A criminal prosecutor is bound to make a few enemies over a decades-long career, and Dana Hargrove is no exception. Who has it in for her?
In 2015, the former prosecutor is in her second year as a trial judge in Manhattan. It's a new world. Dana cut her baby teeth in the DA's office during the crack epidemic, the '80s and early '90s. Now, the murder rate is a fraction of what it was, and public opinion about incarceration is softening. So is Dana. As a judge, she agonizes over every sentencing decision before her.
Midlife has also hit Dana hard on a personal level. She misses her children and adjusts to the empty nest by immersing herself in work. Instead of growing closer to her husband Evan, their relationship becomes strained. What is happening to them?
Tension builds as Judge Hargrove presides over two high-stakes media cases. The defendants: a glamorous dot-com millionaire who killed her business partner, and an orthopedist who runs a deadly pill mill. In the public mail bag, the judge receives a message from an anonymous crank. Then her family starts getting letters that sound all too personal. Someone with an agenda is harassing and shadowing Dana and her loved ones.
In Seven Shadows, the judge and her pursuer are on a collision course meant to teach Dana the meaning of empathy and the value of the people she cherishes most.
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A Dana Hargrove novel: Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense!
"[An] involving mystery... Tension mounts and leads to a climactic confrontation that is surprisingly different... Author Kemanis has created an engaging plot on which to build her narrative?one chock full of technical legal expertise. Yet it is the emotional tributaries that flow from that plot that give this story a greater sense of literary weight. By honestly exploring the intimate feelings of her characters, she lifts this tale to a level above the average mystery. RECOMMENDED." ? The U.S. Review of Books
"A finely crafted legal thriller with fully realized characters. Kemanis writes in a precise prose that elucidates the stakes of the cases while delving into the interior lives of her characters... The author takes time to build her characters...and this gives greater emotional depth to the story than one often finds in legal thrillers. Each book in the series?the earliest of which is set in 1988?jumps six or seven years ahead in Dana's life: a bold strategy to show how much a lawyer can change over the course of her career. This tale stands well enough alone, but those who read it will want to go back and discover the previous volumes." ? Kirkus Reviews
"Kemanis has a strong legal background which she utilizes for maximum impact... The story is fast paced, with lots of twists and turns, and with a very interesting ending that I didn't see coming... This book at times crosses genres from legal mystery to psychological suspense, equally drawing in readers of both genres. My only worry about the series is that it might end soon... I love these books, so I hope that we will get to see many more stories with Dana, her husband her sister who is an actress, and her now grown-up children. At some point Dana will have to retire, and that will be a sad day for the lovers of this series." ? Mystery Sequels
