4 stars for This Side of the Law by Tamar Anolic #legalthriller #thriller #newrelease #bookreview
- N. N. Light
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
Title: This Side of the Law
Author: Tamar Anolic
Genre: Legal Thriller, Thriller
Book Blurb:
Recommended by the US Review of Books! “In this highly evocative legal thriller, author Anolic deftly weaves a plot with high stakes for all her characters... There is no character without secrets or a secret motivation.” -US Review of Books
New York City prosecutor Jamie Jefferson’s life is going nowhere fast- until a relationship with a witness puts her on a collision course with a federal prosecutor out for blood.
Jamie is an Assistant District Attorney in the Special Victims Unit, drawn to prosecuting sex crimes after her own high school trauma. She has a stellar conviction rate, a high workload and a bad case of burnout. Then she’s assigned to prosecute a rape case that happened at one of Russian mob boss Peter Federov’s nightclubs. Jamie seizes the opportunity to advance her career- until she starts falling for Peter’s sixteen-year-old grandson Alexander, who was a witness to the crime. Alexander, desperate to be free of his family’s stranglehold on the bowels of Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach, sees Jamie as his ticket out. Standing in their way is the vengeful Rostislav Gutin, an Assistant U.S. Attorney and first-generation American who is trying to separate his own Russian heritage from the world of the Federovs. Rostislav is a Julliard-trained musician who became a lawyer with the sole aim of prosecuting Peter Federov for crimes that changed Rostislav’s life. As he gets closer to his aim, Rostislav will stop at nothing- including ending Jamie’s career for her transgressions with Alexander.
This novel is John Grisham meets Alissa Nutting’s Tampa, with the attitude of William Boyle’s Gravesend. Fans of Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You will also like this book.
My Review:
A slow burn legal thriller that delves into the world of Russian mobsters and societal issues like gender discrimination and inappropriate relationships.
This story is told through the three distinctive perspectives of District Attorney Jamie Jefferson, Assistant US Attorney Rostislav Gutin, and Alexander—a teenage boy trying to escape the clutches of his mobster family. Alexander crosses path with his school friend, Sofiya, who is injured after an assault that occurred at his grandfather Peter’s nightclub. Alexander chooses to call the police to help her rather than burying the truth to protect Peter. Jamie is the prosecutor assigned to the case and sparks fly between her and Alexander. Rostislav keeps a close eye on the trial, wanting to see Peter suffer while continuing to amass a federal case against him.
Jamie and Rostislav’s characters are complex and engaging with distinctive, dark backstories that led them to become prosecutors rather than pursuing their passions. Both feel unfulfilled, especially Rostislav who has vowed to prove Peter murdered his father years earlier and desperately needs to see him convicted. Alexander’s struggles are more present day, but just as real, as he works hard to get good grades in hopes of attending an ivy league school miles away from home to escape his family.
Each character has a distinctive goal that drives the narrative, generating conflict, while leading them into a collision course with each other. The author does a great job of melding all this character-driven inner and external conflict into a cohesive and entertaining plot.
Fans of legal thrillers along the lines of Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent series will enjoy this book.
My Rating: 4 stars
Buy it Now:
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3F9ZDMJ
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0F3F9ZDMJ
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F3F9ZDMJ
Author Biography:
Tamar is a writer who specializes in historical fiction and military fiction. Her short stories have been published in The Copperfield Review, The Sandy River Review, The Helix, Foliate Oak, Frontier Tales, Pen In Hand, Evening Street Review, Every Day Fiction and The Magazine of History and Fiction. A number of these short stories focus on U.S. Marshal L.S. Quinn and his hunt for criminals across the Old West. These stories and more make up Tamar's recent short story collection The Lonely Spirit.
Tamar's most recent novel is Tales of the Romanov Empire. Her other historical books also focus on the Romanovs and include The Russian Riddle, a nonfiction biography, and the novels Triumph of a Tsar, Through the Fire, and The Imperial Spy. Her military fiction includes the novel The Last Battle, about a female veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and The Fledgling’s Inferno, science fiction about a gene that runs in military families and causes superpowers.
Social Media Links:
Website https://www.tamaranolic.com/
Reviewed by: Michelle
