple of novels like this before, the main downfall for me is that although they answer many of the question they raise, they also leave many unanswered and whilst some people might like speculate, personally I like they end of a book to tie up ALL the loose ends and not just some of them.

The book was well-written with flashbacks to Julia's own past interspersed into the narrative as past events are recalled to mind. You were left half wondering what the end would be, but to be honest I did think it was fairly obvious for a reasonable chunk of the book.

The story is obviously an emotional subject for the author, the brother of one of her best friends suffers from schizophrenia, so I can understand why she has written the book, however I think that the ending with Julia was really not necessary and added little, if anything to the book.

Whilst I won't be rushing out to read any of the authors other books, I would certainly read them if I came across one in my library.

Summary: It's ok, nothing more, nothing less!