Snapshot, book review
Two little girls, frozen in black and white. One picture worth killing for.
About this book: The Civil Rights Movement is less than a distant memory to Lisa Waldren—it is someone else’s memory altogether, passed on to her through the pages of history. Her life as a federal prosecutor in Boston feels utterly remote from the marches in the South that changed her father’s generation—and the entire nation—forever.
But the truth is, she was there.
When a photograph surfaces showing a blond, four-year-old Lisa playing with an African-American girl at a civil rights march in Fort Worth, Lisa is faced with a jarring revelation: the girls may have been the only witnesses who observed the killer of civil rights leader Benjamin Gray . . . and therefore the only ones who can exonerate the death row inmate falsely accused of the murder.
Soon, Lisa finds herself in the dangerous world her father had shielded her from as a child. After some searching, the Waldrens find the other little girl from the photo and, in the process, uncover conspiracy mere steps away from the likes of Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and J. Edgar Hoover.
About the author: (from her website, liswiehlbooks.com) Lis Wiehl is one of the nation’s most prominent trial lawyers and highly regarded commentators. Currently, she is the legal analyst and reporter on the Fox News Channel and Bill O’Reilly’s sparring partner in the weekly “Is It Legal?” segment on The O’Reilly Factor. Prior to that she was O’Reilly’s co-host on the nationally syndicated show The Radio Factor. She is also a Professor of Law at New York Law School. Her column “Lis on Law” appears weekly on FoxNews.com.
Prior to joining Fox News Channel in New York City, Wiehl served as a legal analyst and reporter for NBC News and NPR’s All Things Considered. Before that, Wiehl served as a Federal Prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s office.
Wiehl is also the author of The 51% Minority, which won the 2008 award for Books for a Better Life in the motivational category, and Winning Every Time. She lives in New York.
Genre: Fiction/Mystery & Detective/General
Judge this book by its cover? Perfect cover for the story. This, plus the story’s intriguing premise, is what drew me to read the book. The featured photograph, btw, was snapped by the author’s own G-man father and provided the inspiration for the story.
If this book were a movie, I would rate it: PG-13. Some violence.
Reminds me of… Lisa Scottoline
You’ll want to buy this book if …you enjoy novels that blend history with mystery, fact with fiction
Why did I read this book? As a BookSneeze blogger, for review
Would I read another by this author? jury’s still out
My take: Despite its compelling historical basis and smart, intricate plotting, Snapshot was one of those novels that failed to really capture me. It’s one of those cases where I wish I liked it more than I did because it really has so much going for it: great premise, interesting characters, a mystery that gets more mysterious as the story progresses. If you were to ask me for specifics, I’d say that sometimes the dialog felt a bit stiff, and the narrative lacked a certain, elusive gravitas that I find persuasive. I did, however, appreciate the nuanced portrayal broken family relationships–and the effect this had on many of the characters’ choices–as well as its layered themes of hope, reconciliation and forgiveness.
Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.
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