Amid Rage

Author Burcat’s expertise is definitely on display in this story in describing the machinations of lawyers, special interests, and legal firms in this excellent tale. The characters, the plots, and the sub-plots are all expertly woven together.

Mike Jacobs is a young, up-and-coming litigator in environmental law, working for the Department of Environmental Protection in the state of Pennsylvania. He knows his job, is diligent, and can go rogue now and again, working behind his boss’ back and against standard protocol to ensure the law protecting the land and the citizens that live on it are safe-guarded. Professionally he’s got what it takes. Personally, though, his life is messy.

Amid Rage is the second book in PA author Joel Burcat’s Mike Jacobs series, the first being Drink To Every Beast, which was published in May, 2019. I’ve yet to read the first book, but happily Amid Rage is enough of a stand-alone novel that doesn’t require the reader needing too much prior information: Joel Burcat fills in the blanks early on in proceedings, allowing you to plow ahead with what is quite a page-turning story.


It beings violently, with the death of a mining inspector: he’s burned to death in his home by the villain of the piece, Ernie Rinati, the owner of Rhino, a mining company. Rinati isn’t getting what he wants from the DEP, with too many conditions placed on his operations, rendering him unable to make the kind of money he feels he deserves. He’s not above pressuring homeowners into buying up their property at knock-down prices, either. Basically he’s a vile human being, valuing the life of his three-legged dog Butch over anything or anyone else. Unfortunately, though, he’s a one-note and rather cartoonish villain.

Joel Burcat’s speciality, however, is in the court room. A practicing environmental lawyer himself, the Philadelphia native brings his experience to the table, giving us courtside seats to the legal wrangles regarding permits and temporary restraining orders (TROs). All of this wouldn’t be half as exciting if there wasn’t a decent story to tell, and Burcat has one, thank goodness. At the centre of the plot is a piece of land that Rinati wants to mine on. In his way are people who own homes on that land. The DEP has allowed Rinati some leeway, but not enough. The homeowners resist his efforts and have hired an inexperienced lawyer, Miranda Clymer, to lead their lawsuit. Mike’s orders are to act as observer only, but a startling bit of sexual blackmail forces Mike to take a more active role than his department allows. (I did mention that Mike’s personal life is messy as hell, right?)

So he’s on his own, although he does, in all fairness, inspire a couple of close friends, Ben and Nicky, to help him out. If it wasn’t for the fact that Rinati is obviously insane, and has henchmen that would make Darth Vader question his choice in allies, Mike would have an easy time of it. But no! Danger lurks in every chapter of this fast-moving, and for the most part, engrossing thriller. Saying Mike Jacobs is just a lawyer is like saying Indiana Jones is just an archaeologist. Mike’s pursuit of the truth gets him and his friends into a lot of trouble, with Nicky especially feeling the full force of Rinati’s vengeance. Parts were uncomfortable to read, but in the end I see what Burcat was aiming for. In fairness, I would’ve preferred if he drew his characterisation of women better;in many instances men, including Mike Jacobs, spent far too much energy ogling their physical characteristics to the point of fantasism and wishful thinking. They’re strong characters in their own right, but I felt they needed their own agency rather than being at the beck and call and the subject of abuse from their male counterparts. Still, it was good to see such abusers get what they deserve.


Joel Burcat
Burcat brings the story to life with principled and unprincipled attorneys. I like how Mike has to deal with people from his past who haven’t made his life and career any easier for him. Watch out for Judge Diaz and Sidney Feldman. It’s in the courtroom scenes that this novel really comes to life. The action scenes are well done, too. But it’s the personal bits, where Mike questions his choices in love and romance, that need a bit more spark and care. I like Mike a lot. He has a lot to learn, but he’s willing to work hard, and he makes it up as he goes sometimes. Which is what most of us are doing right now, I guess. I give Burcat praise for writing a book that I pretty much enjoyed reading. I expect him to get better the more he writes and publishes.

I thank NetGalley and the publishers for supplying me with a copy of Amid Range prior to publication (Feb 2021) in return for an honest review.

Amazing story. Well developed characters that are in a twisted engrossing thriller. Highly recommended. Super suspense that comes to a satisfying end! Highly recommended . A true roller coaster thrill ride

📚 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 / 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝗪 📚⁣⁣⁣
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Title: #AmidRage⁣
Author: @joelburcattheauthor⁣
Publisher: @headlinebooks⁣
Pub Date: 2/2/21⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Type: #FinishedCopy #Paperback⁣
Genre: #Mystery #Thriller⁣
On Tour: @mindbuckmediabookpub⁣
Must Read Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⁣⭐⁣
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𝘚𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘴:⁣
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𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘢 𝟸𝟾-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘴𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘋𝘌𝘗, 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 “𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘵” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘪𝘥 𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘊𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭. 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘦...𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰?⁣
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𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:⁣
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I am falling more and more in love with legal thrillers. Joel Burcat is one heck of an author and be prepared to be CAPTIVATED by this story line. Burcat gets bonus points as well because the book takes place in Pennsylvania, not too far from where I live. I love reading books that I can connect with because of the location / setting. If you're a fan of slow burn mystery/thriller novels that features some intense court room drama, you'll absolutely love this. This one takes a pretty long time to unravel, but if you can stick with it, the ending wraps everything up nicely. The book was well researched from a mining / legal standpoint and you could really tell the Burcat poured his heart into the writing. Though this was the second in a series, I found that I was still able to keep up and not miss much.