Legacy of Lies

Legacy of Lies (Bocephus Haynes #1)
By: Robert Bailey

The bones of this book were good and fit the legal thriller category, however, I was very turned off by the crude language and vulgar content found herein.

The case centered on the topics of rape, prostitution, and abortion- all of which are sensitive issues. I didn’t particularly enjoy reading the thoughts and conversations of the scumbag men involved in the former two, whether true to life or not. I feel the author could have maintained the premise of the case without including the language and content he did.

Another thing I found difficult about this book, especially in the beginning, is all the background info. It felt like the snippets we were told of the characters’ histories could have been it’s own book- which turns out- it is. This book is a spin-off series of the author’s previous series (McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers) and I would probably recommend reading that first if you want to understand this book better. I never read them and was somewhat confused and now, since I know how that series ended, I probably wouldn’t go back and read them.

The ending is a bit of a whiplash, and at first blush I appreciated the twists but in later contemplation found them to be presented a bit unbelievably.

[SPOILER!!]

Bo and Helen were all down in the dumps about most likely losing the case because of how her abortion would be perceived in their county/state. But then at the end of the trial Helen testified in her cross-examination that she actually didn’t have an abortion but had the baby and put it up for adoption. That was one of the twists- it was this “big secret” she had kept up until that moment. I couldn’t figure out if Bo even knew about it until then. Okay, cool twist, but putting a baby up for adoption is a way better scenario than an abortion- why not start with that? It’s what largely dismantled the prosecution’s case. And why would she prefer to have people think she aborted a child than put one up for adoption? Or at least tell her lawyer in the beginning when the perceived motive was wrong and could be proven?

Also, how would Zannick have ever found out Helen was his mother? Add to that his obvious malicious feelings toward her that weren’t exactly explained and that twist felt a bit soap opera-ish to just be thrown in at the end without much proper build-up.

[SPOILER OVER!!!]

So yeah there were good elements of this story but, to me, they were lost in the muddle of vulgarity. If that doesn’t bother you, you’d probably like this book a lot, but to others, you might want to pass.