“TO STEAL A MAN’S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground. 

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence. 

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.

Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.

Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger.

For fans of Steve Cavanagh, Linwood Barclay and Gillian McAllister, introducing the latest novel from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am pleased to share my review of Conviction by Jack Jordan. Conviction was published by Simon & Schuster on 22nd June 2023 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow next year. I chose to read a free ARC of Conviction but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to the Likely Suspects team for sending me a proof copy.

Defence Barrister, Neve Harper, is about to take on the case of her career. Wade Darling stands accused of murdering his wife and two children, and then burning down the luxurious house they lived in. It’s one of those unexpected strokes of luck for Neve though, as the original barrister tragically committed suicide days before the trial was due to start. But Neve has the intelligence and the skill to pull everything together and go in fighting for her client. And if things go her way, there may well be a place on the Queen’s Counsel for her. But Neve isn’t the only one invested in the outcome of the trial. Someone wants Wade Darling found guilty and they’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Including revealing Neve’s devastating, closely guarded secret to the world. For Neve, this trial could end up being the death of her…

Conviction is an intriguing legal thriller with a moral dilemma firmly at its heart. Neve is a few days from starting a career-defining case. It’s all very last minute following the sudden death of the barrister initially selected by Wade Darling to represent him. But Neve knows she can pick up the pieces left behind by Whittaker and secure a ‘not guilty’ verdict for her new client. That is until she’s approached one evening on the way home and asked at gunpoint to ensure that Wade Darling is found guilty and sent to prison. Failure to do so will result in not only her own devastating secret being revealed to all but the death of everyone she cares about. What would you do?

I found it interesting to see how Neve handled the situation. How things escalated with each twist and turn and how well the author built the suspense over the course of the book. The reader gets to see the story from the many facets of Neve’s life; at work – in chambers, her dealings with colleagues and in the courtroom mid-trial. And in her personal life – her relationship with her step-daughter, the tension between Neve and her mother-in-law and her desperate bid to hide the evidence. She’s well drawn by the author and I think the reader really gets a feel for who Neve is. I so desperately wanted to root for her, be on her side, but I’m afraid I found her to be a thoroughly unlikeable character. Normally an unlikable character would be a good thing for me but there was something about Neve that I just couldn’t gel with.

I found her frustratingly hypocritical and a little too ‘woe is me’ to the point where I nearly gave up on the book. But I didn’t. Because although she drove me nearly barmy, part of me did want to see how things would end for her, and of course, for Wade Darling. And despite not really liking the main character, I’m glad I read this book and I’m delighted that I am very much in the minority with my thoughts on Conviction. I so desperately wanted to love Conviction. The author’s books are always popular with blogger friends of mine, and I’ve read and enjoyed two of the author’s earlier works so I do believe this was a one-off. I will certainly read more of this author’s books in the future (Do No Harm is waiting patiently on the terrifying TBR and I’m very much looking forward to it).

I chose to read and review a free ARC of Conviction. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Conviction by Jack Jordan was published in the UK by Simon & Schuster on 22nd June 2023 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | Foyles | bookshop.org | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), Before Her Eyes (2018) and Night by Night (2019).

His latest thriller, Do No Harm, was an instant Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Most Recommended Book in the DeadGood Reader Awards. Coined the thriller of the summer for 2022, it was described as “relentlessly tense” by Sunday Times Bestseller Lesley Kara, and “Chilling and perfectly paced” by New York Times Bestseller Sarah Pearse.