Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I absolutely LOVE this series!! David Adams is a young lawyer who has made it his quest to help the poor and vulnerable people of Austin. I very much liked the new character, Jess, but I LOVED Parker! The suspense in Runaway Justice would have turned my hair white if it wasn't already! I appreciate how reading these books makes me look at the homeless differently.

This isn't my first time writing this but I have the utmost respect for Chad Zunker. I cannot wait to read the next book!

Runaway Justice is the third book in the Attorney David Adams series. It is a stand-alone story, so there is no need to read the first two books. However, I think most people will enjoy this book better if they had read the prior installments.

In this book, Attorney David Adams is thrust into the life of a runaway teenager. The teen was arrested on a petty theft issue, but David quickly finds out the boy might be witness to a murder. However, some in Law Enforcement seem to think the boy actually is the killer. With a hitman after them and the FBI insistent on an arrest, David is in a race to protect the boy.

I am enjoying this series of legal thrillers. Each book has been a good page-turner. I think one aspect that has drawn me in the most is the fact that Attorney David Adams is not a high-priced lawyer. He is working for the underdogs, mostly the homeless people of his city. His clients are not uber-rich who are paying the lawyer to fight for them. Adams is out doing what he does as a personal mission.

A great addition to this book was a private investigator. At first, she is being forced to help David but soon she seems to want to help for her own reasons. I am sure that over the next few books the sexual tension set up in this book could become key points to the subplots.



A free copy of this book was provided via NetGalley for this unbiased review.

He's running through the woods. There's a man behind him with a gun. He's scared, he's hurting, he knows the man will kill him .... Parker is only 12 years old and has no where to go, no one who can help him.

Attorney David Adams gets a call. His practice is mostly the city's most vulnerable .. the homeless. A 12-year-old boy has been picked up for petty theft. When David meets Parker, he's taken by how much he reminds him of himself when he was a child. Parker's parent's have died. He was placed in several foster homes, all who have not treated him with care. When his last foster father drank to access and then got brutal, Parker decided it was time to leave.

The focus is on a runaway boy, mature beyond his twelve years, now escaping from abusive stepparents, the foster-care system, and an underworld murder he witnessed.

The plot is well executed, the characters are outstanding. The suspense starts on the first page and maintains its high level throughout. The action is non-stop and several heart-stopping moments kept me glued to the pages. Although 3rd in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone, however, I do recommend reading in order. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

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

Action packed from first page to last. Interesting characters and Parker just tugs at the heart strings. Plenty of twists and turns that keep the pages flipping. I enjoyed this thriller

Runaway Justice is a fast paced suspense. Great plot and character development. I recommend this book.

This was the first book I read by this author. While I'm sure it could be read as a stand alone I felt like something was missing for me.
It was well written. The plot was good. The scenery was great. I just could not connect with any characters.
That was ok though. I have read some very good books and didn't like any of the characters. This book was a bit slow for me to get into. There is nothing I can put my finger on other than maybe it was because I didn't read the first two books. It was a good story. A good story like. It has most of what I truly love in a thriller. Just something is missing. But it was enjoyable in many ways.
It had lots of ups and downs. Twists and turns. Young characters and older ones. Law and lawless.
I think it was good and I want to read the first two books now.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #ChadZunker, #Thomas&Mercer for this ARC. These are my own true thoughts about this book.
3.5/5 stars and I do recommend you read it for yourself. I'm not giving it 3.5 stars because I didn't like it. It's well written and good. There is just something missing in it for me.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆☆
4.5 stars
Mystery

I have not read the first book in this series but never felt that I was missing information.

David is an attorney who fights for the little guy. He loves what he does, but it sometimes is hard to pay the bills. When he gets a strange call to go down to juvenile detention and help a boy he’s never met, David hops in his car and goes to see what he can do. What he doesn’t know is his life is about to change forever.

Jess is not at all upset about the community service she has to do. Working with a defense attorney as their investigator is just up her alley. She’s an amazingly strong woman who gets the job done.

Parker is just trying to survive into his adulthood. When he witnesses something he knows he shouldn’t, he doesn’t have anyone he can turn to. Parker knows the only person he can count on is himself.

Racing against the clock and bad guys, everyone is trying to figure out why Parker is running, who wants him dead, and what it has to do with, because the pieces just aren’t fitting well together. This will keep you on your toes and keep you engaged. While it’s not a complex story, it is one that is fun and exciting to read. I truly enjoyed these characters and how they came together.

Excellent third book thats fast paced and keeps you fully engaged. I enjoyed reading this book as much as the first two!

Runaway Justice is the third book of Chad Zunker's David Adams series. I absolutely loved the first two books about a young lawyer and his quest to help the poor and vulnerable people of Austin, and the third book didn't disappoint.. The book is fast-paced, well-written, intense and suspenseful. It reminds me a lot of John Grisham's early work such as the Firm and the Client. Chad Zunker is a master at developing likable and strong characters. Just after a few pages in you really feel for the protagonist and the people around him, you can't put the book down. I hope there will be more books about David Adams and if you like legal thrillers then I really recommend this series. It's out on February 23, 2021., don't miss out!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to enjoy this book and share my honest opinion.

The third David Adams thriller!

‘Runaway Justice’ is the third David Adams case in this excellent legal thriller series. It can also be read as a stand-alone.

The tale is woven around 12-year-old Parker Barnes, who due to tragic circumstances, is left as an orphan. So, with no living parents and no other family members, Parker is left with the dire consequences of the inequalities of the system. He feels that he has no choice but to run away and fend for himself and so starts living rough on the streets. The setting is in Austin, Texas.

Parker soon adapts and learns where other rough sleepers go. Unfortunately, Parker witnesses a gory shooting and just escapes with his life. However, things go from bad to worse. And the FBI are close on his heels.

Luckily, Parker comes across David Adams an attorney, who feels compelled to take Parker under his wing. Nonetheless, Parker is spooked by further events, so is on the run again and finds himself in grave danger. The hunt proves to be extremely fast-paced and is a brilliant page-turner.

I found all the characters were believable and they were very well layered throughout the book. I loved the working relationship between David and Jess, a private investigator. She is certainly a very feisty lady and is clever at acquiring information. Will their relationship go any further? Well . . . I’ll look out for the next book in this series!

Galadriel.

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of this book to review.

Book Review: Runaway Justice (David Adams #3) by Chad Zunker
(Published by Thomas & Mercer, February 23, 2021)

4.25 Stars.

Book 3. Parker Barnes, orphan, runaway.

Somewhere in Austin, Texas. Since the untimely death three years earlier of his last parent, his dad, the twelve-year-old's been through the horrors of a lifetime. He's been in and out of four foster homes, three of them complete nightmares. He'd ran away from the foster care system and has been out on the streets fending for himself, determined to never go back to any "damn foster home".

The plucky youth follows the street crowd and figures out where Austin feeds its poor and homeless. A few of them even start looking out for him. As bad as it is, Parker is coping. Parker is going to survive.

Until that night, when out in the park he hears an explosion and witnesses a man shot. He cowers down and quickly scampers away in the darkness. Then he hears a second explosion and feels his backpack jerk him sideways as he falls forward.

He's been shot!

Book 1. David Adams, attorney-at-law.

The Stanford grad has it made. He's on the fast track, a rising superstar at Hunter & Kellerman, the most prestigious law firm in Austin, Texas. Nicknamed "trailer trash" initially at his new firm, the extravagant salary, high-rise condo, luxury SUV and all the trappings of success vindicate the ordeals of an impoverished childhood.

But the mysterious death of a fellow associate shortly after his appointment raises question. Things come to a head at H&K as a criminal conspiracy unravels.

Saved by a homeless man in an attempt on his own life, David gets involved with the homeless community. He visits "The Camp", a group of caring men in a homeless settlement - and it forever changes his world. He remembers and still feels the lingering stigma of utter penury. He own sister and her family still subsist in a doublewide hardly making ends meet.

At length, he gives up his office at the high-powered law firm and settles in private practice - as a street lawyer.

Book 3. Scared, alone and helpless, Parker Barnes is hunted by a gunman.

It turns out that the man he witnessed slain was under the protection of the WITSEC, commonly known as the witness protection program.

The FBI, the legal system, and Texas Child Protection Services want him in custody.

And David Adams, street lawyer, is his only hope...

"The single greatest cause of homelessness is the profound, catastrophic loss of family..."

Oscar Wilde once opined that "..art imitates life..", and what a shining example indeed!

Action-packed, at par with some of the best thrillers of late, the David Adams novels carry a message of advocacy especially meaningful in these times.

In the real world, Author Chad Zunker is an attorney whose involvement with the homeless, as he says, "forever changed his world".

"He has worked for some of America's most powerful law firms and has genuine relationships with homeless individuals and runaway street kids in his work with non-profits Mobile Loaves and Fishes, and the Community First Village in Austin, Texas, supporting the homeless and those coming out of chronic homelessness", according to his write-up.

Well-written, extraordinarily relevant, inspiring! Some themes in the novel do border on the melodramatic, but overall, a real pleasure to read.

Review based on an ARC from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley.

Short, action packed and to the point Runaway Justice is the third book to follow lawyer David Adams in his quest to help the vulnerable outcasts of Austin. At just 234 pages, you will be flying through this one trying to figure out all the twists. When Parker witnesses a murder while sleeping in a park, he tries to outrun the men looking for him. His path crosses Davids and David knows he needs to help the boy. With both the FBI and the bad guys closing in, David needs to find the truth before it is too late.

While I really enjoyed this one, I felt more time could have been spend fleshing out the characters. The author does an amazing job using so few words to convey such meaning but I felt like adding some length to the novel would have helped. Overall I did enjoy this book and will be looking forward to any more books following David and his friends.

I love trying out new crime thriller series. I liked the plot in this one and I did like the characters. It felt a bit short to me. It left me wanting more. The 12 year old did get annoying, but that was to be expected as it was a 12 year old. The relationships that developed were predictable.. I wanted more character depth and more crime. This book is a lighter crime thriller than I normally read which may have aided in my feeling of wanting more. I would give it 3.5 stars.

Captivating Thriller — Little Bit Of Everything

The novel opens with Parker Barnes, a twelve year-old runaway, running for his life. After finding a man shot, another man starts shooting and chasing Barnes. He eludes his pursuer and eventually finds his fellow runaways, but is picked up shortly by police for purse snatching. A fellow runaway contacts a lawyer that helps runaways and alerts him that a twelve year-old in custody. The lawyer, David Adams, was part of a prestigious law firm, but no more. In juvenile court, he convinces the judge to release Barnes to a local at-risk youth facility. The novel takes off from here.

The main storyline becomes more complex with the reappearance of the killer who threatens Barnes. Then, since the victim was a witness in an important money laundering prosecution, and the FBI suspects that Barnes was present at the murder scene, they want to talk with him as a possible perpetrator of the killing. Finally, Barnes does what runaways do best — runaway, evade and hide. The author winds the subthreads of Adam trying to find Barnes, the FBI trying to find him, the killer trying to find Barnes, and Adam and a new character, Jessica Raven, trying to determine the identity of the killer into a story that quickly captured and maintain my interest all the way to the end. This is critical requirement for a high star rating.

The B-storyline threads compliment the main storyline threads quite well. This is the third novel in the series, and I have not read the previous two. While reading this novel, I did not find myself feeling that I was missing anything that I would have learned from the first two novels. The Adams character’s background was provided to understand his character. This insight wis reinforced with his interactions with Barnes, an investigators assigned to community service helping Barnes, and the bull-headed FBI Agent. The background on the runaway Barnes is extensive and provides much insight into his character.

This novel does not provide much to find objectionable. There are not any intimate scenes. Offensive words are minor and very far between. Violence does occur and in the more edgy manner as it happens, but is still should not be at objectionable levels for any reader.

This book was an easy and quick read. As I wrote above, it captured my interest early and held it throughout the book. At times I could not stop reading late into the night. There were not any loose ends in the main storyline. As this novel met all of my criteria for a high star rating, was a quite enjoyable read, and piqued my interest in reading the prior novels in this series, I rate this novel with five stars. I recommend reading it even if it will be your first read in this series.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Thomas Mercer with an expectation for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank Thomas Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

Loved reading the third David Adams story by Chad Zunker! This tale of a young attorney with a huge heart did not disappoint. In Runaway Justice, Parker, a young homeless boy witnesses a murder, and David Adams takes him on as a client. The story moves quickly with chases throughout Austin, Texas, and even down to Laredo. The story is fun to read, and the ending is quite satisfying. Zunker gives us the right number of characters (bringing in some of the homeless folks we read about previously), so we don't get confused, and a plot that's easy to follow.

I enjoyed this book because it takes place in my hometown of Austin, and it was thrilling to be able to mentally place David and Parker as they made their way through my community! I read the book in record time, as the story was quite compelling. I liked that, because the story is fairly straightforward, I didn't have to go back and reread parts in order for the ending to make sense. The chapters are short and manageable, so the book would be great to read on a vacation. I did find 12 year old Parker's driving on I35 a tad unbelievable and might have modified that portion of the book.

Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in return for my honest review.

This well-paced mystery is deceptively simple reading while wielding a hard social commentary—the homeless, the less fortunate, as with the plot of this luckless twelve year old. He lost both parents and had no extended family who would take him in, landing him into “the system.” And then the system failed him as well.

Attorney David Adams caught the case when the kid is arrested for purse-snatching. Parker Barnes has a secret he will trust to no one and is very adept at running—hiding.

About the same time as David is picking up this case, the court has sent him Jess, who is to provide 40 hours pro-bono for her own infraction. Fortunately, she is an extremely effective private investigator.

Now Parker is being sought by both the FBI, persons he witnessed committing a felony, and David himself after his promise to the judge to contain him has failed.

Through investigation, research, and interviews, Jess and David has formed a solid, plausible theory, perps they are chasing down.

I like the character of David; honest, reliable, and kind-hearted. Jess is empathetic, adept, competent, and smart. They make a good team and work well together. It’s an easy, fast read with an important message, empathetic characters with whom you’ll invest. The conclusion ramps up the tension and raises the hair on your neck.

While this is Book 3 of the series, it can be read as a standalone, as there are new characters and few characters from previous books. You won’t have a problem figuring out where David is coming from and the mystery and suspense are engaging. Highly recommended.

The main character, David, an attorney, meets Parker, a runaway, who is caught stealing. David wants to help Parker because he has a heart for homeless and disenfranchised people.
Being caught is not Parker’s only problem. Witnessing a murder has put his life in jeopardy.
The story begins by fleshing out the characters, setting, and conflict. Then movies quickly into the chase. Who will get to Parker first? Initially we believe the FBI is too rough in their handling of Parker, but Parker outsmarts the good guys and the bad guys and escapes. Many plot twists and surprises keep you tuned into the action. Add a female private investigator and the story adds more depth. The reader doesn’t want Parker hurt, but two guys with vendettas are out to permanently silence the key witness to the murder. Who wins the showdown? And who gets hurt?
Several things I like about Runaway Justice. I think the title is clever. I like the characters. I like the writing style of the author Chad Zunker. He is able to tell a good story with a lot of action, a hint at romance, and he doesn’t have to use graphic scenes or language. I highly recommend this to people who enjoy thrillers and mysteries. #RunawayJustice #NetGalley

When I first started reading this book, I was getting strong John Grisham vibes of "The Client" with some aspects of his other novels. However, as I continued reading, I realised this was not the case. What started for me to appear to be a copy of someone else's work proving me wrong.

The summary of this novel is a homeless boy witnesses a murder of a federal witness and becomes the prime suspect. It is up to a sympathetic lawyer to represent him and prove the authorities wrong.

As we started sayin, at first I wasn't keen reading a copy of a novel I'd read previously, but I got past this mental block very quickly as the story progress d and more characters were added to the story, the pace picked up racing to the finale that was a surprise in how it comes about.

If you like legal thrillers, this is a very good book, and I would recommend to you.

This ARC copy was provided free of charge from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have loved all of Zunker's previous books. This was a continuation of a series. You dont have to read the previous books to understand everything in this one, but I do think it would make it more enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book and I flew right through it. It was an easy read and full of adventure/action. I also like when my action stories are balanced with some character development/backstory which this had. I am really looking forward to the next book in their series.

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the advance copy, which did not impact my review.