A fun engaging read that I couldn't put down. I love legal thrillers and this was a great one. I forward to reading more by this author

They've been looking to change that law for a long time. Looking for the perfect case to do it with. So when they found a black kid with three white kids willing to testify against him, they jumped on it. Black kid with three white accusers don't stand a chance with a jury here. A gambler's jury. A nick name used by defense attorneys - a jury with a case where a any rational person would acquit, but they might convict because of race.

Defense Attorney Dani Rollins wears her emotions on her sleeves. She has a dysfunctional background that pretty much keeps her dysfunctional in her personal life. She is reeled in by her son who sees his mother as she really is. It is a sweet relationship. However, her ex is another story which shows her vulnerability and weakness. Her job as a defense attorney shows her strength in compassion.

A case against a challenged young black male that is literally dumped by his parents on to her door step. She takes the case reluctantly but as the oppression against this young man is brought on by the state and his parents, Rollins is in her prime. Mercy and justice. It is what she fights for and it is her story that should fire up mercy and justice for us readers.

A Special Thank You to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Gambler’s Jury is a stellar book by Victor Methos, an author (and attorney) who is known for his well-written legal thrillers.  

In Gambler’s Jury attorney Dani Rollins, agrees to represent a mentally impaired teenager accused of planning and executing a drug deal.  Assuming it will be a simple matter to settle the case, Dani is blind-sided by the prosecutors who move to try her client as an adult and will seek a felony conviction.  The situation becomes even more dire as Dani begins to uncover their true motivations and what that will mean for her client, Teddy.  Dani is a flawed character who drinks too much and has a reputation for aggressiveness in the courtroom.  But, even though she tries to remain impassive, Dani soon develops an attachment to her client. 

I found this book to be a compelling story; well-written and oh-so believable.  The character development is excellent and the story moves along at a nice pace. As the reader I felt frustrated and angry that a legal system can be manipulated by a handful of lawyers and judges. But, Dani builds her defense and it is satisfying to think that there are attorneys who are are willing and able to deal with this type of corruption. And it does give the reader hope.  I highly recommend this book as well as any other book written by Victor Methos.

Defense attorney Dani Rollins takes on the case of a mentally challenged boy accused of selling drugs. It soon becomes apparent that there is more involved here than a straightforward drug case. No matter what she does, her case is struck down over and over, and she soon suspects that her client is being used as a scapegoat for something more sinister. When her client’s parents abandon him, she finds herself becoming more personally involved than she should be.

Another excellent courtroom drama by Victor Methos.

Defense attorney Danielle Rollins has fought a lot of losing battles: left by her mom, her husband, and a variety of clients. But her latest case looks to be the surest loss of all as the judge, DA, cops, and witnesses pull out all stops to stack the deck against her. If that weren’t enough, her client is a black, mentally-challenged youth (in Utah) who is unable/unwilling to defend himself. Even more obstacles are presented to prevent a successful outcome, but Dani refuses to give up. Her fight against demons of her own making and otherwise has the reader cheering for her and questioning our “justice” system.

This was the first book I have read by this author. It was a fast fun read that I would recommend to others.

Book Review: A Gambler's Jury by Victor Methos

Prime members were introduced to the author's "The Neon Lawyer, Brigham Theodore 1" featured in Prime Reading's debut last year.

"Every legal novel I've written is based on a case I actually had." - V.M. His unique writing style and deep legal experience smoothly blend to cut incisively and informatively to the bone and portray realistic plots, sticky binds and a variety of colorful characters, if at times flawed.

In "A Gambler's Jury", the protagonist is an impetuous, stubborn, maudlin, love-starved Aeschylus figure and glorified closet alcoholic who drowns her sorrows every once too often in the juice. As the plot and characters develop, the reader will need to resolutely trudge through 57% of the book with one too many bar scenes before the significance of a "gambler's jury" is finally revealed.

At the 90% mark, the goose is cooked and the little guy loses once gain. Or so may one think.

You'll need an open mind as the leftist activist bend in the writer emerges with political talking points, identity politics and the moral equivalence of infidelity.

"Reality doesn't have to make sense." The author stretches the mantra to proffer a vast right wing conspiracy with the D.A., district court, legislators and the supreme court of a state colluding to black voter suppression. Creative, but definitely not in the author's legal resume. But then great authors often challenge hot button issues.

Still the fine writing adds up to a page-turning, pleasant reading experience. Four to five-star reads in all I've thus far read, along with "Neon Lawyer, and book 2, "Mercy", and Noah Byron in "An Invisible Client".

This review is based on an ARC (Advance Reading Copy), with many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Victor Methos for the privilege.

Thank you to netgalley and the author/publisher for a free copy of A GAMBLER'S JURY in exchange for an honest review.

What a heart-wrenching, difficult read this one was for me. Honestly, I was not hooked in the first 15% or so of the book, but once the story started picking up, I was completely absorbed in every page. This book follows a court case of a mentally handicapped teen who gets himself mixed up in a drug bust. Dani, his attorney is on a mission to find out how he is being held responsible for an intricately planned drug exchange, when he is unable to care for himself independently.

Over the course of the case, Dani develops a friendship with Teddy and, even though I found myself not caring for Dani in the beginning of the book, her abrasive and direct behavior grew on me and I found her a bit enduring by the end. I really enjoyed this courtroom drama. It had unforeseen twists, a bit of humor, roller coaster emotions and likeable characters, especially sweet Teddy. I would love to read more about Dani and her quirky excursions through the questionable court system. I can only hope she may pop up in another book in the future.

Dani Rollins is at a low point in life, as she is an alcoholic lawyer that shows up to hungover. She has a habit of only taking cases where she knows that the client is guilty and more likely to plead guilty. Despite her flaws, Dani accepts the case of Teddy Thorne, who is mentally challenged and accused of being a drug runner. The case appears to be another simple open and close case, but that changes due to political goals. Dani begins to fear that her client's life is in danger and will stop at nothing to defend him. This book is very timely, as it deals with racially motivated convictions. This is a book that you need to set aside a block of time to read, as you will not want to put it down once you start reading!

Some of this is not new- Dani is an attorney with issues, there's a conspiracy etc.- but gosh this was an entertaining fast read. The basic is that when Dani takes on the case of Teddy, a teen who is mentally challenged, sh didn't expect it to become what it is. Not too complicated but it is, actually. Methos has put his personal knowledge of the courts to good use and has written a legal thriller that actually is. Dani is very sympathetic (even when you don't like her) and Teddy, well, you'd take on his case as well. No spoilers but suffice it to say this is one you will gulp down. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A very different kind of lawyer- one you love and hate at the same time. You just want to tell her to shut -up at times but in the end she is effective!!! Gotta love her passion and fearlessness for the underdog and social justice.

★★★★ A Gambler’s Jury ~ Victor Methos ★★★★
***Release Date: February 28, 2018***

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Thomas & Mercer and author Victor Methos for a free advanced reader’s copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Gambler’s jury (def) - a jury with a case where any rational person would acquit, but they might convict because of race

Dani Rollins’ life is in shambles. And surely at the beginning of A Gambler’s Jury one does not have much confidence in her abilities. An alcoholic lawyer who often begins her days “biting the dog that bit her”, she shows up to court hungover and disheveled. She purposely takes cases where she knows the client is guilty because nine times out of ten they’ll take the plea. When she does appear in court she is a nothing less than a smart ass. A sharp tongue with no filter she takes on judges in open court. Dani is certainly flawed but when she takes on the case of young Teddy Thorne, a mentally challenged boy accused of drug running, her compassion shows. What she believes at first to be a simple open and shut case soon becomes one dictated by political aspirations. Fearing that her innocent client’s life hangs in the balance Dani risks everything in this David vs. Goliath legal thriller.

Victor Methos is a former trial lawyer and prosecutor with over 50 novels under his belt. His appreciation for the plight of the little guy stands front and center in his work. As with all of his novels A Gambler’s Jury is based off of real life cases. Fast paced gritty noir, this novel deals with racially motivated convictions and juvenile incarceration.

The main character: When we first meet her, she is hungover and racing to get to her court appearance, wearing the same clothes from the night before. From that, I immediately thought she was not professional and didn't take her job seriously. Boy was I wrong. Danielle Rollins tells all of her clients to call her Dani. This turns her from a high and mighty lawyer to a personable lawyer that is caring for each and every one of her clients. She is really looking out for their best interest and not trying to get money from them. Her humor combined with her compassion made my view of her do a 360.

This compassion and her son's opinion is what makes her accept a case she has an immediate bad feeling about. The case involves a black mentally challenged teenager that somehow was caught in a drug selling scenario. Although the boy seems like he would not be mentally capable of pulling off something as planned as this, the white witnesses' testimonies were stacked against him. Dani felt the odds were stacked against her when she found out the reasoning for why the case was pushed through the system so quickly that not a month after the arrest, his court was scheduled. Race played a major issue in this case and Dani tried to convince everyone to see her client for what he was (mentally disabled) not for the color of his skin.

On top of all this going on, she was dealing with her own personal issues of an ex husband, who she still believed she loved but cheated on, was moving on with his life and had a new fiance.

The case was detailed out like a criminal case would play out in a courtroom. The author is also a criminal lawyer and stated in his author's note that his books always uses real cases with names and details changed. It's hard to believe that something like this situation would occur in the world today but when you think of the issues with race in this country, it is possible.

At the end of the trial, when the jurors were about to announce their verdict, I was laying in bed knowing I needed to go to bed but wanting to know the outcome. Surely this book had a happy ending. Surely the jury would not be swayed by the prosecution. Even though I knew the client's side, I couldn't see how the jury could believe the prosecution. You could just tell how the witnesses were using the same exact story down to the details and yet when Dani came at them with hard questions, their answers differed because none of them were prepared for that question. You could tell from the client's time on the stand that he wasn't mentally there. Yet, I was wrong, and the jury took the side of the prosecution. I am an emotional person so there I was as tired as I could be, bawling my eyes out over a character in a book that I did not know but had grown to love from the two days I read about him.

A plot-twist at the end ended my crying and made me glad for the happy ending I was wanting.

All in all, I didn't expect this book to have the correct information when it came to court cases. But, being a criminal justice major and having a love to read court cases for fun, this book was correct in it's representation of a criminal court case. This book is the first book I have read this year and I cannot wait to recommend it to my mystery fiction loving friends. This is a book that has topped my charts. Now, I want to read other books from this author.