Rich Blood (Jason Rich Book 1)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 41,429 ratings
Price: 4.99
Last update: 08-31-2024
About this item
From Wall Street Journal bestselling author Robert Bailey comes a compelling legal thriller about a lawyer who takes on his sister’s case—and confronts small-town secrets and family skeletons.
Attorney Jason Rich has made a fortune off other people’s bad luck. His billboard slogan—“In an accident? Get Rich!”—accosts motorists on highways from Alabama to Florida. As ambulance chasers go, he’s exceptional.
But after a recent divorce and a stint in rehab, Jason has hit a rough patch. And things only get worse when his sister, Jana, is accused of her husband’s murder. Even though Jason has no experience trying criminal cases, Jana begs him to represent her.
Jason has mixed feelings about returning to Lake Guntersville, Alabama—and even more reservations about diving back into his sister’s life. Between the drugs, the affairs, and a tendency to gaslight everyone in her inner circle, Jana has plenty of enemies in town.
But did Jana hire someone to kill her husband? Jason isn’t so sure. He heads back to his hometown to unravel the truth and face off against opponents old and new.
Top reviews from the United States
Bailey’s writing style is easy to follow, and he does an excellent job of introducing the characters and setting them up for a series. Jason has plenty of flaws, so readers can relate, but he is well-developed and likeable. Readers will want him to succeed, but the twists and turns make it seem like he is up against all odds. There are several interesting supporting characters who are also quite well-developed. Actually, the novel is hard to put down, and will keep readers on the edge.
Readers who have read Bailey’s previous books will want to pick up this one immediately. Those who are not familiar will find they are in for a good read and will become fans. This is a series that is highly recommended; the plot is well thought out, and there are plenty of surprises.
Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.
The main storyline consists of several threads. An early thread deals Jason Rich deals with his alcoholism and getting his license to practice law reinstated. Another thread is his defending his sister, Jana Waters, for her husband’s murder. The last major thread deals with a local drug king pin, to whom Jana owes $50,000. He threatens Jason so that Jason does not involve him in the trial. A high-level tension is established and maintained by Jason trying to defend his sister against what appears to be a slam-dunk case against her. Also, Jason’s legal experience to date has been as an ambulance chaser who settled most of his cases out of court. The last aspect and, possibly, the most difficult is Jason’s battle not to fall of the wagon. All these threads with the suspense of can Jason successfully defend his sister captured and maintained my attention to the end. This is a major criteria that must be met for a high star rating.
The background on Jason Rich is very extensive. Much is available on his struggle to stay sober. There are extensive interactions with his sister, her drug dealer, his AA sponsor, his sister’s daughter, and his sister’s next-door neighbor. There is a C-storyline as the reader is able see Jason change over the course of the novel. Also, most of these threads double as threads in the main storyline. These threads enrichen my reading enjoyment.
For aspects of a novel that stop some readers, the most significant is intimate content. There is not any in this novel. The next aspect is language. There is some vulgar but more rude language. Also, there is a low level of impious language. Lastly, the violence aspect is generally described in the more edgy as it occurs. For me, none of these aspects ever approached being an issue for me. The final aspect is that this novel is the first in a series, so there are not any issues in not from missing something from the previous novel or just the familiarity with the characters.
For my personal assessment, my largest issue was that an alcoholic ambulance chaser wins his first criminal defense case, a murder that appears to be a slam dunk for conviction, is stretching it a bit to me. This concerns the basic story and does not address how well the novel was written. For that aspect, this story has many moving parts that are presented clearly and kept my interest up to the very end. There were not any unresolved issues at the ending. Lastly, for me the ending was bittersweet.
My experience with is author is reading one ARC and one purchase from the previous two book series. Also, I have purchased three previous novels to read, and I have already received the ARC for the author’s second book in this series. When comparing this novel with the previous series, I like it a little better than this series as the protagonist was more realistic for me. If you enjoy legal thrillers, this novel is a good prospect. I enjoyed reading this novel and rate it with four stars.
Jason Rich is one of those personal injury (PI) attorneys plastering the highways with billboards advertising his services: 1-800-GET RICH. Tacky maybe, but very effective at bringing in clients. Jason is rich and famous, but not at all respected. After all, he settles all his cases and has never spent a day trying a case in court.
When his estranged and troubled sister, Jana, is accused of murdering her husband and the case against her seems “open and shut,” will he take on her defense? He has every reason not to, including everyone’s advice against it, his lack of experience in criminal matters, his own personal demons, and plain old common sense. No reasonable, competent attorney with zero experience in court and/or with the criminal law would ever take on a capital murder case. Then again, family is family and his sister and nieces have no one else.
For me, “Rich Blood” did not start off well. The first three chapters are devoted mostly to backstory about some not very nice people involved in some very questionable situations. And the prose initially seems wordy and clunky.
But I kept going and found that the prose improves and becomes more sure-footed and that the characters grow and acquire depth. The internal and external conflicts become more interesting and the stakes higher, even urgent, as the story progresses. And Mr. Bailey does a good job with the Alabama setting. I learned things about the state I did not know.
All in all, despite something of a rocky start, this is a good entertainment that fans of authors like John Grisham and Scott Turow may very well enjoy.