In the book Guilty Until Innocent, author Robert Whitlow writes about Joe Moore who is in prison for a crime he knows he did not commit. But he also believes that he is right where God wants him to be. God is using him to reach his fellow prisoners. Young lawyer Ryan Clark and his wife, Paige moved to the area for Ryan to work in a law firm that a relative has. But when Ryan’s boss ends up in the hospital in critical condition, he is now in charge of the law firm. And part of that responsibility is to discover the truth behind Joe Moore’s conviction. This is a great read with excellent character development. The message of second chances and helping others in their time of crisis is powerful! I would highly recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was impressed with this story, which featured three main characters and their perspectives. Having worked at a large law firm many years ago, I found this narrative particularly fascinating. Ryan, a lawyer who has faced several challenges in his career, has finally settled at a relative's law firm in North Carolina. He prefers to avoid high-profile cases, leaving those to his cousin. However, when his cousin faces a health crisis, Ryan is compelled to take over the firm temporarily. I can only imagine how overwhelming that must have been for him! At that time, the town's biggest case, a double murder from 25 years ago, is being reopened. Joe, the man accused of the murders, has been in prison all this time, but his sister & niece are determined to prove his innocence. Joe has undergone significant positive changes in prison, becoming a ministry leader and a model inmate. He is so successful in leading men to God that he is unsure if he even wants to leave prison.

Another perspective we gain is that of Ryan's wife, Paige. Her journey to faith and her efforts to make friends in their small town since moving there are both interesting and heartwarming. I loved how the author wove these storylines together. As Ryan reopens the case, he never anticipates uncovering the evil hidden in the small town and the lengths to which some people will go to prevent him from discovering the truth.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ~ John 8:36

When Joe Moore was sentenced to life in prison, his mama put a piece of paper with that verse in his pocket. He didn't believe it then, but by God's grace, he does at the time of our story.

I enjoy a good legal thriller and this was like a combination of John Grisham and Chuck Colson. There is a young lawyer named Ryan Clark who is in over his head. His lovely wife Paige is supportive and perceptive. Joe Moore's case is cold as the rock he puts his head on for lunch naps in the prison garden. His mama passed recently and asked for the family to open it up once again, hoping for new evidence and a possible release from prison for Joe. What follows is an unexpected chain of events and a new way forward in faith for Ryan and Paige.

Some might grow impatient with the reports of what is happening in the lives of Joe and his fellow prisoners as they pray for each other and study the Bible. For me it was bonus content. Am definitely interested in reading more books from Robert Whitlow.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book delivers a solid mix of Southern fiction, legal drama, and inspirational storytelling. The story follows Joe, a man who’s been incarcerated for 25+ years for a crime he didn’t commit. It doesn’t take long to realize he’s innocent, but the fight for justice isn’t that simple. His original lawyer had a heart attack, and now the case has landed in the hands of a young, newly hired attorney. Joe’s sister, now financially stable, pushes for his release—but the real question is, does Joe even want out?

Joe has built a life behind bars serving God, running a gardening program, mentoring other inmates, and earning the respect of both fellow prisoners and guards. But once the case is reopened, old secrets resurface, and his quiet existence is suddenly at risk.

What I I appreciated most is that Whitlow doesn’t hold back on faith elements Bible verses, prayer, and a strong gospel message are woven throughout. If you love legal fiction with a spiritual foundation, this one delivers. That said, the book has a lot of setup and extra details that felt like they were laying the groundwork for something bigger. If this is the start of a series, it makes sense; otherwise, it could have been a tighter read.

I received a copy of Guilty Until Innocent for review purposes. Read and reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks.

There is much about this novel I really enjoyed. The well-rounded characters and relationships, for example, and the fast-paced action towards the end of the book.
A young lawyer, Ryan, is thrust into the hot seat at his new firm when the boss falls ill. His case? To get a release for Joe, imprisoned for murder. The case is not quite what it seems, and Ryan, together with his pregnant wife, soon become the target of a deadly enemy.
Joe is a wonderful character – a real leader, who manages to get several of his fellow inmates to attend bible sessions and gains the respect of everyone.
On the down side, I found this novel a little drawn out, too heavy on religion (my fault, I should have read the blurb) and a tad predictable. I also felt misled by the blurb which referred to it as a gripping legal drama, which is not the way I would describe it.

This was a terrific story about a young lawyer asked by the family of a man who has been a model prisoner for twenty-six years to request an early release for good behavior. Two problems: the prisoner thinks he's guilty and isn't interested in the case, and people in the town think he's guilty and don't want the past dredged up.

The prisoner, Joe, isn't pretending to have found Jesus is prison. He really did. He prays consistently for his fellow inmates, leads bible study, and considers the prison his mission field. The lawyer, Ryan, has been fired from his last two law firms and is now working for a family member's law firm. He is happily married, but neither he nor his wife are Christians.

The case is interesting, and the characters are relatable. The author does a good job of keeping you guessing on who the villain is in this legal drama.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone.

This is Christian fiction so expect discussions on prayer, God, and salvation.

Family friendly though this is a story about murder and drug use.

A thought-provoking look at life behind bars and an inmate who is concerned about the spiritual welfare of his fellow prison mates.
Joe Moore has been convicted of a double murder, but his grandmother has left funds to find the truth in hopes to set him free. But it has been many years. Part of the story is how young lawyer, Ryan searches out the truth, and its effects on his relationship with his wife and his boss. The other part is how Joe deals with life behind bars, and being a light for Christ.
The plot was interesting, the dialogue was authentic, but the descriptive narrative was kind of wooden. That could be because of the legal perspective of the author.
I so appreciated the Christian aspect of this book. It was clear and showed how a life change happened to some of the main characters.
The unfolding of the crime and true perpetrator was intriguing, although I guessed who the culprit was.
If you like legal drama, give this a try.
*A complementary copy of this book was provided by Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*

** “God’s mercies were new every morning, but life’s disappointments could be just as regular and didn’t need extra opportunities.” **

Robert Whitlow dives deep into the concept of guilt, innocence and forgiveness in his latest legal thriller “Guilty Until Innocent.”

When Ryan Clark finds himself working for his distant relative Tom’s law firm, he’s tasked with looking into a 25-year-old case — the case of Joe Moore convicted of killing two people, including the sister of one of the town’s influential residents.

But as more and more unusual facts become revealed, and even more dangerous occurrences happen, Ryan begins to question whether Joe should be in prison or not. Will Ryan be able to keep himself and his wife Paige safe? And does Joe truly deserve to be released?

Whitlow does a great job of weaving the plot to keep the reader guessing — who is to be trusted and who is telling the truth? Joe is truly an inspirational character with his love for man and his love for God. He also includes some great themes, like we can be “caught by the law but set free by God’s grace”; there are many kinds of prisons in this life; “anyone who turned in faith to Jesus could walk in the light”; God delivers us from our fears; the impact of the Holy Spirit; and trust God to do His part. Whitlow also shows that a spiritual awakening can happen in the unlikeliest of places.

Fans of authors like John Grisham, Randy Singer, and Janice Cantore will love “Guilty Until Innocent,” which is due out Feb. 4.

Five stars out of five.

Thomas Nelson provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

This was a bit different than what I expected. There was a lot of detail on the daily lived of the prisoners, sometimes it felt like too much but I think the author tried to give readers the full picture of Joe’s life and challenges in prison.

The suspense picked up at the end of the book with some people involved I did not see coming and others I started to suspect.

I liked the legal detail to explain the process of getting someone out of prison.

There was also a lot of characters - sometimes it felt overwhelming.

The power of God working in the characters lives was clear throughput the book.

Even though there was a lot of detail, I did find myself wanting to keep on reading to see what will happen. There was a clear feeling of danger and that something is going to happen soon.

This was a great cold case murder mystery by Robert Whitlow!
This is normally not a genre I read, but I really enjoyed the storyline, the way Faith played into a story, and how lives were changed because of one prisoner.
Highly recommend reading this book!

Robert Whitlow is an amazing author and I usually love his books. I appreciate him being an author of faith but I will say this book seems to ne trying too hard. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Guilty Until Innocent by Robert Whitlow doesn't disappoint in being a good read with twists and turns to keep your interest. The characters are very relatable. Seeing the faith of Joe serving time in prison and ministering to the men around him is heartwarming. I thought I knew who was behind the trouble for Joe and his lawyer Ryan but never expected the truth that came out at the end. Great weaving of the story lines together and bringing them all together at the end. I would definitely recommend this book to other mystery readers.
"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

While the book has an overall baseline of Joe’s imprisonment and the investigation of his case, just as much of the book was about the various characters’ salvation or testimonies as they learn about Jesus thru Joe, so less thriller more faith journey. While I sometimes like books with an undertone of faith, this felt a little over-spiritualized for what I anticipated reading.

I will say that I struggled with the constant themes of someone praying and immediately God answered or provided what was asked. While there were a couple instances that this didn’t happen of course, it just felt oversimplified and easy from real life.

More so, I struggled with both the writing and the characters in this. The flow and dialogue felt mechanical and stilted often, mostly because it lacked tone and emotion, even some responses coming across as callous or rude at times, or just unnatural.

Ryan and Paige were extremely naive and had no backbone. They told so many people important information without discrimination, seemed to have no sense of analytical thinking on any given subject, and never considered someone should maybe not be trusted. Then if any bump in the road came up they just folded and backed down.

There was a rather large plot hole at the end that didn’t make much sense but for lack of spoilers, suffice it to say, it was super unrealistic that everyone just accepted it since there would be evidence of it.

All in all, while I liked the theme of dealing with your past and of faith in prison, the book itself was disappointing for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

This book was an absolute treasure to read! The characters are so rich and detailed! It pulls you in from the first page and doesn't let up until the last. Whitlow is such an amazing Author and really makes the characters come alive so that you feel like your walking beside them! Highly recommended!!

Guilty Until Innocent is a novel with a strong message of redemption and forgiveness. One of the main characters in prison has turned his life around and become a strong testimony to other prison inmates. And now the plot is to prove his innocent to the crime that placed him behind bars. I really appreciate a novel that is clean and carries a Christian theme. For those seeking a book that is strongly faith based, Guilty Until Innocent is going to be a hit. Through the story is a picture of how God can change lives.
It is very slow moving novel . There is plenty of dialogue and a long build up to get to the main theme of the book. I found myself skimming this to get to the main points. However, I am thankful for authors like Robert Whitlow who haven’t allowed themselves to get caught in main stream reader demands but remained truth to his own faith.
I received a copy of Guilty Until Innocent from NetGalley with no obligations. All opinions expressed are my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Robert Whitlow’s latest release, Guilty Until Innocent is a captivating story about the legal system and the power of faith and redemption. The combination of legal and Inspirational fiction was pleasantly surprising for me because they are two of some of my favorite genres. Considering the circumstances in the story, the author blended the two genres quite well.

The story opens with Joe Moore who has been imprisoned for over twenty-five years for a crime he is not sure he committed. His niece, Shana honors his mother and grandmother's request to release Joe. After being turned away from one law firm, Shana turns to Tom Clark the attorney who represented Joe in court. As a faith-driven model inmate, Joe is reluctant to revisit his case. He believes that is right where he belongs. After praying about his case, he agrees to hire Tom’s firm on his behalf. While waiting for word, Joe spends his time doing garden duty on prison grounds and teaches Bible study to his fellow inmates.

Tom Clark was a young and green attorney when he was appointed to handle Joe’s case. This time around he engages his cousin and new hire, Ryan Clark. Ryan had a few issues at his previous law firms and hopes he doesn’t ruin this opportunity to work with Tom. Tom has confidence in him and asks Ryan to run the firm in his absence while he deals with a health issue. The more questions Ryan has about Joe’s case the more he becomes dedicated to it. Ryan’s wife, Paige befriends two churchgoing wobeyond myy men who become confidantes after she learns she is pregnant. The friendship and a letter she read from Joe Moore to someone from his old haunts revive Paige’s faith. There is so much that unfolds in this story that it kept me reading past my bedtime and guessingwhat would happen next.

I have read several legal thriller books by Robert Whitlow and enjoyed every one of them. This particular story would make a very good movie. I look forward to reading many more of his books and hope there will be a follow-up to this one using the same characters.

I love a good legal drama, especially one with a good story behind it. This story follows Joe Moore, who has been in prison for more than two decades. He was convicted of killing a young couple seemingly to rob them. He was in a drug-induced haze and can remember nothing about that night, but the circumstantial evidence piled up, which is how he was convicted. His family still believes he is innocent and they approach his former lawyer, Tom, asking for assistance to get him released.

Ryan Clark is a young attorney who has recently joined Tom's firm. After an unexpected illness, Tom is unable to work, which means everything is on Ryan right now. Ryan feels a little ill equipped, but he trudges on never imagining that this one case his going to light his life on fire.

It follows the journey of Ryan and his wife, Paige, as well as Joe's life inside the four walls of prison. The characters in this story come alive off of the page as you follow along in their story. Joe feels he is exactly where he needs to be as he has helped establish a thriving ministry within the prison. Lives are being changed for the better. He has made his peace and feels he deserves his punishment. Joe's witness stretches beyond the four walls of that prison as his story touches Paige and Ryan. This was a wonderful story of grace, redemption and the power of prayer. It was an awesome reminder that with God all things are possible and lives can be changed with just a little sown seed of faith. Joe was an inspiration to me as he made the best of his circumstances. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he was more interested in helping others. This was a legal drama, but it was so much more than that. There was the mystery of what really happened that fateful night and an inspirational story that will tug on your heart.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Let me state up front that I'm not generally a fan of Christian literature. Not because I'm not a Christian...I am, but because I don't find them as well written or intriguing as non-Christian fiction. While I fount Guilty Until Innocent interesting and enjoyed the characters, this fell into that same class.

Guilty Until Innocent is about Joe, a man convicted of murder who has spent the past couple of decades in prison. He's accepted his fate, and his life has been changed by Jesus. His ministry in prison is strong and purposeful; he has been changed and is changing those around him. His family, convinced of his innocence, hires a lawyer, Ryan, to look into Joe's case and see if new forensic evidence can be found to support their belief. Digging into the past changes the lives of everyone involved.

I found the plot to be interesting, if not somewhat predictable. Maybe I've read too many murder mysteries or watched too many Dateline episodes, but the twists weren't all that surprising, and it wasn't too hard to figure out the bad guys. I found the legal aspects to be interesting, and would have loved to hear more about Ryan practicing law. The bones of this story are great, but I would have like to see it comes to life a little differently.

The strongest feature of this book were the main and supporting characters. The main characters were well-rounded, interesting, and relatable. Unfortunately there were characters (specifically the church ladies) who were simply over-the-top and unrealistic. I simply found them to be unbelievable. I couldn't wait to get through the chapters with those characters present.

The weakest aspect is the religion portrayed. Joe prays and it rains. Joe prays and Tom is healed. Joe writes a letter and Paige is converted. Joe prays and a relationship is made whole. Everyone who prays hears God. I simply know from a lifetime of experience that is unrealistic. Kind of like a romance novel where the characters are beautiful, witty, successful, and their only flaw is how romantic and considerate they are at every turn.

Overall, it wasn't terrible, and for a Christian novel...well, I've read worse.

Thank you Thomas Nelson Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read the ARC for an honest review.

ive not read many legal thrillers. not on purpose they just dont come my way that often. so i was really pleasantly surprised by this one and enjoyed it alot. its didnt become to legal jargon or drone on. but it kept it authentic enough. the characters were all fantastic and believable. then faith aspect was just right too. it didnt ram it down your throat as if it was some advertisement to push faith onto the reader which some novel sadly fall into! but it made faith about so much more. and yes it was about God in parts. but faith and love and believing in something is so much more than that and can cover so much ground no matter if we "believe" or not.

i was so intrigued about this. i wondered what possibly could mean they dont open this case for our character joe? what would make anyone not want to be proven innocent. Joe fully believes he is where he is meant to be. having been high on meth and waking up with all evidence showing he had committed a terrible crime. hes been in jail no for decades. but then his niece fins something. and believe he is innocent. enter our lawyer who himself isnt doing so great. is this his big chance. but if Joe is innocent then there will be some pretty powerful people that have both set him up and therefore now wont want the truth to come out. and that is where we find out the questioning of whether this is worth it if all involved become at risk?

I love cold cases! In this legal suspense novel, Joe Moore has been in a North Carolina prison for 25 years. He was so high when arrested, Joe believes he murdered the two people he's been convicted of killing. As time went on for Joe, he accepts Christ as his savior and firmly believes he is in prison to lead others to do the same.

Then young attorney Ryan Clark re-opens the case. When Ryan's wife is threatened, Ryan no longer knows who he can trust.

I loved Joe's faith and how it impacted so many others in a positive way.

Another solid legal thriller by Robert Whitlow.