A Dream in the Dark

Justice’s second legal thriller featuring Denver attorney Liza Brown (after They Can’t Take Your Name) is a step down from its predecessor. Liza has worked closely with Project Joseph to help exonerate people who’ve been wrongly convicted of violent crimes ever since her father was executed for a mass murder he didn’t commit. In 1992, Moses King, a prisoner who claims he knew Liza’s father, reaches out to the organization. He’s been convicted of assaulting and blinding a woman named Claudette Cooper, who testified that, while she didn’t see her assailant’s face, she dreamed it was King. Despite the case not meeting Project Joseph’s typical criteria—King is not on death row, nor is he facing a life sentence—Liza believes in his innocence and agrees to represent him. She loops in her friend and former colleague Eli Stone, and together, they inch closer to the truth while Liza’s superiors try to pull her attention toward cases that better suit Project Joseph’s mission. Meanwhile, Denver erupts into protests over racial discrimination by police. Clumsy prose (“Her tears fell with the ease of a spring thunderstorm upon her cheeks”) and thin characterizations keep this from taking flight. It’s a disappointment. Agent: Andrew D. Wolgemuth, Wolgemuth & Assoc. (July)