★ 4 Stars ★
"First Victim" is a thrilling legal novel that begins in the courtroom and ends as a twisted psychological crime thriller. The story is narrated from the perspectives of three women: Alice, her daughter, and Alice's childhood friend. It is a spellbinding tale of guilt, justice, and long-awaited vengeance.

The story follows a judge who presides over a gruesome trial that becomes personal. When she loses faith in the justice system and decides to take the law into her own hands, the plot thickens, and tension builds, making it an incredibly captivating read. Although the book is a quick and easy read, it does contain some dark and disturbing adult content. It is fast-paced, gripping, and beautifully written. The characters are well-developed, and the storyline is full of mystery and anticipation.

Thank you to Penzler Publishers - Scarlet for providing a copy of this book through NetGalley. As always, all opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

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I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

First Victim by Debbie Babitt is a gripping legal thriller that explores the themes of secrets, guilt, revenge and justice. The protagonist, Alice D. McKerrity, is a respected judge who presides over a murder trial of a pregnant woman. As the trial progresses, Alice’s life starts to unravel as she is haunted by nightmares and visions from her past. She also has to deal with her daughter’s search for her biological father and her husband’s dementia. Alice’s past and present collide when she makes a shocking discovery that leads her to confront a horrifying truth and a ruthless enemy.

The book is told from three perspectives: Alice, her daughter Alexis and her childhood friend Connie. The author skillfully weaves the different timelines and narratives together, creating suspense and tension throughout. The characters are well-developed and complex, each with their own secrets and motivations. The plot is fast-paced and unpredictable, with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing until the end.

First Victim is a compelling and emotional read that will keep you hooked from the first page to the last. It is a book that will make you think about the consequences of our choices, the limits of our morality and the power of our memories. If you enjoy legal thrillers with strong female characters and psychological depth, you will love First Victim by Debbie Babitt.

Judge Alice Kerrity is known as a judge that’s hard on crime. Presiding over the case of William Young, Alice’s past and present are about to collide. What is it about the defendant that has Alice uneasy.? With turmoil at home, she’s soon questioning her own sanity. Alice has secrets, deep secrets, things she’d like to keep hidden from her grown daughter, Alexis. When Alexis starts probing into Alice’s past, she just might not be ready for the answers. A thrilling court room drama that keeps the reader on edge throughout. Thank you to Scarlet and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

his intense legal thriller was a 5-star read for me! Alice was such a great character. She’s dealing with a ton of stress at home and in the courtroom with a high-profile case. Her home life seems to be crumbling with her husband’s Alzheimer’s slowly taking a turn for the worse, and her daughter being lost and frustrated with her own personal life. I truly felt for Alice and really wanted to know what crazy past she was hiding. I enjoyed all the twists in this book—most I didn’t see coming! I’m a sucker for courtroom drama, so this book was hard for me to put down!
I also enjoyed the multiple POVs: Alice, her childhood friend, her daughter, and her husband, Charles.

3 for neutral, was unable to access my netgalley account for months, until today. Because of this, I was unable to see which books I needed to read. I apologize for the inconvenience and hopefully will not have any more issues in future.

Good mystery with a few twists.
First Victim will keep you turning pages from start to finish.
A must read for those who like a good solid mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley for this novel to review. The book was okay. I like courtroom thrillers but this one was just okay. I did not like the writing really so. it made the book less enjoyable.

Twisty thriller that’ll keep you guessing until the last page! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

Intriguing premise, characters to root for, and fast-paced plotting.

Thanks to Penzler Publishers for a free digital galley via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This is a really tough book for me to rate…I really liked the first half—didn’t care for the second. 🥴

What I liked:
* the courtroom/legal scenes were really well done
* the psychological & suspense aspects
* the author’s overall writing style
* Charlie’s POV, although I’m not sure it did anything to drive the plot forward

What I didn’t like:
* the flashbacks were hard to follow at times
* would have appreciated something at the start of the chapters to indicate whose POV it was; toward the end the POVs changed rather chaotically and it was kind of all over the place.
* the entire second half 😩 it just derailed so much and felt so disconnected from the first half of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scarlet Publishing, and the author for the #gifted eARC in exchange for the honest review.

First Victim reminded me a lot of a Karin Slaughter book, which is about the highest praise I can give a thriller. It had the grisly, twisted scenes I love, and the plot took a handful of unexpected turns. Things aren’t as they seem in this story, starting with the very first scene. This book is full of lies, deception, past trauma, and revenge.

Alice is such an interesting character. Her home life isn’t easy. She’s hiding her husband’s early-onset Alzheimers from the world, and she has a 29-year-old daughter living at home who acts more like a 16-year-old. She has some pretty heavy trauma from her past that she’s never confronted, and she has a very high-stress job that needs her constant full attention. Alice’s POV was by far my favorite. Connie’s provided some important backstory, but I wasn’t a fan of Alexis at all.

I’m such a fan of Debbie Babitt’s prose. First Victim was very well-written, with short chapters that flowed nicely and at a good pace. The book was thrilling from the start–I love a courtroom setting and was eager to hear about Young’s case, and was even more hooked once things took a turn for the worse for Alice.

Make sure you’re paying attention when you get to the end: I needed to re-read a few sections to make sure I was understanding how the threads came together. A certain flashback of Alice’s is repeated a few times, with more information at each pass. At some points it was hard to tell which was actually happening, but I thought that was a great way of illustrating Alice’s confusion.

There were a couple of questions that were left unanswered for me at the very end, but overall the story was enjoyable and engaging.

If you're into legal thrillers, this book is for you! It's told from multiple POVs and timelines, and is well put together. Judge Alice McKerrity presides over a murder case while simultaneously her life is falling apart. It's a strong thriller I would recommend esp to anyone who likes legal/courtroom based books. Not 100% my fav cup of tea, but really good.

A twisty and dark thriller, a story that makes wonder if what you are reading is a dream or reality.
Fast paced and gripping, and excellent thriler that kept me on the edge.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book was all over the place! There were too many plotlines, the flashbacks were annoyingly repetitive, and the multiple POVs were confusing at times. The daughter actually bugged me the most. Her character was 29 years old, but written like a 16 year old.

The overall premise of this book was good, it just didn't do it for me.

Thank you @netgalley and @penzlerpub for the advanced copy of this book!

This book was dark, grim, and right up my alley. It's so well written, and the pace was go, go, go! You literally won't be able to put this one down. I was so tense reading this, because I just had to know what was coming next! You will not be disappointed in this one.

This is a fast paced book about a defendant and a judge. The judge is dealing with a lot in her personal life and this case is bringing back memories of her past she would rather forget. It is a very quick read, less than 3 hours. My favorite character was the judge for many reasons you’ll find out when you read the book.

This book has a lot of potential for a debut. I can see it
turning into a show/movie even. Sometimes we come
across books that does not check all the expectation
boxes and that's absolutely okay! This was one thriller
that didn't do it for me. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and
the storyline just fell flat a bit for my liking. Maybe the
court room drama after all the Johnny Depp trail felt
overdone for me. I absolutely loved the mother-
daughter relationship. Overall good book & would still
recommend to anyone who enjoys legal thrillers

This is my first exposure to this author and it definitely did not disappoint! This is a well-written, suspenseful, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless at times in anticipation of the next twist in the plot of which there are many. Her characters are well-developed though not necessarily likeable. None of them are whom they appear to be. This provocative, somewhat dark and twisted story grabs you from the first page and keeps you guessing until the very end where the author inserts a deliciously wicked twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley & Scarlet Suspense for my eARC copy of First Victim! Alice, a judge who has a troubled past, decides to take the law into her own hands. A defendant is charged with the murder of a pregnant woman, and it has an impact on her that she’s never experienced before, despite her tenure. Her home life is chaotic, she’s harboring a secret from her past and her daughter is searching for her biological father. Everything comes to a head when Alice makes a shocking discovery her life unravels.

I enjoyed the multiple POVs here (Alice, her daughter, and Alice’s childhood friend), but at times found myself confused as it was hard to follow with so many flashbacks. I was underwhelmed by the ending and found myself wanting more from it. That being said, the book is well written and gave me total Law & Order SVU vibes with the courtroom setting - Something I need to read more of!