Silent Witness: 6

Rebecca Forster has done a masterful job with Silent Witness. The plot was intriguing and kept me turning pages into the wee hours. The characters were well-drawn and fully developed--full of contradictions just like real people. Attorney Josie Baylor-Bates has to defend her boyfriend Archer from a murder charge. To add to the conflict, Archer isn't terribly cooperative. He admits he considered the victim (his mentally handicapped stepson Timothy) a burden. Archer, apparently under the impression that a real man shouldn't sugar coat the facts, freely admits his feelings about the boy. Now the police know he has a powerful personal motive along with a financial motive. Things don't look good for Archer and the situation gets a lot worse when he lets his temper get the best of him while questioning a witness. There are a few police station and court scenes that seemed completely authentic, but most of the action took place elsewhere as Josie worked to free Archer. In the process she learned more about him and wondered why he'd never revealed himself to her. Could the man she cares so much for actually be guilty? Josie has to come to grips with her feelings and be brutally honest with herself in order to do her best for her client. As she digs into his past and that of his deceased first wife she learns a truth that will tear Archer apart at the same time that it sets him free. Highly recommended. I will definitely read more of Ms. Forster's books.

In Silent Witness, Forster proves that she is not a "one hit wonder," and that the critical acclaim that greeted Hostile Witness was well deserved and applies equally to her newest submission. In Silent Witness, Forster again demonstrates her talent for character development, her ability to successfully weave together threads of an intricate and unpredictable plot, and her capacity to simply tell a darn good yarn. Get the book, turn off the TV, get the kids to bed, and settle in for an engaging and exciting read. Just don't plan on an early bedtime; you won't put this one down.

Josie Baylor-Bates had given up her lucrative criminal defense practice some years ago, after a former client, one she successfully defended on a murder charge, turned around and killed her own children. She retreated to the small community of Hermosa Beach and a nice and quiet little law practice. Then a former college roommate asked her to defend her daughter, a troubled teen accused of killing her step-grandfather, a justice on the California Supreme Court. That case, the subject of Forster's previous novel Hostile Witness, took a lot out of Josie and changed her life in many ways; she might not have gotten through the ordeal at all without the support of her ex-cop lover Archer. Now she stands to lose Archer, as Silent Witness opens with his arrest for the murder of Timothy Wren, his physically and mentally handicapped step-son, two years ago. Josie now learns that there is a lot about Archer that she never knew. She knew he had been married before and that his wife had died of cancer, but the man she loves had never mentioned his wife's son or described the horrible manner of his death - a fall from an amusement park ride at nearby Pacific Park. He is less than forthcoming about the incident now, despite the murder charge hanging over his head. Josie, of course, insists on defending him, even when he says he doesn't want her help. Her plans for getting the charges dropped before the case goes to court are pretty much dashed when she views security camera footage from the park that shows Archer making a movement toward Tim just before he fell to his death. All of the self-doubts that have plagued her since her mother abandoned her at thirteen threaten to come to the fore as she struggles to formulate a defense and battle the twinges of doubt over Archer's guilt that sometimes pop up as the evidence seems to mount against her lover and client. She knows the case is much too personal for her, but she cannot trust anyone else with Archer's very life on the line. Archer isn't a big help, keeping information from her and doing a few really stupid things that an ex-cop should know better than to do in a situation such as his. Josie steels herself to be Archer's lawyer first and foremost, even if it means losing Archer from her life when everything is said and done and the courtroom drama brought to an end. She is sure that the amusement park is hiding something. The charge against Archer only came out after Timothy's natural father, the man who had abandoned his own son and wife a decade earlier, sued the park for damages in relation to his son's death. Colin Wren, for his part, is something of a sinister character who soon casts his ire upon Archer, but Wren's attorney, Jude Getts, proves to be a big asset to Josie and her case. A number of additional fascinating characters weave their way through the story in memorable and oftentimes mysterious ways. I have to say that, while I think this novel is just terrific, I didn't e

Do not pass this book up!!!! Not only is this book a MUST read, it MUST be on your shelf at home! Once again, Rebecca Forster has captivated her audience with an intricate attention to detail, perfection in development of characters and essential qualities in a plot making this novel a riveting legal thriller. Silent Witness is the second addition to Forster's series, and this incredible page turning novel will keep you in suspense with surprising twists in the plot; you can not help but be taken with the characters. This story about love, strength, work, personal, law, passion, honesty, integrity, trust, devotion, hard choices and secrets will leave you wanting more!! I can not wait for Privileged Witness. This author is amazing, and blessed with a creative gift.

Defense attorney Josie Baylor-Bates has taken troubled teen Hannah into her home after the girl's mother was found guilty of murder. While the two females adjust, Josie's lover, retired detective and practicing private investigator Archer is arrested for killing his mentally challenged stepson Tim two years ago in the Pacific Park amusement park while they and his dying wife rode the Shock and Pop together. A video shows Archer making what could be a threatening move towards Tim. Ironically, Tim's biological father bailed Archer out of prison because he needs the truth to support his civil suit against Pacific Park. Evidence at the preliminary hearing binds Arch for trial; Josie needs a miracle to prove her lover is innocent of first degree murder. Rebecca Forster's latest legal procedural is a thrilling courtroom and investigative drama in which Josie has doubts that she should represent her lover as she is too personally involved, but refuses to trust anyone else with his life. She also learns more than she ever wants to know about Archer in the course of her efforts to defend him. The investigative scenes are fascinating as Josie gathers evidence from witnesses that she uses at the trial to make the case that Archer had no motive to kill the child of the woman he loved. SILENT WITNESS is totally enthralling. Harriet Klausner