Highly recommended for fans of gritty legal thrillers. This is not one of those slick Hollywood-style thrillers; JUSTICE BITES has a real-world vibe, which I especially enjoyed. I liked how the town's secrets became so important in this journey toward potential redemption. The pacing is good, although I suspect the novel could have been tightened and a bit shorter. This is a strong start to a new series, and the writing checks all the boxes for a good legal thriller.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

I love his Sam Johnstone series but this is a bit more hard boiled with a couple of gritty protagonists who are sometimes not that easy to like or empathise with.

Perhaps they will grow on me as the series - and hopefully there will be more books featuring them - develops.

The plot was clever and complex and the writing taut and tense.

A good start indeed.

This was a strong start to the Smith and Bauer series, it uses the legal thriller that I was hoping for and enjoyed the overall storyline going through this. James Chandler & Laura Snider have a great writing style and enjoyed the overall feel of this world. It left me wanting to read more in this world and from the authors.