Every Reasonable Doubt

Vernetta Henderson Series No. 1

By: Pamela Samuels Young

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

When attorneys Vernetta Henderson and Neddy McClain are tapped to take on the biggest case of their careers, they are less than thrilled about working together. Their strained relationship, however, is the least of their problems. Their socialite client - charged with the brutal murder of her husband - is demanding an immediate dismissal of the case. But a ruthless prosecutor is determined to make sure that doesn't happen. Forced to fight a common enemy, the two women close ranks and, in the process, develop a bond that sees them through the uncertainties of trial, the pain of betrayal and pressures neither could have imagined.

©2013 Goldman House Publishing (P)2013 Goldman House Publishing

loved Special

Another great listen, I knew I would love this series. The side stories are as good as the main event. I downloaded the other 3 books today.I really hope Special appears in the rest of the series. The narrator was great. I just have two recommendations. 1st I need Ms Young to write faster 2nd Mr Bray is a genus. My hope is that this series go on like the J.D. Robbs series.

If you can get past the "What?!" parts...

I liked this book OK. The plot is a good one and there are some well-drawn characters with depth and complexity whom I came to enjoy and care about.

But there was some stuff that made me go, "What?!" The first was the part where, because Vernetta - a associate in a fairly small but apparently prestigious law firm - just won a really big civil suit, she ought to do a high profile criminal case. Um... what?

The second was when she feels the need to see her OB-Gyn before she goes off the pill. ... What? Then it got downright weird when her gyno, upon learning that this young, healthy couple wants to make a baby, decides to do a "fertility workup" on them, starting with a sperm sample from her husband. This was laughable. All I could think was, "There is no OB on the planet that would order that before she has even gone off the pill, and certainly no insurance company that would cover it!"

But my favorite was when, as the big important murder trial is coming to an end and the three defense attorneys are worrying about whether or not the prosecutor will tell the jury that the accused knew her husband was a cheating philanderer, it dawns on all three attorneys that no one has thought to interview the housekeeper of the victim and the accused - including, apparently, the police or the prosecutor. WHAT!?

And it all cases, the author needed the results of these "What?" devises to move the plot. She ought to break that habit.

If you can ignore this kind of thing, this is a pretty decent first attempt.

Caveat: The choice of narrator seems strange. Almost every important character in this book is a female. The exceptions are Jefferson, Vernetta's husband; Riley, the managing partner in her firm; and Dave, one of the attorneys. But the narrator is male. He does the male voices - both black and white - fairly effectively, but I think he did a poor job overall on the female voices. His range of "female" seems very narrow and it's often difficult to tell which of the primary female characters is speaking.

I have the second book in this series and I'm going to give it a try. I'm rather hoping things will have improved.

Good story, great detail

What did you like best about this story?

What I liked best about the story was the detail of each personality.

Have you listened to any of R. C. Bray’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first R.C. Bray narration. I like his characterizations very much, but occasionally wanted him to take a breath.

Any additional comments?

What is with the random music drowning out the narration?

The book content is fictition fabulous

The book continues to soothe, educate and make you laugh. Moreover, the narrator is a natural. Writer and narrator build pinnacle interest.

Great start to a wonderful legal thriller series!

Every Reasonable Doubt is the first book in the five novel Vernetta Henderson series. This completes my listening to all of the legal thriller novels and novellas by Pamela Samuels Young. The other four novels in the series are even better than this one. Young's two novel Angela Evans series is equally excellent.

I love the legal thrillers by Pamela Samuels Young! She is one of my favorite authors. Her wonderful characters are so vivid and believable. Vernetta's friend Special, who keeps Vernetta grounded with her always colorful advice in all five novels in the series, is easily one of my all time favorite characters in any series. The narration by R. C. (Bob) Bray brings the characters to life. So why would a black female author whose characters are mostly black females want the white male Bray to narrate her books? Young says of Bray, "I get chills each and every time I hear R.C. Bray bring one of my books to life. Whether the characters are male or female, black or white, young or old, nobody does it better!" Bray is one of few narrators that cause me to by a book because he is narrating it.

Attorney Pamela Samuels Young is a very talented author whose novels and novellas often surprise but never disappoint. Her outstanding creative work as an author of great legal thrillers deserves far more attention than it gets.

Fantastic Book

Wow. I haven'd read a good legal thriller since the Client, and this was everything. It was fast paced, always kept my interest and it wasn't so bogged down with legal jargon that it was hard to follow. Vernetta was funny, witty, and strong and I enjoyed her POV. Her husband, Jefferson reminded me so much of the men, including my husband, that I have met in my life. With there views on adoption and the whole machismo that poured out their mouths with every line spoken. It wasn't too much and it was easy to see that yes he was a man, and had male ideas about what a wife was to do for him, but you can also see the weak parts in himself that he could only show his wife. I loved that. He was a such a realist character. I don't think that he was whiny at all.

Wow. I haven'd read a good legal thriller since the Client, and this was everything. It was fast paced, always kept my interest and it wasn't so bogged down with legal jargon that it was hard to follow. Vernetta was funny, witty, and strong and I enjoyed her POV. Her husband, Jefferson reminded me so much of the men, including my husband, that I have met in my life. With there views on adoption and the whole machismo that poured out their mouths with every line spoken. It wasn't too much and it was easy to see that yes he was a man, and had male ideas about what a wife was to do for him, but you can also see the weak parts in himself that he could only show his wife. I loved that. He was a such a realist character. I don't think that he was whiny at all.

Special, her home girl, was another character/friend that I felt every women has. That one friend that always says whats on her mind, even when you don't want to hear it, but have to hear it anyway. Vernetta's working relationships with both David and Neddy, especially Neddy, was something to admire. Being the only two African American Women at this law firm, at first you do feel like you have to be enemies (which I think it stupid, and brings up that whole thing about crabs in a barrel, but no one seems to understand, that a barrel isn't the crabs natural habitat but whatever) then being placed on this case made them put all that crap to the side and a great friendship bloomed.

But all in all, enjoyed this book. It was thrilling, but it wasn't as thrilling as I thought it might be. But since this wasn't from a POV of a PI or police officer, I can see why it wasn't THAT thrilling. The conversations were realistic and flowed very well. The characters were easy to see and I def will be reading the rest of this series.

Perplexed

How this book got 5 stars reviews I'll never know. I picked it because RC Bray was the reader and he did not disappoint, even as a black woman. But the story, a cross between real housewives of Atlanta and a really bad TV law show. Over and over I found myself saying "come on, really", I hung in there as long as I could but I'm getting a refund. Sorry R. C. Can not stomach another one of these you reading or not.

Entertaining Story

I simply ask to be entertained and PSY's stories combined with R C Bray's narration does that for me. The stories are a little whacky sometimes but that's okay with me, I'm not looking for perfection. I just want to be entertained! I enjoy the main characters of the Vernetta Henderson Series, especially "Special Moore." She provides some comic relief as well as some good common sense thinking - sometimes! This story is all about murder and the court room drama about who dunnit.... I liked how Young pulled a "rabbit out of the hat" for a crazy twisty ending. Yeah, I bought the ending mainly because "Over worked and underpaid" coroners do make mistakes, rarely but mistakes do happen. I read this series a couple of times over the years and I am always entertained. Recommend...

Loved It

RC Bray is the only man that could pull off reading for a female lead. :) Love Him

Great!

This book had me on edge! I! I had to listen t the whole book!

Great Story and subplots

Where does Every Reasonable Doubt rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've found this book entertaining and I want to hear more (I haven't finished it yet). I mainly listen whilst driving.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The lead character, Vernetta Henderson, is flawed in that she has to try and balance home to work. Like most of us, she fails

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The reader, R.C. Bray, does an OK job but there isn't enough differentiation between the characters' voices. It makes following a two hander or three hander conversation quick difficult

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Nothing's quite as it seems