Sins of the Fathers by James Scott Bell

Reviewed by C.J. Darlington

"...a keep-you-guessing plot, witty dialogue, and memorable three-dimensional characters..."

At first glance, Darren DiCinni is a normal, scrawny teenager - no longer a boy, not yet a man. But looks can be deceiving. This thirteen-year-old has just shot six people to death in cold blood. A slam dunk life-without-parole case? Not to Lindy Field, Darren’s young and ambitious defense attorney.

Library Journal calls James Scott Bell “a master of legal suspense”, and that’s clearly evident in Sins of the Fathers. With a keep-you-guessing plot, witty dialogue, and memorable three-dimensional characters, I tried to savor it and read little bits each day. But by the time I was half-way through, I couldn’t put it down. I like that about a book. I also appreciate how the faith element is woven into the plot in unpreachy ways. We discover Christian truths right along with Lindy and company, and we root for her every step of the way.

Sins of the Fathers probably compares closest to Jim’s award winning Final Witness, but with even more depth (and minus the Russian mafia).

The suspense definitely never rests in a James Scott Bell novel ... and neither, apparently, does James Scott Bell. I highly recommend this book to thriller and contemporary fiction readers alike.

C.J. Darlington's first novel, Thicker Than Blood, was the winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest. Her second novel, Bound by Guilt, has recently released from Tyndale, and you can watch that trailer today! When she's not writing, she's reading. Her hobbies include horseback riding, oil painting, and book collecting. She is also a contributing editor at Family Fiction Magazine. Visit her online at her author website and at her blog where she talks about books, writing, and publishing. You can also look her up at Twitter and Facebook.