Having read the previous 3 books in this series, as well as all Marcia Clark's other novels, I was very much looking forward to this latest book about Samantha Brinkman, an LA-based defence attorney, and it didn't disappoint. Having finally found herself in a happy relationship, her world is turned upside down when her boyfriend Niko is involved in an investment scandal which leads to him becoming a suspect in a murder. As she attempts to prove his innocence she is forced to question how well she knows him as his secrets are uncovered. The irony is that Samantha has her own secrets, both personally and professionally.

What Clark does well over the series is create a likeable but flawed individual in Samantha, as well as interesting supporting characters - Michy, her childhood friend who runs her office, Alex her investigator and Dale her police detective father. There were plenty of twists and turns which kept me guessing and ensured it was an engrossing enjoyable read to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Defense attorney Samantha Brinkman is back in Book 4 of the series with her three-person legal office. She has apparently become majorly involved with Niko. He is gorgeous and well-to-do. Unfortunately, he is also the person who advised his mother to invest in a money scheme too good to be true and she's lost everything.

Niko's financial contact is just the tip of the iceberg and this multi-plot gets complex real fast. Niko has a couple holes in his alibis and Sam begins to detect lies and sins of omission. She is getting serious about him, but is now torn between his possible guilt when the second guy coordinating the scheme goes missing. Now she's really up a creek, positive one minute Niko did it and vowing to defend him. Did he kill one--or both of them?
I had a few problems with this one. Sam is fighting nightmares of her step-dad from childhood and she's sleepless over Niko. She is discussing things with both her assistant/associates that would be considered not only very personal, but privileged, and discussing illegal activity--theirs. There is little time devoted to any courtroom appearances--most is running down leads, contacts, other investors, and the well-plotted mystery gets more complicated. More a whodunit than legal thriller.

I enjoyed descriptions of the area and legendary traffic jambs, travel into insanely rich neighborhoods of the LA basin. There were twists and the conclusion came as a surprise. Sam, still acting more PI than attorney, managed to pull a fast one and gain some long-desired resolution. Certainly a win-win. There is profane language as well as frank deviant behaviors. My second book with the author having read Snap Judgment, I really prefer more legal/courtroom action, less romance. I received this digital download from the publisher and NetGalley and appreciated the opportunity to continue in the series.

Samantha Brinkman is one of my favorite attorney characters in book form. She has been through so much in her life and she can rationalize doing some unsavory acts if the situation warrants it. Her co-workers, Michy and Alex, are the perfect compliment to her personality.

Sam has never been able to have a real intimate relationship with a man before Niko. She is unsure of her feelings and she is scared. When Niko is pulled into a murder and disappearance investigation, Sam is forced to re-examine her relationship and her trust.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and this book did not fall short. It had me guessing to the very end.

Samantha Brinkman, Attorney, is back again with a boyfriend in tow. Nico is a well-to-do entrepreneur. He is also Sam's client.

He's now become a person of interest in the murder of an investor who made off with a lit of money ... Nico's, the friends he recommended, his own mother, as well as many others. When another investor disappears, the cops start looking for the victims, and they're paying really close attention to Nico.

Nico has some secrets from the past ... secrets he's not shared with Sam.. at least until now. As Sam’s feverish search for another viable killer begins, the investigation only leads deeper into Niko’s past and its secrets.

This has been an excellent series ... I just wish the author could write as fast as I read. It's action-packed with surprises here and there. I like these characters and how they relate to each other. Samantha is suspicious of Nico ... is he lying? Could he have murdered for revenge? Nico may have his secrets, but so does Sam .... and she's not willing to share those. Sam also has a unique relationship with her father ... a man she only met recently...and who happens to be a detective.

Although 4th in the series, this one stands easily as a stand alone. There's just enough information about Sam's life that will whet your appetite for more. I highly recommend starting at the very beginning.

Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the advance digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

For most of the first half of the book, I thought this was going to be the first novel by Marcia Clark where I didn’t find issues that dragged down the star rating. By the time I was through, my feelings had turned in the opposite direction.

The plot introduction was intriguing. The heroine, lawyer Samantha Brickman, wades through the clues as she tries to determine exactly what happened. Unfortunately, her boyfriend Niko is a prime suspect, and Samantha uses every trick she can to find the evidence to prove him innocent. The book is almost like a police procedural, as the author has Samantha and her investigator Alex pounding the pavement following up on leads. This is Ms. Clark’s five-star element.

It is difficult to explain exactly the major issues I had with “Final Judgment.” I will try to be vague, but those concerned they may learn too much should skip this paragragh. Samantha has a character trait which permits her to follow through with vigilante justice. In short, she has no reason not to kill someone if it is a criminal and the only way she feels justice can be served. While I might accept that she is able to balance the moral aspect with her personal thoughts, it becomes harder to swallow when everyone close to her feels the same way. It was impossible to suspend disbelief and the story descends to a level of questionable fiction.

The book could have been a tighter read if Ms. Clark could have cut a meal out here and there and suspended some of the banter. While I realize this helps to establish characters, it doesn’t have to be carried to a point where I am with Samantha for every meal of the day and privy to what she and everyone with her ate. Cutting the banter down would not destroy the relationships. Eliminating some of these scenes (many that did not have any conversations about the plot) would have prevented the book from slowing to a crawl during many of these instances.

Bottom line: For me, although “Final Judgment” is the strongest effort I have read so far from Ms. Clark, I still found myself shaking my head at the end of the story. The contradictory character traits were dismaying, and I was frustrated as what could have been a good book slowly slid from the heights it could have achieved. Fans of the author will probably love this book. I found it to be a mix of good and not so good. Three stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.

Another great Samantha Brinkman story by Marcia Clark! I’m a fan of the great main characters - Sam and her two best friends / employees - and how she isn’t afraid to give justice a helpful nudge.

Final Judgement is an entertaining and suspenseful legal thriller. It was fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time!

I honestly didn’t know Final Judgement was book number 4 in a series; but it is. It’s part of the Samantha Brinkman series by Marcia Clark, which starts in book 1 Blood Defense.

Truthfully though, it didn’t change anything of my reading experience that I hadn’t read the first three books. If there was a mention of an event that happened in a previous book, the narrator briefly explains it and you’re immediately up to speed. It didn’t confuse me or at any point made me misunderstand a situation in Final Judgement. Of course, because I liked Final Judgement so much, I recommend going to read the first three books, and I will do that myself.

Now, I’m a big fan of suspense and thriller novels, but I’m not a huge reader of legal thrillers. This book really made me want to dive more into that genre, it was that good!

I never found the story to be dragging, it was fast-paced and kept me on my toes. Honestly, I read 75% in 24 hours. I thought I wouldn’t understand some of the legal procedures and jargon, but it turns out I know more than I thought!

I really liked the main character and narrator, Samantha Brinkman. Although her childhood trauma was difficult to understand, having myself not lived through such trauma, I still found her to be a sympathetic character, one I could relate to on some levels.

The investigation the characters go through to help Samantha’s boyfriend and client is very well thought-of and fascinating. I really followed along the story, without really having any idea where it would take me. I quite enjoyed the many surprises and twists.

All in all, I’m a big fan of Marcia Clark’s Final Judgement and I definitely recommend the series to fans of legal thrillers. This one opened my eyes to this genre and I can’t wait to dive into more legal novels!

Despite not reading of the previous books in this series, I was able to follow along with the plot and characters without any confusion or it affecting my judgment. I found the storyline to be engaging, the mystery to be surprising enough to keep my interest whilst also being plausible and well grounded in reality. An awesome concept, complete with great execution.

Final Judgment by Marcia Clark is the 4th book of the Samantha Brinkman series. You haven’t read the previous books, please go back and read them before reading this one. Samantha is a defense attorney in Los Angeles. She is a one person law firm with her best friend Michy as office manager and her brilliant hacker/investigator, Alex, a gorgeous Latino gay man. Samantha always pushes the line between moral and immoral in her personal life and sometimes her legal career. She finally has a boyfriend, Niko, a martial arts instructor who is mysterious, gorgeous, and wealthy. While on vacation they find out that two men who talked him and his mom into investing a lot of money lost it all and it turns out it was all a scam. When one of the con men ends up murdered Niko is a prime suspect. Samantha has to put everything on the line to figure out if Niko is guilty or innocent. There’s also another case Samantha has to look into that goes back to Samantha‘s past as a teenager. I really enjoy this series by Marcia Clark. The characters are fully realized and I love the dynamics between Samantha, Michy, and Alex. This is a great series to get into. I highly recommend this book and the series. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Marcia Clark, and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

After a hiatus, Marcia Clark is back with another strong Samantha Brinkman legal thriller that hits home more than the other books in the series. While on vacation with her boyfriend, Niko, Samantha is rushed back to LA to deal with an investment issue. It would seem that Niko’s mother was taken in by a cryptocurrency scam that saw her lose a great deal of money. While they two men heading up the investment are apologetic, they are not confident about being able to reimburse their clients. Niko takes this less than calmly and Samantha soon sees a darker and more intense side. When one of the investors turns up dead in his home, all eyes turn to Niko, as the cause of death is internal decapitation, skill Niko knows well. All the same, Niko proclaims that he is innocent, though admits he is trained to kill when needed. Samantha agrees to represent him and the search for the truth begins. While Samantha handles some of her other legal work, the office team begins digging a little deeper, only to discover that Niko has a past in Chicago that he likely did not want discovered. As Samantha must digest this, things begin looking worse for her client as the court date approaches. Lies and deceit are nothing a defence attorney likes in their client, but when it’s a boyfriend, it is exponentially worse. Samantha will have to make a few choices as Niko’s guilt looks more likely. Will she choose wisely for all involved? A wonderful story that keeps the reader guessing. Recommended to those who have enjoyed this series (and all of Clark’s work), as well as the reader who needs a legal thriller that can be digested with ease.

I have long enjoyed Marcia Clark’s work, as she reinvent herself after the infamous trial that made her a household name. She works hard to create relatable characters and stories that can be easily enjoyed, even if they touch on some controversial subjects. Samantha Brinkman has been a wonderfully complex character, as the four novels in the series have come to show her. She is strong-willed, but also vulnerable when it suits her. She is gritty and determined without being cold. This story pushes her into a realm she might not have known before and requires that she make choices that will clash with her emotional well-being. Other characters help to push the story forward, while complementing Brinkman in a variety of ways, which enriches the overall experience. The story is strong and kept me pushing forward. Perhaps it is that there has not been a novel in a few years, but I was hungering for as much as I could get in short order. A mix of chapters kept me wanting to push ahead and I was impressed with all Clark had to offer. I hope there is more to come soon, as this is one fan who is not as patient as some.

Kudos, Madam Clark, for another winner. I cannot wait to see what’s next for Samantha or your other projects.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. I thought that the story itself was good, but I didn't like some of the characters & the way they acted. I also suffered from coming in at book 4 of the series. If you are a fan of the series, you will like it.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is another of those publisher-provided freebies (via the publisher and NetGalley, thank you very much) that got moved to the top of the stack almost immediately; I love this series, of which this is the fourth - in fact, I've loved every single book I've read by this author. In all honesty, I have to say this isn't my favorite of the bunch, but neither have I lost even a titch of enthusiasm for quirky attorney Samantha Brinkman, her tech-savvy investigator Alex and her BFF and paralegal Michelle. Love-shy Sam has been hooked up with hunky Niko for a while now - as this opens, they're enjoying a rare beachside vacation, when Niko gets a disturbing phone call. An investment opportunity he recommended to his elderly mother has gone belly up; she and a host of other investors have been wiped out. Back at home, when Niko takes Sam to meet the guys behind the deal (think Bernie Madoff times two), each points the finger at the other. Devastated over his mother's loss, Niko - who lost a bundle himself but remains far from destitute - vows to get everyone's money back. His determination is intensified when his mother suffers a stroke that threatens her life.

That determination proves to be a negative, however, when one of the dealmakers turns up dead, the other goes missing and Niko turns out to be the prime suspect. Sam stands by her man - intent on proving him innocent - but as her investigation continues (with extensive help from Alex and, surreptitiously, from her detective dad), the more she suspects Niko may not be totally innocent. But then, given her penchant for vigilanteeism, can she really blame him for wanting to even the score?

It's a guessing game to the finish as to the killer's identity, how much of her so-far-secretive background Sam will decide to share with Niko and, depending on that decision, what the fate of their relationship will be. Great fun every page of the way!

Final Judgment is the fourth installment in the Samantha Brinkman series by Marcia Clark. Samantha’s boyfriend, Niko receives a call while they are on a much-needed vacation with bad news; it seems that an investment has gone bad, and Niko feels responsible because he promoted the company and the ones who were offering it. Most of the investors have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars each and when one of the brokers is found murdered and the other has disappeared, the police believe Niko has plenty of motive. Luckily there are dozens of others with motive, and Sam must investigate her boyfriend to try to get him off and find the real murderer.

Samantha Brinkman, who is a defense attorney, is a viable character, and throughout the series is quite well-developed. Her father, Dale is a policeman and helps supply information, and her best friend, Michy, who runs the office as well as Alex, who is her investigator are key players in the novels. The unique thing about Samantha is that she has no qualms about eliminating people who aren’t going to be punished for crimes they have committed. She is a good attorney, but does a few things that aren’t quite ethical. These traits make for some interesting reading and lots of twists and turns. The writing is excellent, and the story is easy to follow, albeit difficult to put down since Samantha does things that are unforeseen.

All told, this is a good series for those who love building suspense and characters who do unexpected things to get what they want. Highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Marcia Clark never fails to draw me in keep me racing through the pages.Fourth in this series and I could not put it down.A tight multi layered thriller that kept me guessing till the end.#netgalley#thomasmercer

There were some definite inconsistencies with this one that I am hoping will be remedy by the time this novel goes to print. In once case, Samantha takes an Uber to work, a few paragraphs later she's driving to the jail to visit with a client, but then a few paragraphs after that, she's talking about having to take an Uber home. Then she makes plans with her father, sets a time, but when she calls him a few pages later, suddenly the time has been changed as though it was never set to being with.

On the whole, it was a good addition to the story. I love watching Samantha in action (even though I often didn't agree with how she went about things), but I do wish we got to see more of her in court, or actually being a lawyer. This entire book she seemed like she was more doing the work of a PI or a Detective than she was a lawyer (not to mention things that would get her disbarred at the least if she were to be found out).

Overlooking those things, this was another one of those stories that this author is so good at weaving together. She manages to do a lot of showing instead of telling, making you feel like you a part of this story. And, as typical with this series, she manages to tell two completely different stories that while they stand alone, they also completely intertwine with each other.

I believe this story will appeal to those who enjoy well-written thriller novels, and I can't wait to read more from this author!

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Sam's vacation is cut short when her boyfriend Niko gets a call that one of his investments has collapsed. Financially he can afford it but it wipes out his mother who then suffers a massive stroke. One of the firm's owners is murdered and the other disappears and the cops have their sights on Niko as the prime suspect. Sam's unorthodox investigation to defend her boyfriend is more suited to a private investigator than lawyer so some suspension of disbelief is necessary.
This was a fun, twisty, well paced read and the first by this author that I've read. I will definitely be reading more.
Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC.

Let me just say that this was a page turner. I couldn’t put it down and I was captivated all the way. I love Clark’s writing style and stories. I look forward to more of her work.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

All the characters are strong and damaged but that is not what the series is about. Marcia Clark has created a compellingly flawed character who seeks justice at any cost and I have enjoyed each of the Samantha Brinkman books and Final Judgement does not disappoint and the ending left me wanting more. I highly recommend this series for anyone who enjoys stories featuring smart, strong women.

I am a big fan of author Marcia Clark and of this series, with protagonist Samantha Brinkman and her band of fellow characters. There are just enough twists and turns in the mystery to keep me fully engaged in the tale. Author Clark puts in plenty of good LA details, so I feel as though I’ve had a mini-vacation while reading the book, always a plus. And the main character’s slightly off-center traits are refreshing, even as they are not entirely believable. But, the author lived a similar life, so who am I to say? In any event, I look forward to each new addition to the series, and this one does not disappoint. Sam now has a boyfriend. She doubts her life can be remotely normal for long and is quickly relieved of further worry when bad luck comes knocking. There’s a Ponzi scheme or maybe just a simple robbery but most assuredly there’s a murder, or two. This is a great book and I’m hoping there will be more. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Marcia Clark has written a taut and engrossing page turner of a read with Final Judgment. Well worth the read!