Book Review - Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford

While I'm not a fan of legal shows and movies, I really enjoy legal thriller books. Most are about lawyers and their criminal cases. To read one about a judge and family law was refreshing.

Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford is a legal thriller about a judge and family law. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good

Concept. The idea of exploring family law and the way it is handled in the courts is something not usually done in fiction without a lot of heavy handiness. This book treated it as a fact of life acknowledging both good and bad and not trying to force a certain position down the readers' throats. Also dealing with it from a judge's perspective and the twist about innocence and guilt made for a story I haven't read or heard a dozen times.

Story. The story is very solid. The characters are well developed. The mystery is well constructed. Nothing felt like it was coming out of left field or was a cheat. It is well paced and held my attention the whole time. I'm excited to read more by this author.

Twists. This book took several twists I wasn't expecting but that made perfect sense. It was nice not knowing the ending of the book before I even reached the middle.

The Bad

Consequences. The author made several unusual choices about plot points taking unexpected turns, people not being as clear cut as TV tends to make them, and being more honest about situations, that the resolution at the very end where the judge learns the consequences of his actions seemed untrue to the tone of the rest of the book.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish the very end where the judge learns the consequences for his actions was handled with as much thought and realism as the rest of the story.

Overall

Good Intentions by J. D. Trafford is a legal thriller about a judge and family law, something really unusual for a legal thriller. The story is very solid. The characters are well developed. The mystery is well constructed. Nothing feels like it was coming out of left field or is a cheat. It is well paced and held my attention the whole time. This book took several twists I wasn't expecting but that made perfect sense. It was nice not knowing the ending of the book before I even reached the middle.
I highly recommend this book and give it 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.