Dirty Blonde

By: Lisa Scottoline

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Cate Fante is strong and smart, but when she gets appointed a federal judge, even she wonders if she can do the job justice. She's in her 30s, and she feels like she's joining the world's most exclusive retirement village. But Cate keeps her doubts a secret. And, as it happens, much else. For she leads a dark, double life that she hides from everyone.

Then a high-profile case in her courtroom explodes into a shocking murder-suicide, and it blasts her cover wide open. Overnight, her new career hangs in tatters. But Cate's troubles are only beginning. An enemy no one anticipated sends her running for her life, embarking on a journey that begins in the mystery of her own childhood. She'll have to fight her way back to the truth, or die trying.

Dirty Blonde is Lisa Scottoline's most suspenseful and gripping thriller to date. Mixing poignancy with her trademark wit and wonderfully compelling characters, it questions whether law and justice are always the same thing.

©2006 Lisa Scottoline (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The fast pace and ever-increasing tension will keep readers turning the pages." (Publishers Weekly)

Yikes!

I've enjoyed all of Lisa Scottoline's books... till I got to this one. Her character Cate believes that just because she has a nasty little habit of picking up strange men, some criminals, in bars and bedding them she shouldn't be judged to harshly even though she's a federal judge. Then her nocternal habits make the papers and the writs really hit the fan. She suddenly realizes she'd better quit, the bar hopping, not the bench... right. This character just isn't believable. She's mad at her fellow judges because they have a bad opinion of her. Would THEY be so judged if the roles were reversed? I hope so. But none of the boys of the court are at issue, they're just worried how the court will look, duh. So with the facts against her she, you guessed it, argues the law.. and wins. She's back on the bench and everyone's all smiles, except the reader. Pass on this one and hope Lisa Scottoline can bring back characters we can believe in and root for.

Fair

There are better thrillers. I hate to call it that.

Disappointed

I'm a fan of many of Ms. Scottoline's books, both audio and written. I just could not empathize with the main character, wondering how in the earth she got to her profession by being morally weak, scatterbrained, high strung, then strong in other situations. I was thinking that I may not have listened long enough to "get it". So I kept with it, but when I was 3/4 through Part 1, I just stopped listening. I decided that if I wasn't caught up and rooting for the character by that time, I may wind up spending a few hours listening to the whole book and be disappointed. I'm too busy for that and part of the reason why I started listening to audio books. Sorry, but maybe another one of her books may rise to the occasion. I'm still too big of a fan to give up on Ms. Scottoline.

Yuck

I read some of the negative reviews of this book and I decided to give it a try anyway. There are many books that I like, but aren't very popular. I now see why this book is not too popular. It wasn't very entertaining. Even while in traffic. I did not think this book was funny. The characters had no depth. The main character is obnoxious. I love Barbara Rosenblat, but I did not care for her narration of this novel.
The only reason why I gave this book two stars instead of one is only because there was a plot. I thought the plot was dumb, but at least the author kept the book organized and I didn't get lost. Just bored.

Dirty Blone

Da:

What do you except dirt-in dirt-out.
Dull.

Blonde of little brain

Lisa Scottoline's heroines usually do at least one stupid thing per novel -- such as chasing criminals into deserted buildings or using themselves as bait for murderers -- but we shrug it off because her damsels in distress are so engaging and the plots both fun and suspenseful. But Dirty Blonde is pushing it. What kind of woman who is supposedly smart enough to be a judge at 39 can't understand why her pastime of picking up strangers in sleazy bars will interfere with her duties and reputation on the bench? Or that she might be suspended for missing court dates, failing to read the file before showing up to sentence someone, etc., etc.? We're supposed to feel outraged by the narrow-minded men in suits who try to stifle our gal Cate, but frankly I'm with the old boys on this one.

Got Through It.....

this was an ok book. No challenge to follow the story and at times the reader's voice got to me. Some of it was just not believable and the end was predictable as far as who the main character ended up with. Oh well..............

Disappointing

The title was the best thing about this book. The story was preposterous, the main character unsympathetic, the legal subplot laughable, and the plot practically random. I was good and tired of this book long before it was over. The author had some mildly interesting ideas but I'm afraid they were wasted on this book.

Don't Waste Your Time

It was one of those books that, once I put it down, I couldn't pick it back up again. Like one of the other reviewers, about the only thing interesting about the book was its title. Otherwise terrible plot, unsympathetic characters...I've liked other Scottoline books, but this was her worst.

Big Yawn...

I was glad when this book was over. This was my first Barbara Rosenblat and I almost didn't finish it. Strong female leads are my favorite but I couldn't comprehend a judge who picked up nasty men, in nasty bars, and went to nasty motels for raw, hard sex. Well.... maybe I could but, the rest of the plot was weak and improbable. Thumbs down..... way down.