Snap Judgment

Samantha Brinkman, Book 3

By: Marcia Clark

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

In the third installment of Marcia Clark's bestselling series, attorney Samantha Brinkman's investigation into a family's deadly secrets is compromised by a threat from her past.

When the daughter of prominent civil litigator Graham Hutchins is found with her throat slashed, the woman's spurned ex-boyfriend seems the likely suspect. But only days later, the young man dies in what appears to be a suicide. Or was it? Now authorities are faced with a possible new crime. And their person of interest is Hutchins. After all, avenging the death of his daughter is the perfect reason to kill. If he's as innocent as he claims, only one lawyer has what it takes to prove it: his friend and colleague Samantha Brinkman.

It's Sam's obligation to trust her new client. Yet the deeper she digs on his behalf, the more entangled she becomes in a thicket of family secrets, past betrayals, and multiple motives for murder. To win her case, she's prepared to bend any law and cross any boundary that stands in her way. Sam has always played by her own rules, and it's always worked...so far. But this case cuts so deep and so personal that one false move could cost her everything.

©2017 Marcia Clark (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Great series and narration!

This is a great series, I really enjoyed every bit of it. I like Samantha Brinkman's character a lot. She is strong, smart, and doesn't let anyone push her around.

There are a few stories going on throughout the book which I enjoyed. It is not full of filler nonsense and things are always happening. The story is well written and flows very well making it easy to follow along.

As for the narration it was very good. I like Angela Dawe a lot narrating this book. She did a great job. Reads with emotion and gives everyone their own voice.

Keeps you guessing

If you’re considering this book but haven’t read/listened to the previous books in the series….it won’t matter. Each book stands alone and she does an excellent job of including any backstory you may need to understand the current story.

I truly enjoy her crime mysteries. The only thing that bugs me is that I want to like the main character, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t. I get that the main character is flawed, which is real and relatable. But I don’t like the fact that she’s willing to do something illegal (she’s supposed to be on the side of the law) and doesn’t blink an eye getting someone killed because she deems their creepy and thinks they deserve it. Those parts of the story make me cringe and ruin it a little bit for me.

Bring On Book 4!

This was a good ride with enough twist and turns that kept me on my heels. Once again Marcia Clark spins a tale that has surprises and yet not so surprising outcomes. Just when you think you know what's going on you find that you are only seeing a glimpse of the entire picture and when you do see the full picture you are a bit gobsmacked. I like Marcia Clark's writing style as she keeps the story moving at a steady pace and always throws in a side-line story to keep things interesting. At no time did I feel it lag or lose my interest.

Although I enjoyed this book I didn't find it as exciting as the first book, Blood Defense, but a whole lot more interesting than the second, Moral Defense. With any luck Ms. Clark will grace us with a 4th book in the series. I'm not ready to say goodbye to Samantha, her paralegal/admin/best-friend Michelle (Michee), her hacker/investigator/felon Alex, and their other notable friends. And I'm certainly interested to see where things go next between Samantha and the mob-boss Cabezon.

As for narrator Angela Dawe, she did an outstanding job. She really made me forget that it was one person doing all those voices. She created each voice just right for her characters. I totally bought her pot toking character Phil. Ms. Dawe is a very talented voice actor doing good things with this book series.

Enjoyable read

Gripping, fast moving plot, great narration & performance well-suited to the book. Didn't figure out who did what before reading it.

Excellent addition to the Samantha Brinkman series...

I have thoroughly enjoyed all four of the Samantha Brinkman books. This is a very well developed character with multiple flaws, she is not the superwoman type attorney making this a very believable story. Based on who the author is it makes you wonder if there is some truth in the fiction.
In this book Brinkman finds herself representing a father whose daughter has been murdered. Her boyfriend is the prime suspect and then he dies - murder or suicide? Now the father is the suspect... The boyfriend was quite unsavory, the daughter has lots of secrets. She had been an overachiever who grew up in a very controlling environment, now free and in college...
There are a few cases going on simultaneously and all are very interestingly intertwined.
Angela Dawe does an excellent job narrating.
This is a very good book and is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Thank You.

Love it!

Marcia Clark I love your sick, twisted mind. Your sense of humor is refreshing. I'm sad that I have finished the series.

Snap is OK but a little lacking in Crackle and Pop

OK, groaner of a title. My apologies. But Marcia Clark's third Samantha Brinkman novel is indeed a decent listen but somewhat lacking in the crackling elements that made her first book excellent and her second book very good.

Defense attorney Sam is called in to defend a fellow lawyer who may be accused of murdering the college kid who may have murdered his daughter, a freshman at USC. Meanwhile, the cartel boss who has the goods on Sam asks for a favor that she cannot in good conscience grant.

The bulk of Snap Judgement is made up of the investigation of the two college deaths, the rest about Sam's conundrum over the favor she owes the cartel. That's two cases, far fewer than the earlier books, which had her juggling much more, adding nice layers of complexity to what is basically a legal procedural. No such complexity here. And sadly, as in entry #2, no courtroom action.

Ms. Clark, you listened to me when I asked after book 1 that you change narrators, and thank the stars that you did. Now, please, put Sam back in the courtroom and fill up her plate with more courses. TIA.

Love, Love, Love this Series

I have read all of Clarks full length legal novels. With each one, her writing improves. In this series, she has created great characters and it's my favorite of hers.. I would recommend reading the books in order, starting with Blood Defense, so you will best understand the relationships between the characters plus more. I won't spoil the more. The producers description and the reviews by others will give you plenty of background. In many ways this series reminds me of the Lincoln Lawyer series with it's own set of unique characteristics.

The quality of the narration is great. Dawe is fantastic and has the ability to handle both male and female voices with inflection, tone, pitch and emotional expression.

Well worth a listen!

Sam Brinkman Series - great !

Marcia Clark - great storytelling by a real prosecutor! Besides, Angela Dawe is one of my favorite narrators.

Good Read/Great Dialogue

I enjoy this series. Sam is a thinker. I would like it better if the language was cleaned up.