By Stone, by Blade, by Fire

By: Kate Wilhelm

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Travis Morgan’s case seems open and shut: A plot to kill his estranged father, fundamentalist preacher Arlie Morgan, goes awry and his bullet slays an innocent bookkeeper. Two eyewitnesses seal Travis’ fate. But despite damning evidence and an admitted hatred of his father, Travis staunchly maintains his innocence.

Beseeched by his anguished mother, veteran defense attorney Barbara Holloway agrees to represent Travis. With the support of her father, attorney Frank Holloway, and crack private investigator Bailey, Barbara reveals a zealot, his ultrarich backers, and unimaginable atrocities. Travis’ case proceeds to trial, and Barbara finds herself pitted against a complacent legal system and a judge eager to simply close the case and retire. Knowing she must intervene decisively to avoid a conviction, Barbara steps squarely into the path of danger. Risking her own life, Barbara confronts the killer in order to save Travis’.

Kate Wilhelm is the best-selling author of dozens of novels and short-story collections. Among her novels are the popular courtroom thrillers featuring attorney Barbara Holloway. Her other works include the science fiction classic Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. Born in Ohio, she now lives in Eugene, Oregon.

©2012 Kate Wilhelm (P)2012 Blackstone

This one's a winner!!

What a delight! Finally, a book by an author, new to me, whom I thoroughly enjoyed! Not only was the story line intriguing, but the narrator was very, very good. With all the different characters, male, female, and so many different accents, she kept them going beautifully...
It was a mystery right up to the end.
This may have been the first book by Wilhelm that I've read, but it won't be my last! I would definitely recommend this book.

By stone,byblade byfire

I loved it was very interesting and loved how it wasplayed out Barbara always knows.

If you like a good trial story…

Before or after I love the blow-by-blow of the Barbra Holloway trials and this did not disappoint. You could solve the mystery of who done it well before the trial, but you did not have the gory details or know how it would turn out. This is my favorite narrator for the Barbra Holloway series. If you are a fan of Barbara Holloway I highly recommend this book.

Excellent listen

My first listen to this author. Excellent story teller! Held my attention the entire time

Favorite story in series

Read them all and so far the client's story the best. Very relevant even though written 10 years ago. Creepy Darin is back and his weird son. I keep hoping they would break up or he would go for whatever reason (job, death). I amost threw up when Darin thinks it is great that he is pounding Barbara so hard that she can barely walk, not my idea of saucy or romantic. At one point Darin considers using son to spy on Barbara while he goes out of town - creepier. Think author trying to protray son as a genius good kid, but it comes off is weird, just the type to bring a gun to school. Also does Barbara have a drinking problem and why does Frank eat so much lamb when he has a heart problem?

Love the courtroom drama!

Really enjoyed this novel. I wish it could have gone on further! Narrator did an excellent job.

Wow! This was Great!

Usually, I only listen to audiobooks in my car. But this was so great, I kept finding excuses to listen to more of it!

It's been awhile since I listened to my last Kate Wilhelm book. So when I listened to the first couple of chapters of By Stone, by Blade, by Fire, I thought I might have missed a book or gotten something out of order. I had forgotten Kate's style of dropping us into an event or character and then going back and providing the background later.

I was absolutely caught up in the events of this book. Kate weaves a story where I root for the underdog and absolutely hate the bad guys. I love how she weaves the courtroom scenes so that I really care about objections raised and whether the judge will overrule or sustain!

Bravo, Kate! Love love love this story!

Doesn’t get better

Truly a skilled writer and one that has almost a crystal ball considering what is going on in society today. One more left in this series which has been not only interesting but thought provoking.

Review contains some spoilers

I've read all these books in order so far. This one contained all the typical stuff: all characters constantly drinking coffee, wine, etc., me being irritated by the treatment of Thing 1 + Thing 2, the grumpy judge wants to rush the trial despite someone's life being at stake, Barbara sets someone up again with the cop listening in, the defendant once again has some sort of character flaw which might make them unlikable to the jury, etc. It's the same stuff in each book, just a different case.

I thought the book was good. Not the best in the series, but definitely not the worst. I'll never reread it, but it was enjoyable.

I was REALLY mad that Barbara found out the truth about a certain victim, but she didn't tell the family what happened. Author made it seem like she was sparing them from heartache, but I don't think that's a lawyer's call to make. The family deserved to know the truth!
Also, it made me mad that the "bad guy" will never pay for what terrible things he did and the public and his followers might never know what a monster he was.

One of the better KW

I've read nearly all of the Barbara Holloway series and sometimes the ypu can get lost in the cast of characters but this one was by far the best of the books so far. Throughly enjoyed it.