Justice Redeemed (Darren Street Book 1)

I have been interested in Scott Pratt's books in whichJoe Dillard was the central character. They were wholesome legal thrillers with a strong element of mystery and suspense. Scott Pratt shows skill in weaving suspenseful plots, although the settings of all his books appeared to be in the foothills of Tennessee somewhere. Somehow I wish that this author would broaden the scope of his works to outside of Tennessee. So I decided to try his latest series involving yet another defense lawyer, Darren Street. Darren Street gets a visit from Jalen Jordan, whose van was stopped and he was searched. Street later connects Jordan to two grisly murders of two boys, when a search of his van discovers their undershorts. Jordan later threatens to go after Street's son, and then the chaos begins. First Street hysterically going to the fBI to get them to bust Jordan, then Street going to a backwoods old client, now friend, James Tipton, who he helped free from an assault rap, and now wants a deadly favor from him, which Street later rescinds. But his nemesis, federal prosecutor Ben Clancy, has more sinister plans for Street. Jordan gets killed on the Appalachian Trail, then Street gets framed and charged with murder. I found it hard to believe the methods used to frame Street. A gun he didn't own and never bought, a tree stand he never laid eyes on.... a young and ambitious public defender, Grace Alexander, tries aggressively to expose the fraud, the lies, the all-too-obvious setup. Here's were Scott Pratt fails to be convincing, and shows a lack of sophistication in his plot development. The trial was suspenseful yet I found it hard to believe what was going on. Darren Street winds up in prison, gets "diesel therapy" and the subsequent events are just beyond reality. The prison scenes are handled with stark brutality. I get it, OK? I found my self speed-reading through these grisly events. Yet the book is not without it elements of suspense. Ultimately, the hero of this book is Grace Alexander. Darren Street appears to be a character who gets himself in trouble, and this just appears to be a recurring theme in subsequent books. I think I'll just pass up this hard-to-relate character and move on. Perhaps Joe Dillard might have better fortunes than this troubled character. Scott Pratt took a step backwards for me. I really ultimately didn't like this book.

Given that Scott Pratt is an attorney, there is veracity to his legal thrillers. I have read the eight Joe Dillard novels and enjoyed them greatly. I then discovered that there is another series, featuring young defense lawyer, Darren Street. Justice Redeemed is a chilling, gripping, tension filled drama about justice gone awry through subornation, power grabbing, and finally, ultimate injustice. Darren, early in his career, is able to free his uncle from a murder charge for which he served nineteen years in prison. His case was knowingly manufactured, evidence withheld by the prosecution, and Darren, in having the sentence overturned, makes, what will be, life-long enemies in the state legal system. He is then caught up in a wicked web of deceit, manipulation, and treachery. It is an incredible ride for the reader! Some aspects I thought surely must be fictitious; could "diesel therapy" torture really exist? Googling told me that, indeed, it does. I can only hope that our justice system, in the long run, is far fairer than depicted here, but I'm not so sure. I am moving on to the next Darren Street novel immediately.

Excellent book looking forward to the second book in the series the characters again you’re so realistic. Couldn’t put the book down in this book there were characters I can’t imagine coming into contact with but again he made them so realistic. The places and characters were foreign to me but they were so realistic.

The story started out well. Then it became increasingly difficult to read: some days, I only read a few pages because the story was so painful. (Well, isn't that a nice compliment?!) Living the agony of the protagonist's incarceration was excruciating. Having never been incarcerated, I have no way of recognizing the accuracy of the description; however, I lived the pain, frustration and anger with him.The denouement was satisfying without being contrived.I started this book expecting to enjoy it and wasn't disappointed. I'm eager to read more of this author's work!

Liked the characters except the wife, liked how the story progressed. Liked the people in the prison a d.!over the cowboy and cowgirl and that story.

Yikes!! What a ride! This was a tough book to read. Not because of the writing...the writing by Scott Pratt is, as always, stellar. No, it was tough because of the story line and characters. I had just finished reading all of the Joe Dillard novels. I was used to the somewhat volatile but still gentlemanly Joe Dillard as the man character. In contrast, Darren Street is highly flawed and gritty and pushes the envelope of his own moral sensibilities past the breaking point. I was mesmerized and couldn't put the book down. I really enjoy Pratt's writing style.

I loved every minute of it, I look forward to the next book by this author. Awesome🐊 It could not have been better.

This is a terrific lawyer-oriented murder mystery. The plot is very complex but believable. Lots of twists and turns with excellent character development. Reminded me of some of the John Grisham novels.

John Grisham this is not. Nor is it what I expected. This story letter loose Like a bat out of he'll, free run, it was way beyond my expectations. Good law bad law and it all worked out. Excellent!!

I found this book very engaging with good characters, a great plot and story line and really well written. One of those books you don't want to end but it comes too soon as you can't put it down. Bring on the next one!!

A very well written book and an enjoyable read. At the end, as with most books/movies, everything fell into place a bit too nicely and conveniently for my liking.Two points:1 - The book gives an insight into the manner in which inmates are treated in US prisons. Very harrowing and not becoming of a civilised state.2 - The defence attorney constantly made objections when a witness was asked by the prosecutor to tell the court what the defendant said. How is this hearsay?Am looking forward to reading the other Darren Street books.

First time I have read Scott Pratt but it won't be the last. A superb ,thrilling and thoroughly engrossing book. I am going to start his next book shortly

Like to try different authors. An interesting story but typical of any court drama of someone wrongly accused. Normal outcome