false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171059564m/85335.jpg 85335 7 Defense attorney Nina Reilly has bad luck with men: one marriage ended abruptly, and another ended in tragedy. Still, her misfortunes with the opposite sex are nothing compared to the trouble she has finding a decent client. In her sixth outing, <I>Move to Strike</I>, Nina's defending a minor who's a major pain: Nikki Zack, a mouthy, rebellious teenager who's being tried as an adult in the murder of her uncle, a wealthy plastic surgeon. Like a lot of people in Lake Tahoe, Nikki disliked Bill Sykes, who showed both greed and snobbery to Nikki and her scatterbrained mother, Daria. He discouraged their familial overtures except when he cheated them in a land deal. Nevertheless, Nikki claims she didn't kill him, even though she was spotted sneaking around his pool on the night of the murder, and the prosecution's case against her is based on a blood sample that indicates she wielded the murder weapon. Nina is particularly struck by two strange facts: Sykes's son Chris was killed in a plane crash at almost the same time Sykes died, and Sykes's widow, Beth, is almost abnormally quick to front the money for her niece's defense, no questions asked. <p> Nina knows Nikki saw something or someone at Sykes's house, but she's not sure whether Nikki's protecting her sleazy, housebreaking boyfriend or Daria, whose vagueness is almost too extreme to believe. Nikki is placed under house arrest, but that's not enough to keep her--or Nina and her son Bob--safe when a stranger starts calling. When the treasure trove of unimpressive-looking rocks that Nikki took from Sykes's underwater hiding place turns out to be something completely unexpected, the ring of suspects widens and danger creeps closer. Nina teams with Paul van Wagoner, the investigator (familiar from <I>Acts of Malice</I> and previous Nina Reilly mysteries) she can't quite seem to disentangle herself from, to help sort the loose ends from the dead ends. And there are plenty of both.<p> The O'Shaughnessy sisters (Perri is a pen name for Pamela and Mary) are taking new risks and increasing the stakes with every book, and <I>Move to Strike</I> shows they can pull it off. The characters are deftly drawn and the plotting masterfully complex. The pacing falls a bit short of heart-stopping; the courtroom scenes serve to up the stakes for Nikki, yet don't really add much tension. But this series is still young and keeps getting better and better. Grisham and Turow, check your rear-view mirrors: there's a new writer in the fast lane. <I>--Barrie Trinkle</I> 82350 2000 Move to Strike total:217|5:39|4:106|3:64|2:8|1:0| 217 827 307 12 0 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 15 23:50:44 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 23:51:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Jun 03 14:26:18 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 14:27:35 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 18:56:25 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 11:07:28 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Mar 12 18:06:56 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 18:06:56 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Feb 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 20:22:33 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 20:24:45 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Aug 18 15:15:40 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 15:16:02 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Thu Aug 20 11:29:54 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 11:30:17 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sun May 31 20:39:14 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 20:39:26 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 10:28:11 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 10:54:38 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 15:48:42 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 09:36:27 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 08:20:50 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 08:23:08 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 29 14:05:19 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 29 14:06:03 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Nov 20 14:59:12 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 14:59:12 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 20 06:14:23 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 06:14:25 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Nov 18 08:23:18 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 18 08:23:18 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Tue Nov 03 23:32:38 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 23:32:38 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 02 04:50:16 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 04:50:16 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Oct 31 19:00:30 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 19:00:30 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 24 14:15:56 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 14:15:56 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Oct 12 11:11:56 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 11:12:15 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=85335