Blog Tour: The Cinderella Plan
Today I share my review as a part of the blog tour for The Cinderella Plan by Abi Silver. This Science Fiction/Legal Thriller shows us where our future may go with autonomous vehicles. This one really left me thinking about this topic afterwards!
**There is also a giveaway going on for those of you lucky enough to be in the UK!**
Book Description:
When James Salisbury, the owner of a British car manufacturer, ploughs his ‘self-drive’ car into a young family, the consequences are deadly. Will the car’s ‘black box’ reveal what really happened or will the industry, poised to launch these products to an eager public, close ranks to cover things up?
James himself faces a personal dilemma. If it is proved that he was driving the car he may go to prison. But if he is found innocent, and the autonomous car is to blame, the business he has spent most of his life building, and his dream of safer transport for all, may collapse.
Lawyers Judith Burton and Constance Lamb team up once again, this time to defend a man who may not want to go free, in a case that asks difficult questions about the speed at which technology is taking over our lives.
Author: Abi Silver
Published: July 11, 2019
272 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: June 18-26, 2019
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Jessica’s Review:
All science fiction is fiction until it becomes science fact and we are heading in the direction of autonomous/driverless cars. Though is novel is not exactly science fiction, it is more of a legal thriller, but The Cinderella Plan leaves you thinking about that future and the effects surrounding that society.
James Salisbury owns a British car manufacturer of autonomous vehicles and drives one himself. One day tragedy happens: James and the autonomous vehicle are involved in a deadly accident. Autonomous vehicles cannot have accidents….Or can they? This is the impasse that James faces as he has no memory of the accident: Was he responsible? If so, then he faces prison. If he was not responsible and the vehicle was to blame, there goes his business he has tirelessly worked for many years. For James, he loses no matter what the verdict is: guilty or not guilty.
From the start, I was pulled into the story as we experience the accident. The actual court case was a bit too technical for me, so it dragged at times. It is obvious that Silver did her research as she wrote this novel. There are also some unexpected twists that occur. Silver also mentions how autonomous vehicles effect everything, including laws and everyday business. The novel also shows what the positives and negatives of autonomous vehicles are. The Cinderella Plan does really make you think about the future with these vehicles:
Once I finished The Cinderella Plan I was thinking about how soon we might be 100% autonomous vehicles. I honestly do not seeing that happening in the immediate future as I live in a state where you need a vehicle to get where you need to go as public transportation is not readily available everywhere. In fact, there is a big stigma towards it. These cars would be expensive and the average driver in my state would not be able to afford one. Autonomous vehicles may be coming soon, but I think it will be a long time before we are using 100% autonomous vehicles.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Lightning Books Website
**Readers can order the book from the Lightning Books website at 50% off (with free UK p&p) if you enter this code at checkout – BLOGTOURCIND
About the Author:
Yorkshire-bred, Abi Silver is a lawyer by profession. She lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and three sons. Her first courtroom thriller featuring the legal duo Judith Burton and Constance Lamb, The Pinocchio Brief, was published by Lightning Books in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. Her follow-up The Aladdin Trial, featuring the same legal team, was published in 2018.
Read more about Abi and her work at www.abisilver.co.uk .
Contact Abi:
Website
Twitter: @abisilver16
**UK GIVEAWAY**
Win 5 x PB of The Cinderella Plan
*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box above. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: October 27, 2015
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: January 24-29, 2019
Jessica’s Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Description:
Bennie Rosato the founder of the Rosato & DiNunzio law firm hides her big heart beneath her tough-as-nails exterior and she doesn’t like to fail. Now, a case from her past shows her how differently things might have turned out. Thirteen years ago, Bennie Rosato took on Jason Leftavick, a twelve-year-old boy who was sent to a juvenile detention center after fighting a class bully. Bennie couldn’t free Jason, and to this day it’s the case that haunts her. Jason has grown up in and out of juvenile prison, and his adulthood hasn’t been any easier. Bennie no longer represents those accused of murder, but when Jason is indicted for killing the same bully he fought with as a kid, she sees no choice but to represent him. She doesn’t know whether or not to believe his claims of innocence, but she knows she owes him for past failures–of the law, of the juvenile justice system, and of herself. Forced to relive the darkest period of her life, Bennie will do everything in her power to get the truth, and justice.
Jessica’s Review:
As I have mentioned in previous reviews, I have become a big fan of Lisa Scottoline and the Rosato & Dinunzio series. I have just been reading them out of order. (Not of my own choosing, it was ignorance of not knowing the first one that I read was the fourth in the series…) Now I am all caught up and have read all of the books in this series. Corrupted focuses on the enigma that is the boss-lady herself: Ms.Bennie Rosato, and I can say I saved the best for last. I finally know about Bennie’s life!.
Corrupted starts in present day with Bennie receiving a phone call from a former client who now faces a murder charge. Though she doesn’t take murder cases, she feels that she MUST take on this case because of her past failings with the client, Jason Leftavick.
Corrupted takes us back in time when Jason was a twelve year old dealing with a class bully situation that gets out of hand and Bennie takes on his case. Again, having read this series out of order I know what will happen and was enjoying knowing Bennie’s ‘future’ and wondered how this novel was going to end. There was a huge secret that Bennie has that no one knows that left me with my mouth dropped! When the ‘past’ case ends and we go back to present day I couldn’t help but root for Bennie and Jason to win their case. I had no idea how this case was going to conclude and the way it does end is shocking! It was also a bit unbelievable, but I still really enjoyed it! Due to the unbelieve-ability my rating was 4.5 stars.
The books in this series can all be treated as standalones and therefore can be read out of order and you won’t lose anything by doing that, but I would say read it in order as that is how it is meant to be read.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and look forward to future installments that Ms. Scottoline writes. There is an 11 book series that comes before this one called Rosato & Associates that I must read! Here’s to hoping my library system offers it on audio!
Corrupted is highly recommended!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
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Betrayed by Lisa Scottoline
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: November 24, 2014
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: February 1-7, 2019
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Blockbuster author Lisa Scottoline returns to the Rosato & Associates law firm with “Betrayed,” and maverick lawyer Judy Carrier takes the lead in a case that’s more personal than ever. Judy has always championed the underdog, so when Iris, the housekeeper and best friend of Judy’s beloved Aunt Barb, is found dead of an apparent heart attack, Judy begins to suspect foul play. The circumstances of the death leave Judy with more questions than answers, and never before has murder struck so close to home.
In the meantime, Judy’s own life roils with emotional and professional upheaval. She doesn’t play well with her boss, Bennie Rosato, which jeopardizes her making partner at the firm. Not only that, her best friend Mary DiNunzio is planning a wedding, leaving Judy feeling left behind, as well as newly unhappy in her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Frank.
Judy sets her own drama aside and begins an investigation of Iris’s murder, then discovers a shocking truth that confounds her expectations and leads her in a completely different direction. She finds herself plunged into a shadowy world of people who are so desperate that they cannot go to the police, and where others are so ruthless that they prey on vulnerability. Judy finds strength within herself to try to get justice for Iris and her aunt — but it comes at a terrible price.
Jessica’s Review:
If you have been following my reviews, then you know I have been listening to the Rosato & DiNunzio (R&D) series and really enjoying it. Yes, I have been listening to them out of order- but that was not my fault: I won a copy of Damaged via a Goodreads giveaway. Damaged sounded interesting and I did not know it was part of a series. Over the course of reading this series I have grown attached to these characters and cannot wait to find out when the next one will be released.
Betrayed is the second in the series, and this time Judy takes the lead. We get to learn more about her as a person and her family situation is a full part of the novel. Judy is my least favorite of the ladies, and even after this one she still comes off as immature. As I was listening to this, I did identify with Judy some as a relative of hers has a health situation come up, and I recently had a family member face a very similar situation. That resonated with me as I felt some similar things that Judy did. Sometimes you are meant to read a book at a certain time, and reading Betrayed in 2019 was for me.
As with all the R&D novels, we start in one direction and end up going in another. The focus of Betrayed deals with immigrants and their legal status. Judy becomes determined to find out what happened to her Aunt Barb’s friend Iris no matter the cost, sometimes to Judy’s detriment. This one was less the legal thriller and more of the family drama, but I still enjoyed it.
Having read the series out of order I enjoyed certain parts of the book more: This is the second book and I know what is in the ‘future’ for these characters and enjoyed knowing what is coming, but also having some bittersweet feelings knowing as well. The ending had a mixture of emotions for me knowing what is to come.
Betrayed is recommended.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK