Kenneth Eade's Blog - Posts Tagged "hoa-wire"
Reader's Favorite Review for HOA Wire
Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers’ Favorite
HOA Wire by Kenneth Eade is a fast paced courtroom drama. Barbara Dennesmore is the president of the Orange Grove Homeowners Association and takes great delight in issuing citations for the wrong color paint or an overgrown lawn. Nobody likes her and, on her birthday, she receives a deadly gift – deadly enough to kill her. Everyone had a motive but suspicion falls on Nancy Hoskins who has just won a case against the HOA. Evidence is found on her property that leaves the police no option but to charge her with murder. Enter Brent Marks, hotshot lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience. As the case moves forward, Brent hires a PI to try to uncover who the real murderer is, believing with all his heart that his client is innocent. Did Nancy kill the president? And what is going on in Orange Grove that casts doubt over everything?
HOA Wire by Kenneth Eade was a very good book, written by a lawyer. A combination of courtroom drama and crime, it’s full of twists and turns and a very surprising ending. It’s an intriguing story, going in a different direction at every corner, and I found it was very easy to understand. Mr. Eade has written a winning novel here, the third in the Brent Marks series. I also very much appreciated the explanation at the end of the story on the legal aspect of Home Owners Associations as it made things in the story much clearer. I would like to read the other two books in the series as well and I hope that there is more to come!
HOA Wire by Kenneth Eade is a fast paced courtroom drama. Barbara Dennesmore is the president of the Orange Grove Homeowners Association and takes great delight in issuing citations for the wrong color paint or an overgrown lawn. Nobody likes her and, on her birthday, she receives a deadly gift – deadly enough to kill her. Everyone had a motive but suspicion falls on Nancy Hoskins who has just won a case against the HOA. Evidence is found on her property that leaves the police no option but to charge her with murder. Enter Brent Marks, hotshot lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience. As the case moves forward, Brent hires a PI to try to uncover who the real murderer is, believing with all his heart that his client is innocent. Did Nancy kill the president? And what is going on in Orange Grove that casts doubt over everything?
HOA Wire by Kenneth Eade was a very good book, written by a lawyer. A combination of courtroom drama and crime, it’s full of twists and turns and a very surprising ending. It’s an intriguing story, going in a different direction at every corner, and I found it was very easy to understand. Mr. Eade has written a winning novel here, the third in the Brent Marks series. I also very much appreciated the explanation at the end of the story on the legal aspect of Home Owners Associations as it made things in the story much clearer. I would like to read the other two books in the series as well and I hope that there is more to come!
Review of "HOA Wire" by Midwest Book Review
There is big a difference between crime and detective novels and courtroom dramas. In one, the action takes place on the streets; and in the other, the main story takes place in the courtroom. HOA Wire represents the latter, and will appeal to fans of Grisham and any other writer who spins a solid yarn based on courtroom drama and realistic experiences.
While it’s Book Three in the Brent Marks legal thriller series, newcomers will find it quickly accessible. It revolves around the murder of a homeowner’s association president, where lawyer Brent Marks finds himself standing square in the center of a maelstrom of puzzles in which every town resident is a potential suspect and no easy answers are apparent.
Readers aren’t bludgeoned over the head with clues that are obvious leads, and they aren’t teased by the presence of a protagonist who might know the answers, either. Brent Marks is well-educated and trained, but is just as puzzled as readers – and it’s his process of discovery that succeeds in creating an involving story of just how a crime is solved.
Key to an unusually successful approach are the tidbits of information about courtroom proceedings which are added not just to embellish a tale, but to provide realistic atmosphere and lend clues on how decisions are made: “Brent was sure that the jury had no doubt that the urine sample tested positive for ricin, but the judge instructed them that no urine test was in evidence, and that they could not consider the testimony about it. It was a good win for Brent, but not enough to win the case. You could be sure that the jury would be thinking about the positive urine test when they deliberated, whether or not they discussed it amongst themselves.”
Witnesses, cross examinations, and instances where even the professional lawyer makes errors are all brought out and considered in the bigger picture of crime and punishment processes, where judges can influence outcomes and approaches: “Sorry’s not good enough. When something’s broken, sorry can never bring it back. Now I know your case is important, and that you’re zealous in your defense of your client, but I don’t want to declare a mistrial in this case. So please, don’t make any more inappropriate comments.”
The obvious prerequisite for enjoying this approach is affection for courtroom dramas, because this is the centerpiece, here. Readers with such an interest will find HOA Wire successfully weaves crime and courtroom to such a degree that the unexpected conclusion comes as both a successful, logical outcome and as a real surprise. With its real insights on HOA processes and neighbor disputes, HOA Wire is a deft exploration of attorney-client ethics on the line, and is crime/courtroom writing at its best.
D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review
HOA Wire
While it’s Book Three in the Brent Marks legal thriller series, newcomers will find it quickly accessible. It revolves around the murder of a homeowner’s association president, where lawyer Brent Marks finds himself standing square in the center of a maelstrom of puzzles in which every town resident is a potential suspect and no easy answers are apparent.
Readers aren’t bludgeoned over the head with clues that are obvious leads, and they aren’t teased by the presence of a protagonist who might know the answers, either. Brent Marks is well-educated and trained, but is just as puzzled as readers – and it’s his process of discovery that succeeds in creating an involving story of just how a crime is solved.
Key to an unusually successful approach are the tidbits of information about courtroom proceedings which are added not just to embellish a tale, but to provide realistic atmosphere and lend clues on how decisions are made: “Brent was sure that the jury had no doubt that the urine sample tested positive for ricin, but the judge instructed them that no urine test was in evidence, and that they could not consider the testimony about it. It was a good win for Brent, but not enough to win the case. You could be sure that the jury would be thinking about the positive urine test when they deliberated, whether or not they discussed it amongst themselves.”
Witnesses, cross examinations, and instances where even the professional lawyer makes errors are all brought out and considered in the bigger picture of crime and punishment processes, where judges can influence outcomes and approaches: “Sorry’s not good enough. When something’s broken, sorry can never bring it back. Now I know your case is important, and that you’re zealous in your defense of your client, but I don’t want to declare a mistrial in this case. So please, don’t make any more inappropriate comments.”
The obvious prerequisite for enjoying this approach is affection for courtroom dramas, because this is the centerpiece, here. Readers with such an interest will find HOA Wire successfully weaves crime and courtroom to such a degree that the unexpected conclusion comes as both a successful, logical outcome and as a real surprise. With its real insights on HOA processes and neighbor disputes, HOA Wire is a deft exploration of attorney-client ethics on the line, and is crime/courtroom writing at its best.
D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review
HOA Wire
