Book Review | Losing Faith by Adam Mitzner

Losing Faith is a legal thriller by Adam Mitzner.

From the acclaimed author Publishers Weekly called “a gifted writer” comes this nail-biting legal thriller in the bestselling tradition of John Grisham and Scott Turow.

Aaron Littmann, the chairman of one of the country’s most prestigious law firms, has just been contacted by a high-profile defense attorney, whose client is Nikolai Garkov, a Russian businessman arraigned on terrorism charges for pulling the financial strings behind recent treasonous acts. The attorney informs Aaron that Garkov is looking to switch representation and will pay one hundred thousand dollars just to take the meeting. But Aaron doesn’t have any choice, as Garkov is ready to go public with the damning evidence that Aaron and the judge in the high-profile case—Faith Nichols—had a torrid affair during another recent case.

Filled with suspense, twists, and turns, Losing Faith will captivate legal thriller fans everywhere.

This may not be readily apparent given the books that are typically on my reading list, but I love legal thrillers. Love them. They are the logic puzzles of the literary world, and the legal system provides a set of rules by which everyone must abide. I love trying to figure out how the characters are going to pull off their case within the confines of the law.

And then there’s Losing Faith. Law shmaw.

Losing Faith started out really great. It’s been a while since I’ve read a good legal thriller so I was fully invested in the book. There was a lot of detail given on legal procedure, which I happen to enjoy. Your mileage may vary. There was also an unexpected twist that really set up the plot and took the book in a great direction.

This is where I get spoilerish on why I hate this book.

I was enjoying the proceedings up until the defense decided to base their entire case on perjury. Perjury from the wife, perjury from friends, perjury from the defendant. I think my blood actually began to boil. It’s lazy, illogical, and just plain anti-what-legal-thrillers-are-all-about.

Losing Faith was a complete disaster after that point.

I see the potential in Adam Mitzner’s writing so I plan to pick up another one of his books. As for Losing Faith, it was totally not my thing.

4/10: Not My Thing

Review copy provided by publisher