Audiobook Review: A Case of Redemption by Adam Mitzner

A Case of Redemption by Adam Mitzner

Read by Kevin T. Collins

Audible Inc.

Length: 10 Hrs 51 Min

Genre: Legal Thriller

Quick Thoughts: A Case of Redemption is an entertaining Legal thriller for hardcore fans of the genre, or those people who have never seen an episode of Law & Order, The Practice, LA Law or, hell, even that one with those two annoying dudes that currently airs on some damn cable channel. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.

Grade: B-

There is nothing more important in children’s development then helping them foster a sense of self awareness in order to determine what paths there lives should take. It’s easy to tell a child that they should choose a job for security, for money, or because of some family heritage, yet these reasons may not allow a child to be happy. When I was younger, after wanting to be a missionary, a scientist, an award winning film maker, I finally settled on wanting a career in law. I even went to college as a political science major with the express purpose of one day attending law school. Adults had been telling me for years that I should be a lawyer, because I loved to argue. Then they would pat me on the head, ignore my well reasoned arguments, and go back to acting like condescending adults. Despite my love of arguing, there was one really reason I wanted to be a lawyer, I wanted to be able to yell "OBJECTION!" in a crowded room, and force people to pay attention to me. Yet, eventually, years of reading legal thrillers wore me down. It seemed these lovely, characters who get to yell objections at the top of their lungs were destined to become broken down, alcoholic, workaholic success junkies with failed relationships and little to no happiness. It seemed the only way they would be destined to achieve happiness was after they quit their big city firms in disgrace, get themselves into rehab and take on an unwinable case that in someway involves a beautiful and mysterious woman and really, I didn’t want to have to go through all that knowing in the end, I’d probably still be disillusioned or betrayed. So, yeah, maybe law wasn’t the best choice, but, occasionally, when no one is paying attention to me, I still like to yell out "OBJECTION!" or when someone really annoys me, scream “OVERULED!”

Attorney Dan Sorenson was on the fast track to success in his big city firm, when a drunk driving took away everything he held dear. 18 months later Dan is an unemployed drunk living off the insurance money from the accident. When a beautiful attorney approaches his with the case of Rap Artist Legally Dead accused of killing his pop Diva girlfriend, Dan sees the case as a chance to redeem himself for past cases and a way to get his life back on track. A Case of Redemption is a solid legal thriller that offers some great moments, but often falls flat along the way. I enjoyed A Case of Redemption but mostly because I am a legal thriller fan, and often enjoy a good courtroom procedural. After Mitzner’s excellent debut, A Conflict of Interest, I was hoping to be blown away with a big step forward in this legal thriller author’s career, yet, I felt the opposite. In a way, it seemed Mitzner was relying on the themes and tropes of the genre without developing them much on his own. Dan was definitely in a downward spiral, but I felt the transition from down and out drunk, to rejuvenated hero lawyer was too smooth. I was also uncomfortable a bit with the romantic subplot where the attractive, full breasted young attorney managed to make him forget all about his dead wife and child through helping him find meaning and some rigorous sex play. It all felt too easy. Mitzner is no slouch in the legal strategy department, and puts together an interesting case, but it felt too much like a blending of bad Law & Order subplots. For instance, from the very beginning Dan was faced with a hostile judge, yet Mitzner does nothing to set up why the judge was so against Dan and his client. I believe there probably were reasons she was so vehemently against Dan, but it was never really explored. Also, now, I’m no legal strategist but I have no clue why two attorney’s for whom money didn’t seem to be a major issue, didn’t even consider hiring a private investigators, instead ran around like a couple of doofus wannabe Magnum, PI’s alienating potential witnesses and basically blundering along. I think this was my main concern, Dan, this high powered and smart attorney, was simply a big doofas. He pissed people off when he didn’t have to, pushed buttons he should have avoided and basically made an ass out of himself. I mean, really, did he think showing up at the dead pop star’s mother’s house and saying, “Hey, was your dead daughter banging any old dudes?” a smart decision?  Along the way, Mitzner uses some clever plotting to hack out some really intriguing twists, but in all honesty, there wasn’t one surprise that I didn’t highly suspect at some point. A Case of Redemption is an entertaining Legal thriller for hardcore fans of the genre, or those people who have never seen an episode of Law & Order, The Practice, LA Law or, hell, even that one with those two annoying dudes that currently airs on some damn cable channel. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.

Luckily, for me, A Case of Redemption was narrated by Kevin T. Collins, who at the very least makes things interesting. Collins has an ability to enhance the quirkiness of a novel or, when all else fails, create quirkiness out of thin air. He has a solid voice that just has a little something extra. I loved listening to him during the courtroom scenes. He captured the rhythms of the courtroom perfectly, giving it an almost poetic feel. I love how he handled the snarky judge, and the defeatist tone he gives Dan whenever she beat him down. Honestly, I shouldn’t have taken so much joy in the judge ripping Dan apart, but I just couldn’t help it. He even made the strange rejuvenation process of attorney down feel almost natural, giving him a bit more life as he immersed himself in the legal work of the case. One thing that Collins may need to work on is his rapping skills. He handled rapper Legally Dead well, but the rapping, was, well, Collins ain’t no Ghost Faced Killah or even an Eminem. Despite my harsh tone in my review, I enjoyed A Case of Redemption, and I think a big part of that was due to the excellent work of Kevin T. Collins.