Gray Mountain / John Grisham /368 pp

Samantha Kofer was living the dream in one of New York City's largest law firms. She was working 60-80 hour work weeks executing her plan to make partner. Then Lehman Brothers collapsed. In order to keep her health insurance and a chance to go back once the recession improved, she took a furlough to a legal aid clinic in Appalachia. She had never seen the inside of a courtroom, so she had a lot to learn. She also met people who had made getting justice for coal miners and their families their live's work. Samantha soon learns a secret that starts a domino effect with unforeseen consequences.

Rumpole on Trial / John Mortimer 243 p.

Horace Rumpole, the shrewd, tenacious, curmudgeonly barrister, is back in seven more tales of English justice. He deals with defending a ring of child devil worshipers, unscrupulous land developer (also the popular former cricket star), and his own dismissal from the bar. Intertwined are the returning characters, Hilda Rumpole A.K.A. She Who Must Be Obeyed, Claude Erskine-Brown, Mizz Liz Probert, "Soapy" Sam Ballard, and Mr. Injustice Graves add disturbances of their own. The title story is a gem. Imagine Rumpole in retirement!

Smash Cut / Sandra Brown / 367p.

The murder of Paul Wheeler has all the elements of a blockbuster: family rivalries, incalculable wealth, and a prominent man dying in the arms of his beautiful mistress. Which also makes this book very scripted and flat, you know you have seen this storyline before.  Of course there is the very handsome, power hungry Lawyer who saves and falls in love with the independent, spirited mistress.  The villain is a rich kid who is obsessed with movies and spends a lot of time describing famous movie plots or responding with mainstream movie quotes (which after awhile gets kind of annoying).  The plot line of the book suffers from the fact that the suspense and harassment of the main characters continue because they keep secrets from each other and never talk to the police.  And, I never really cared for the romance between the leads considering their first "romantic" encounter is in an airplane bathroom (ahhh, nothing says true love like that!).  My Final Verdict: FAIL!