Title: The Sentence
Author: Christina Dalcher
Publisher: HQ
Release Date: 17th August 2023
BLURB from Goodreads
A law intended to end capital punishment.
Prosecutors who seek the death penalty put their lives on the line if the guilty are later found innocent.
A lawyer convinced beyond reasonable doubt.
Justine Boucher is presented with overwhelming evidence in a brutal murder case. Her request for execution is granted.
But what if she’s wrong?
REVIEW
First of I really love the striking cover, the red colour certainly draws your eye to it and then the scales of justice gives you your first clue as to what the book is about. The byline, 'The one decision, you can't take back' fits the book perfectly and hammers home the finality of The Sentence.
Do not think for one moment this is a straight forward court case based type drama, far from it!
The book has a somewhat different justice system than our current day one. The death sentence is available to be asked for by any prosecutor brave enough to put their own life on the line. As any prosecutor who presses for the death sentence and then that person that has been given the death sentence is then later found innocent is actually then sentenced to death themselves! They actually forfeit their own life for making that mistake.
The main character Justine has just returned to work after the shock murder of her soulmate, husband and father of her unborn baby so naturally her mental state is not where it would normally be.
When Jake Milfords case is given to her she literally reacts, she doesn't think about the possible future consequences. Jake Milford is accused of murdering a child and cannot account for his whereabouts when the heinous crime took place. Justine at this early stage in her grief is seeing things in very black or white terms. Usually she wouldn't make the choice she pushes for which is the death penalty.
It's only later when it's too late for Jake that he is proven to be not guilty, though some would say the innocent child was murdered because his association with him. Jake's wife, now widow approaches Justine with the evidence saying she isnt sure what she is going to do with it yet.
Justine finally confides in new partner Daniel who goes into full 'escape mode' as a close friend of his has had a case where the man she sent to his death was found innocent and has paid with her own life.
The book let's you into all the different lives involved, theres lots of flashbacks and the story of what happened almost step by step so you get plenty of background and current day information on each character. It's quite complex and heavy/in-depth in places. There's Justine - the prosecutor. Jake - the accused sentenced to death then his existence on death row, then finally his execution. Emily - Jake's wife, now single mother of Jake junior, who has the dilemma of what to do with the new evidence, does she want to go down the 'eye for an eye' route or accept the evidence is too late for Jake and just get on with life with Jake junior. Finally there's also Mary, Jake's first sweetheart, that marries his brother, a life long abuser. Mary the reason Jake couldn't say where he was at the time of the little boys murder.
The book certainly has you thinking about both the justice system in the book and comparing it to our current one. Is it right an innocent man should pay with his life for something he didn't do? Is it right a prosecutor who thought she had all the facts an sentences what turned out to be an innocent man to death, then pay for her mistake with her own life?
All these questions make this a must read book!
Powerful, thought provoking, so many variables.
What would you have done in Jake's position? Or Emily's? Or Mary's? Or Justine's?
So many different perspectives and one slight change to help one person could drastically affect and change another's life for the worse.
I'd like to think Mary chose to answer 'no' to the decisive life altering question Justine asked. That Mary & her son Caleb, the name her husband thought it weirdly fitting to chose to "keep her in her place" and Emily & Jake Junior had a happier life together as single parents. That Justine got to live a happy life with Daniel, getting married, more children maybe and got to watch her son grow up and have a family. I guess we will never know for sure and I believe that's exactly how the Christina Dalcher meant this book to end. The author wants you to decide on what you believe is the appropriate ending for Justine.The way there are pros & cons to the justice system in the book that you have to make your own mind up about is sort of the same way you make your own mind up about what you think and feel about the different characters in the book and the choices they made.
Summing up this is an amazing read, really thought provoking. The only concise description I could come up with for the book was that quite a few of the characters were faced with an unbelievable connected conundrum. It's the kind of book that keeps popping back into your head.
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