You Had It Coming in Aussie Readers

Apr 23, 2022 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, 3500-2022, 2021-release, aussie-authors, suspense, crime, own-read, thriller

Paramedic Megan Lowe was patrolling the streets of Sydney with her partner, Lucas when they were directed to a nearby shooting. A man had been putting his bins out and was shot twice; neighbours heard the shots, but no one witnessed anything. The man was alive as he was loaded into the ambulance, and it was only at the last minute that Megan recognized him – a man she hated with all her being…

Jess Foster had been Megan’s best friend twelve years prior, and they hadn’t seen or spoken to each othe ...more

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May 25, 2021 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-author, arc-are, netgalley-reviews

“Someone else must hate him as much as we do.”

As paramedic Megan Lowe loads a patient suffering gunshot wounds into her ambulance she is stunned to realise she recognises the man. Twelve years previously William Newson was the barrister who successfully gained the acquittal of the two men who raped her, by labelling her and her best friend Jess as liars. Homicide Squad detective Bridget Kennedy is suspicious of the coincidence, but she quickly learns that plenty of people thought he had coming, “Someone else must hate him as much as we do.”

As paramedic Megan Lowe loads a patient suffering gunshot wounds into her ambulance she is stunned to realise she recognises the man. Twelve years previously William Newson was the barrister who successfully gained the acquittal of the two men who raped her, by labelling her and her best friend Jess as liars. Homicide Squad detective Bridget Kennedy is suspicious of the coincidence, but she quickly learns that plenty of people thought he had coming, defending sexual predators has won the dead man few fans, including among his family.

You Had It Coming unfolds from the alternating perspectives of Megan, Jess and Bridget. Instinctively on learning of Newson’s death, both Megan and Jess feel that he deserves his fate, still angry about his role in their trial. While the women were victims of the same crime, their reactions in the aftermath have been quite different. Jess has arguably coped better in the intervening years, but then the fall out could be said to have been more dramatic for Megan, regardless both are living quite different lives from what they had planned at 17. I admired Carroll’s portrayal of both women, who come across as complex, authentic characters.

Carroll offers us a glimpse into Bridget’s personal life, and the effect her work as a detective has on her family. With a teenage daughter and son of her own, Bridget can’t help but be affected by Megan and Jess’s experiences.

I also appreciated the authenticity of Bridget’s investigation. She and her colleagues follow up on all the information that comes their way, sifting through evidence, leads and suspects. Carroll provides the reader with a number of potential suspects, and does well to keep many of them in play ensuring suspense is maintained, the stakes rising when the body of another man related to Megan and Jess’s case is discovered in suspicious circumstances.

Carroll explores a number of themes such as trauma, justice, shame, guilt and revenge. She also exposes the flaws of the justice system, particularly when it involves sexual assault, and illustrates how the consequences of the crime is rarely confined to just the perpetrators and victims. I felt her portrayal of all the issues was sensitive and respectful.

A blend of domestic thriller and police procedural, I found You Had It Coming to be a suspenseful and thought-provoking novel. ...more

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Nov 12, 2021 Janine rated it it was amazing

My goodness, this book was brilliant!
Megan is a paramedic who is called to attend a situation where there has been a shooting. She is the consummate professional until she turns the victim over and realises its the lawyer that defended her rapist years ago. On the tree where the shooter would have stood are the words 'you had it coming'.

Megan and Jess were still in high school when they attended a party and were raped by two fellow students at that party. The case went to trial and the rapists g ...more

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Sep 07, 2021 Bree T rated it really liked it

Shelves: australian, suspense, crime, mystery, thriller, aww2021

This was another book I added on a whim in my department store book haul. I’ve read Ber (aka B.M) Carroll before, many years ago and I’ve heard amazing things about the book she wrote before this one.

It starts off about the shooting of a defense lawyer William Newson and who might’ve wanted to kill a successful man. Was it connected to a previous case? His divorce? For the investigating officers, it means going back through what he had done, who he had represented and the outcomes and what they This was another book I added on a whim in my department store book haul. I’ve read Ber (aka B.M) Carroll before, many years ago and I’ve heard amazing things about the book she wrote before this one.

It starts off about the shooting of a defense lawyer William Newson and who might’ve wanted to kill a successful man. Was it connected to a previous case? His divorce? For the investigating officers, it means going back through what he had done, who he had represented and the outcomes and what they dig up provides more questions than it does answers.

But primarily, the book dives into a look at how sexual assault is defended in court, the outcomes, the difficulties in the investigations, and the fallout of such court cases. William Newson was a man who believed passionately in the law and that everyone was entitled to a fair and just trial – which is why he represented people who were accused of crimes. This book also showcases the way in which he chose to defend some of those people, particularly those accused of rape and sexual assault. Twisting the narrative, turning the accused into the victim and turning the accusers into liars.

William Newson saved reputations and ruined lives. In his quest for a fair trial, he didn’t seem to care what he said about the person who had experienced the crime. It’s something that comes up time and time again in a look at sexual assault – trial by media does it too. What was she wearing? Had she been drinking? Did she actually say no? Was she just embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to find out what she’d done? Did she regularly lie to her parents? Is she a known troublemaker? Is the boy/man accused from a good family and wealthy background? Are they a promising student? We’ve all seen it, read it, heard it before.

This book isn’t about that sort of trial, although flashbacks of it are included cleverly within the book. Instead, it’s more about the ‘after’ – what happens after the not-guilty verdict is returned? How do these women, who have stepped forward to make the accusations, cope? How does it affect their lives, their relationships, their friendships even? What is the fallout for their family as well (as we discover in this book, when the accused is from a rich and powerful family, the answer to that can be ‘significant’).

I really enjoyed the way this was told: from the viewpoints of Megan and Jess, two of the women who, as girls, had faced William Newson in a court room and came out on the losing side. It’s been ten years since then and life has taken them in very different directions and the shooting of Newson brings them back together. It also puts them and members of their family, or those closest to them, firmly in the frame as potential suspects. As well as the viewpoints of Megan and Jess, we also get the viewpoint of the investigating officer, Detective Sargeant Bridget Kennedy who balances her busy job with being a wife and mother of two teenagers. Bridget often feels pulled in different directions and experiences guilt when her job keeps her away from home for long hours, leaving husband Shane to pick up the slack. Sometimes, before chapters focusing on either Megan or Jess, we get quotes from the statements William Newson made during the trial, focusing on picking apart their claims or on discrediting them. It’s very effective, rather than including the whole trial.

I thought the characters were excellently portrayed here – there was a lot of complexity to them, not just the main characters but also the secondary characters as well. The families had interesting dynamics and in many ways you could see how many of them had been impacted by the result of the court case that Megan and Jess had been involved in. I also really appreciated the direction the story took towards the end. It wasn’t what I was expecting and I liked how much it made me think and reassess who could be a victim.

Clever and enjoyable and definitely one that would provoke a lot of conversation.
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Dec 23, 2023 Kathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars.

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Apr 11, 2022 Elisabeth Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: uno-22

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