Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid walks into her office in Portland's Drug and Vice Division one morning to find the sergeant of the police bureau's vice unit waiting for her. A thirteen-year-old girl has been brutally attacked and left for dead on the city's outskirts. Given the lack of evidence, most lawyers would settle for an assault charge; Samantha, unnerved by the viciousness of the crime, decides to go for attempted murder. But as she prepares for the trial, she uncovers a dangerous trail leading to an earlier high-profile death penalty case, a prostitution ring of underage girls, and a possible serial killer. In Samantha Kincaid, Alafair Burke has created a complex, appealing character. Seamlessly moving between courtroom and criminal investigation, Judgment Calls reveals not only an insider's knowledge of the justice system but a fresh new voice in the world of crime writing.
