Two Lost Boys

March 13, 2017
Veteran attorney Janet Moodie, the sympathetic lead of Robertson’s promising first novel, has withdrawn to a small, isolated Sonoma County, Calif., community after the shocking and inexplicable suicide of her husband, prominent defense counsel Terrence Moran. Though Janet has decided not to handle any more death penalty cases, she accepts one after finding the lack of stress in her life boring. Her newest client, Andy Hardy, is on death row in San Quentin State Prison for murdering two prostitutes, whom he and his brother, Emory, abducted and abused. Janet has to review the record to find evidence that Andy’s trial attorney didn’t provide him with competent representation 15 years earlier, as well as uncover any new evidence that could lead to his sentence being commuted. Though the resolution doesn’t live up to the rest of the book, Robertson, an appellate lawyer specializing in death penalty cases, does a fine job basing a legal thriller on the process of trying to mitigate a death sentence.

March 15, 2017
An attorney specializing in death row appeals discovers plenty of reasons to plead for clemency for her client.When her husband committed suicide, Janet Moodie blamed herself. So did some of her friends. Retreating to a small cottage north of San Francisco, she continues to work on death row cases. Her newest client, Marion -Andy- Hardy, was convicted 15 years ago, along with his younger brother, Emory, of rape, murder, and kidnapping. Emory got life in prison; Andy, whose lawyer didn't put up much of a defense, was sentenced to death. Now it's up to Janet to find holes in that defense that could change his sentence to life. The lawyer who'll eventually appear in court confides that Andy's controlling mother, Eva, is bound to learn anything Janet tells Andy. Janet and Dave Rothstein, a close friend of her husband who's helping her as an investigator, quickly realize that Andy has mental disabilities that could mitigate his sentence. But Eva, who's never acknowledged his problems, fights them tooth and nail when they try to get Andy evaluated. It's hard to believe that Andy, a sweet boy who was bullied by Emory and his friends, could have planned or committed the crimes, even after his father, an alcoholic who abused Eva and the kids, suddenly vanished from their lives. Janet and Dave crisscross California and nearby states interviewing family members and friends and relatives of the dead girls and turn up a great deal of new information. Can they uncover the secrets that will help the hapless Andy? The author's work as a defense attorney handling death penalty cases brings authenticity to an exciting debut that focuses on providing grist for the slow-moving wheels of the criminal justice system.

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April 15, 2017

It's been 15 years since Marion "Andy" Hardy was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in San Quentin Prison while his younger brother was given a life sentence for the same crime. Janet Moodie, a onetime death row appeals attorney who retreated to the Northern California hills after her husband's death, is coaxed back to work on Hardy's case by his newly appointed postconviction lawyer, Jim Christie. With some trepidation, Janet begins her research with a visit to Hardy followed by weeks of poring over files and transcripts. Then, with the aid of investigator Dave Rothstein, she methodically combs through Hardy's past, looking for any detail his previous attorney may have overlooked that will convince the courts to reconsider his case. What follows for the reader is an inquiry into both the circumstances of the murder and Hardy's background that is as suspense filled as any police procedural. It all ends, refreshingly, in a dramatic climax without a courtroom confrontation. VERDICT Debut novelist Robertson brings new meaning to the term legal thriller and introduces readers to a heroine who is both savvy and mature.--Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT

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