Fabulous plot which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to other fans of this genre!!

The literary marketing firm, Little Bird Publicity, provided a free copy of An Equal Justice, by Chad Zunker, in exchange for an honest review. It’s a legal mystery/thriller that explores the plight of the homeless, as well as corruption in huge law firms. In this book I learned that, while some homelessness is due to mental illness and chronic disability, the single greatest cause of homelessness is due to the catastrophic loss of family.

Fresh out of law school, David Adams takes a position at the large and prestigious firm of Hunter & Kellerman in Austin, Texas. On day one, Nick, an associate tells him to get out while he can. The next day Nick is found dead.

Soon David finds himself entangled in a maze of power, greed, murder, and political ambition. Growing up poor, David, his sister, and their mother had a brief period of homelessness, and David vows never to be hungry again.

After Benny, a homeless man saves his life, David gives him clothes and food. They becomes friends and Benny, a former Naval intelligence officer, introduces David to his friends at The Camp, a tent enclave built by and for homeless men. It is the men’s faith that keeps them going, and it gradually becomes apparent that the men at The Camp may hold a key to solving the conspiracy that has led to several recent murders.

I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful tale. Mystery lovers everywhere will enjoy An Equal Justice, and will be happy to know Mr. Zunker is already at work on another David Adams book.

What made The Grumpy Book Reviewer grumpy?

Incorrect word usage: “real” vs. “really”, “whom” vs. “who”;
Foreign language words not italicized;
A minor syntax problem;
Beginning sentences with conjunctions;
A large number of split infinitives.

With hundreds of reviews, there's nothing I can add of any value. The high ratings say it all. If you like legal thrillers (and maybe if you don't) this is probably for you.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

David is ambitious and clever. A Stanford graduate his background leaves a lot to be desired. Grinding poverty, a mother who died young and a sister who made sure he did not lose track is his history which he has not forgotton. In the heady atmosphere of a swanky law firm, with untold riches and a bright financial future ahead of him David knows the path is competitive and hard but he is determined to get to the top.

What David did not get is that within the hard work, there is a dark thread of intimidation, corruption, even murder and conspiracies by the dozen. Getting embroiled in them was easy, getting out of it was hard and when the murders hit close to someone who has got close to him, the whole story starts unraveling.

Depicted as a legal thriller, this is also a coming of age story and a rags to riches story. All well told.

An Equal Justice is an engaging story about innocence meeting evil. Author Chad Zunker builds a convincing plot, built around characters who care. That said, many of the characters are not well-developed. The lawyers do not come across well.
The Benny character may be the most complex. How can we accept him as a homeless figure who also wants to invest big time? Who owns a fancy camera? Who sets up a spy camera in the office of the villain? Why did he accumulate all that information on David before he even met him? A lot is left unsaid.
At the same time we are expected to believe that David is a number one student with a brain desired by multiple law firms? Yet he is so stupid to spend a fortune on his first days as a lawyer.
He is the character for whom we are expected to root, and root I did, but still, a more believable character would have been helpful.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Loved this book.. First for me from this author. Like the homeless connectiin. And anything about lawyers and I'm in. Can't wait for the next one.

Thanks to the publisher abs netgalley for an early release of this book.

Review is from East Coast Don at menreadingbooks.blogspot.com. I agree with his review and criticisms. Still, it's a good, entertaining fast-paced read.
David Adams is flush with his Stanford Law diploma and accepts a job back in his home state with an upscale Austin corporate law firm. His goal is simple: make a lot of money. His history includes a period of time living homeless in a camper with his mom and older sister. After his mom dies while he was in high school, he started making some bad choices until in older sister brought him back in line. A knee injury cut short his college QB aspirations, so he pours his efforts into school, gets accepted by Stanford where he graduates in the Top 10.

When he arrives in Austin, he keeps up the work effort setting records for billable hours, but a slightly older version of himself advises him to be careful with his workload and lust for money. David thinks it’s just alcohol talking and drives him home. The next day, the firm is stunned to find out that guy committed suicide. Sad news, but David carries one and a random pool game results in a hot young thing taking a liking to David and shows him how to look and act now that he is on the rise.

Taking a shortcut walk home late one night, David is mugged in an alley only to be saved by a homeless guy named Benny. The mugger beats up on Benny, and in a fit of guilt and some humanity, David takes Benny to David’s apartment and cleans him up. Benny is grateful for David’s hospitality and invites David to the encampment where Benny lives and David is rapidly accepted by the ‘residents’ of the camp.

The suicide of the associate spooks David and a couple of odd coincidences make David think one of the senior partners may be connected. A few months later, Benny is found dead from a gunshot in a forgotten alley and one of the members of The Camp is arrested. As David takes up the case, the senior partner goes ballistic to straighten David out. Obviously, something ain’t right.

A newly accredited lawyer who pulled himself up from lowly beginnings takes a job at a high-powered law firm only to find they’ve got something to hide. Sound familiar? The main difference between this and many other legal thrillers is that David’s humanity is directed to the Austin homeless population, which is apparently where Zunker has become a strong advocate. While the story is not autobiographical, Zunker has drawn much from his own experience to pen this book.

It’s short, only about 200 pages, and is easily read on a travel day. The tale unfolds rapidly with enough twists to keep you interested. But it’s lack of depth to the backstory was, for me, a disappointment. It’s a good story, just not a lot of meat to it. Think of it as a lighter variation on The Firm.

The first in a series that centers around a rookie lawyer who moves to the big city of Austin and enters the workforce in a large competitive law firm and in his first week, another lawyer is found dead supposedly from suicide and before dying he gives David Adams some crazy advice. David gets swept into a mystery and must use his new law school skills to investigate and get to the bottom of something.

With the first three chapters giving the reader glimpses, it takes a few chapters to get your bearings and understand who is what and how they could all be connected. As a reader of the mystery/thriller genre, I have come to realize that when I find out the ending and I feel as though I got it too soon, I am disappointed and that happened in this book. I could predict the ending early and I was bummed about it!

Even though I knew the ending pretty early, I still enjoyed the book and mostly because I thought it felt it was unique. The way the characters were linked was interesting and made for a good story. I appreciated that you could see where David's unique past connected him to the mystery in this book, those where great moments.

I would be intrigued to try book two in this series and see if there is some maturing from book one to the next and to see if the mystery has a little more hidden within it.

This is a case of if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. From a poor background, newly qualified attorney David Adams has been recruited as an associate at Hunter & Kellerman, the most distinguished law firm in Austin, Texas. He was offered 20% more than much larger firms in San Francisco and New York, plus $20,000 for joining the team. Believing he has secured his dream job David makes the most of his change in fortunes. But the supposed suicide of another intern gives him pause for thought.

'“I drove Nick home that night, helped him get into his house.”

“Damn. Really? You may have been the last person to see him alive. Police said his girlfriend found him yesterday morning.”

David thought about the guy he’d spotted outside Nick’s house.'

Mentored by Thomas Gray, David is soon working punishing hours, to keep on top of his workload and ahead of the competition, unaware he’s being monitored. After a rare night out he is threatened at knifepoint. A homeless man, Benny, comes to his aid and through him David is introduced to the other homeless people who live at ‘The Camp’, tucked away on the outskirts of the city.

An Equal Justice showcases the best and worst of human nature. The story is entertaining, and as David begins to realise all is not as it seems at Hunter & Kellerman, one of his new street friends is murdered.

'He couldn’t believe it. They’d found him. He’d been so careful. The plan had seemed perfect. But he’d clearly underestimated their reach.'

David faces a clear choice—ignore what he suspects or give up his dream and all that goes with it to fight for justice. It’s a well written book, maybe tied up a little too neatly but it highlights a social issue that needs addressing. I love that Benny’s dream has become a reality in Austin. There’s a good mix of topics, including homelessness, murder, a mystery from the past and deciding what are the most important things in life. There’s a definite Christian feel to the story, which isn’t overwhelming. A quick, easy and clean read that keeps a steady pace and I think this book says a lot about the author’s own principles.

David Adams is flush with his Stanford Law diploma and accepts a job back in his home state with an upscale Austin corporate law firm. His goal is simple: make a lot of money. His history includes a period of time living homeless in a camper with his mom and older sister. After his mom dies while he was in high school, he started making some bad choices until in older sister brought him back in line. A knee injury cut short his college QB aspirations, so he pours his efforts into school, gets accepted by Stanford where he graduates in the Top 10.

When he arrives in Austin, he keeps up the work effort setting records for billable hours, but a slightly older version of himself advises him to be careful with his workload and lust for money. David thinks it’s just alcohol talking and drives him home. The next day, the firm is stunned to find out that guy committed suicide. Sad news, but David carries one and a random pool game results in a hot young thing taking a liking to David and shows him how to look and act now that he is on the rise.

Taking a shortcut walk home late one night, David is mugged in an alley only to be saved by a homeless guy named Benny. The mugger beats up on Benny, and in a fit of guilt and some humanity, David takes Benny to David’s apartment and cleans him up. Benny is grateful for David’s hospitality and invites David to the encampment where Benny lives and David is rapidly accepted by the ‘residents’ of the camp.

The suicide of the associate spooks David and a couple of odd coincidences make David think one of the senior partners may be connected. A few months later, Benny is found dead from a gunshot in a forgotten alley and one of the members of The Camp is arrested. As David takes up the case, the senior partner goes ballistic to straighten David out. Obviously, something ain’t right.

A newly accredited lawyer who pulled himself up from lowly beginnings takes a job at a high-powered law firm only to find they’ve got something to hide. Sound familiar? The main difference between this and many other legal thrillers is that David’s humanity is directed to the Austin homeless population, which is apparently where Zunker has become a strong advocate. While the story is not autobiographical, Zunker has drawn much from his own experience to pen this book.

It’s short, only about 200 pages, and is easily read on a travel day. The tale unfolds rapidly with enough twists to keep you interested. But it’s lack of depth to the backstory was, for me, a disappointment. It’s a good story, just not a lot of meat to it. Think of it as a lighter variation on The Firm.

An Equal Justice is like the perfect recipe with all the right ingredients, but then the chef forgets to add the spices.

The story starts with several unconnected narrating characters whose stories eventually converge. It's easy to follow, but the pace is slow, meandering along as we spend way more time than necessary dwelling on David's poor childhood and his current obsession with wealth.

When we finally get to the heart of the story, it feels too contrived, too much of a plot-by-the-numbers. Something's missing. I experienced this story intellectually but not emotionally. I didn't feel anything.

The finally quarter of the book picks up, rushing us toward a dramatic conclusion.

In the end, this is short, quick read that doesn't live up to its potential.

Overall, I liked the book, particularly the homeless angle
Quite reminiscent of The Firm with likable characters and dastardly ones

Terrific book! Zunker does not disappoint. Loved the story and the characters. Loved learning something new about Austin, and can't wait to see what happens in the next book.