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Reviewed by Gabriel Santos for Readers' Favorite
District Attorney Aaron Brownell is a renowned prosecutor with a stellar track record. Maybe too stellar. Seeking to cement his reputation and further his political ambitions, Brownell stops at nothing to convict Brian Walker of a series of high-profile murders targeting drag performers. As a longtime rival of Brownell, defense attorney Jake Delaney has been suspicious of the DA's methods for a while, and he thinks this case smells fishy, especially the prosecution's last-minute witness. Meanwhile, Luke Walker, Brian's son, is convinced his father is innocent and starts nurturing a deep hatred when Brian is deemed guilty. This legal drama marks the beginning of Jimmy Ray Conner's The Avenging Son: When Justice Becomes the Weapon.
This novel reads like a true crime story. The narrator tells the events in a rather objective, dispassionate tone. It made me feel like I was listening to a true crime podcast. Jimmy Ray Conner goes to great lengths to establish most major characters and their backstories and motivations. This helped me appreciate their roles in the plot. Brian is a particularly interesting character: a classic unsympathetic defendant most of us would condemn in real life without hearing his side or scrutinizing the prosecution's case. But he has negative and positive sides like anyone else, as well as the right to proper representation. He cares for his son while holding deep grief and trauma. The Avenging Son invites us to take a closer look at our biases and institutions in the interest of true, honest justice.
