Alafair Burke’s debut novel Judgment Calls introduces us to Deputy DA Samantha Kincaid who works in Portland, Oregon as she takes on one of the toughest jobs of her career - prosecuting a professional criminal with the brutal assault of a young teenager. Sam becomes emotionally involved in the case, which makes her fight even harder for the young victim. The story is told from the perspective of the prosecution. It is a harrowing tale that pulls no punches but also gives you a lot of faith in what can seem to be a somewhat beleaguered judicial system. Kincaid is a person who fights hard with a lot of determination for what she believes in no matter what the personal cost.
While Alafair Burke may have her father’s writing genes in her, their voices are certainly not the same. In Judgment Calls you don’t have a voice from the south you have a totally different voice. If she reminds me of anyone then it is a much younger Alex Cooper, which is certainly a good thing and an accolade in my opinion.
Alafair Burke was one of Orion’s New Blood authors whose books were published at the end of last year. For fans of James Lee Burke and his Dave Robicheaux series the name Alafair should come as no surprise; it is the same name as that of his adopted daughter in the series.
Judgment Calls is certainly a worthy addition to the annals of female
prosecutors and worth reading. I look forward to reading the further exploits
of Deputy DA Samantha Kincaid with relish.
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Ayo Onatade