The Sentence

By: Christina Dalcher

Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow, Greg Lockett

The gripping new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling phenomenon, VOX

‘Shocking, emotive, urgent and original’ Chris Whitaker

’A non-stop thrill ride’ Jeffery Deaver

’Queen of the “what if” thriller. Unflinching, unguessable and unputdownable’ Simon Lelic

’Thrilling, topical and timely … I ripped through this in a few days’ Louise Swanson

’Provocative, inventive and compulsively page-turning’ David Koepp

The one decision you can’t take back

Prosecutor, Justine Boucher has only asked for the death penalty once, in a brutal murder case.

In doing so, she put her own life on the line. Because, if the convicted are later found innocent, the lawyer who requested the execution will be sentenced to death.

Justine had no doubt that the man she sent to the chair was guilty.

Until now.

Presented with evidence that could prove his innocence, Justine must find out the truth before anyone else does.

Her life depends on it.

©2023 Christina Dalcher (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘Chilling, thought-provoking and furiously compelling. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.’ B P WALTER

’Absorbing, dynamic, button-pushing’ ROSS ARMSTRONG

‘A riveting treatise on criminal justice’ ALLISON DICKSON

‘Thought-provoking, intelligent and utterly gripping’ ROZ WATKINS

Praise for Christina Dalcher

‘A truly compulsive novel’ STYLIST

‘Intelligent, suspenseful, provocative, and intensely disturbing – everything a great novel should be’ LEE CHILD

‘Thought-provoking and thrilling’ WOMAN & HOME

‘Extraordinary’ LOUISE O’NEILL

‘A fast-paced, twisting thriller’ DAILY MAIL

‘Terrifyingly plausible’ LOUISE CANDLISH

‘[Dalcher] knows how to hit the emotional buttons . . .compelling’ GUARDIAN

Not what I was expecting!

If you are a fan of this authors other work then you'll enjoy this story!

Another great one from Christina Dalcher

The story was great, lots of spots that trigger you to examine your own insights.
It seemed less dystopian than her previous works and, for this story I am very glad that it wasn't because I think that gives it a level of plausibility in a readers mind.
I am glad that there were two narrators, it makes the story easier to follow when you have alternating narrators throughout the book, for there to be distinctly diffrent voices

Thought-provoking read on the topic of capital punishment

Smart and compelling account of what happens when extreme measures are employed in an attempt to rectify injustice.

Compelling story that apys dividends

I liked the premise of the story -- it promised to be thought-provoking, and it was. It seemed at a few points like it would take the easy route with stereotypes and generalizations, so the last third of the book truly startled me.

I REALLY like it when books leave me with something to contemplate afterwards, and this DID. So much so, in fact, that I'm betting I listen to it again after a little time to digest my first time.

SO glad I looked after Vox to see what else she wrote and found this. She has a major talent for questioning culture by tweaking the settings in a depiction of it.

boring

This was a really boring story told with a flat affect that made it even more boring. Calling it a gripping thriller is a gross stretch of the truth in my opinion.