Dishonored by J R Reardon

Opening line in the book:  Justice Sean David McNaught, II stood on the deck of his secluded cottage retreat in Southern New Hampshire, his beloved wife, Betty, protectively cradled in his right arm, her head gently resting against his broad chest. 

This is a heads-up about the book on video/book blurb:



If you remember Confidential Communcations (read my review: 27 July 2010), this is the intriguing sequel to it.  Rebecca Tameron, the erstwhile Rebecca Lawson, is now married to David Tameron (a character from the first book) and they have two children.  Living an American dream - a loving family, a coveted career surrounded by family and good friends - she has it all until her friend, Justice McNaught went missing while on holiday.  From then on, the story starts to heat up starting with stolen identities, accidents and strange coincidences.  What do you do when you are framed for something you did not do?  Who can you trust?  How much can you trust?  Or rather the million dollar question is how can you clear your name?  According to Reardon, Dishonored questions the faith we place in both strangers and friends and reminds us how perilous our techno-savvy life can be.

I love the fact that Reardon presented a very close, warm and loving family in this legal thriller for the simple reason that this type of family is not written often enough.  How cosy and feel-good-all-over to read of this family.  I cannot help but say that the husband and wife dynamics are awesome.  In contrast, Reardon also writes of another old character, Jessica Cohen, who is not very popular among the community.  Jessica is a sensitive soul but she does not seem to attract friends and colleagues into her life, therefore she is quite lonely and isolated.  She does not  have a good relationship with her parents to say the least.  Sadly, I can relate to this character because they do exist in real life.  However, what is interesting about Jessica is that even though she has not much of a personality and a social life but she has a successful career not to mention smart and kind too.  She questions herself just as much as the next person and she is envious of Rebecca.  Usually, characters like these are portrayed as troubled or crooked but I am glad that this character comes across as "a good guy". 

I enjoyed reading Dishonored more than the first book because of the family angle.  When I was trying to come up with a word to describe the book, I came up with "interesting".  The second book has more depth than the first book.  It has certainly been a page turner for me.  I cannot deny the fact that Reardon has done a super job with this book owing to her insider knowledge and experience in the legal world and shall look forward to her next book with anticipation!   

Rating: 3/5 (Enjoyed it)