Justice Gone by N. Lombardi Jr.

WINNER OF THREE AWARDS

Book blurb

When a homeless war veteran is beaten to death by the police, stormy protests ensue, engulfing a small New Jersey town. Soon after, three cops are gunned down.

A multi-state manhunt is underway for a cop killer on the loose. And Dr. Tessa Thorpe, a veteran’s counselor, is caught up in the chase.

Donald Darfield, an African-American Iraqi war vet, war-time buddy of the beaten man, and one of Tessa’s patients, is holed up in a mountain cabin. Tessa, acting on instinct, sets off to find him, but the swarm of law enforcement officers gets there first, leading to Darfield’s dramatic capture.

Now, the only people separating him from the lethal needle of state justice are Tessa and ageing blind lawyer, Nathaniel Bodine. Can they untangle the web tightening around Darfield in time, when the press and the justice system are baying for revenge?

My thoughts

In this story an innocent homeless man is beaten to death by those who are sworn to uphold the law and protect people from harm.

This book set in a small town in America highlights the plight of homeless people particularly those who are ex Military and have seen battle, been to war. Coming back home they are unable to adjust. So not only do they end up sleeping rough, or occasionally in shelters, they may well have physical and, most certainly, are suffering mental issues. It is, however, their vulnerability when faced with authority figures, such as members of the police force, that problems arise and tragic, appalling consequences happen.

Those few, but sadly too many, individual officers who blatantly ignore their sworn duty and, in effect, become vigilantes indeed murderers. And then the ‘higher powers’, those who employ these officers, just want to brush everything under the carpet, to ignore it and, because the victim may have no ‘voice’, cover up wrongdoing and believe they can just make it all go away.

In Justice Gone N. Lombardi Jr takes this scenario one further step. A step that he has imagined and does not seem unlikely or exaggerated albeit extreme. When an innocent is killed by those who have such authority, such power what does anyone do? What difference do those actions make?

Tessa is a Veteran’s counsellor in a small organisation, she is one voice who stands up for and helps those veterans who need it. Nathaniel Bodine is a defence lawyer.

This story gives an individual’s choice of action, an authority out of it’s depth and a force who need a perpetrator but have they got the right one? Do they care? As one bad decision follows another we are brought to a trial. Only Nathaniel and Tessa stand between an innocent man and the death penalty. Is Donald Darfield innocent? If he is then will he be proved innocent? And, if it wasn’t Donald, who did this?

The court action is intense. The storyline moves at a pace. The characters are well drawn, the story is heart wrenching and both are very believable. With an ending that twists the story on it’s head will Tessa work out the truth and will she survive it?

Justice Gone by N. Lombardi Jr. is dedicated to Thomas Kelly

“In memory of Kelly Thomas, who was beaten to death by members of the Fullerton Police Department on July 5, 2011.”

BlogTour

My thanks to Emma at Damppebblesblogtours for the invite to the Justice Gone Blog Tour and Roundfire Books for the eBook. Do take a spin ’round the rest of the tour..

#JusticeGone #NLombardiJr @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Information

Published in paperback and ebook formats by Roundfire Books on 22nd February 2019.

WINNER OF THREE AWARDS

2019 AMERICAN FICTION AWARD

NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCY AWARD – Best Legal Thriller OF 2019

SILVER MEDAL WINNER 2019 READERS’ FAVORITES AWARDS

Chosen by Wiki.ezvid.com among their list of 10 Gripping and Intelligent Legal Thrillers

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Author:  

N. Lombardi Jr, the N for Nicholas, has spent over half his life in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, working as a groundwater geologist. Nick can speak five languages: Swahili, Thai, Lao, Chinese, and Khmer (Cambodian).

In 1997, while visiting Lao People’s Democratic Republic, he witnessed the remnants of a secret war that had been waged for nine years, among which were children wounded from leftover cluster bombs. Driven by what he saw, he worked on The Plain of Jars for the next eight years. 

Nick maintains a website with content that spans most aspects of the novel: The Secret War, Laotian culture, Buddhism etc. http://plainofjars.net

His second novel, Journey Towards a Falling Sun, is set in the wild frontier of northern Kenya.

His latest novel, Justice Gone was inspired by the fatal beating of a homeless man by police.

Nick now lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

 

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