Hayden McCarthy is just trying to keep her intimidating bosses happy when she takes on Maricel Rodriguez's case regarding her son's mysterious death within the walls of a juvenile detention facility. Nothing about the case makes sense. Trying to prove herself as an attorney worthy to be a partner at the firm, Hayden takes on the case and tries her best to make sense of the immigration mess. When discovery leads to more questions than answers, Hayden is so perplexed that she turns to her roommate, Emilie, an investigative journalist and lawyer, for help.
Andrew Wesley, Emilie's cousin, has spent his adult years trying to distance himself from his father's shadow. As the senior Wesley prepares to make a run for the senate, Andrew is drawn back into the political spotlight as he attends campaign events. In the heat of the politics, someone threatens to reveal a secret Andrew wants desperately to remain hidden. Andrew's job at New Beginnings working with immigrant children leads his life to intersect with Hayden's when her case leads her to a child that Andrew works with. From the start, romantic feelings are tossed between Andrew and Hayden.
Two mysterious car accidents, several stalkers, and several severe injuries later, Hayden has no idea who is behind everything, but she knows it has something to do with her case. Can she stay alive long enough to untangle this messy case? Law school didn't teach what to do when a client goes rogue. With Andrew wrapped up in the mess, both of their lives may be at stake.
Beyond Justice had the potential to be great, but it fell short in a couple of areas. The plot, while well-paced, leaves some holes that never seem resolved. From the start, it's a confusing story, which would be fine if it were all tied up at the end, but there are some elements that fall short of a conclusion. Another shortcoming pertains to the romantic relationship in the book--Putman employs a "tell" method rather than a "show" method in her writing, and she essentially tells readers how they feel rather than using imagery to expound on the feelings between the two main characters. The relationship could have been portrayed wonderfully, but, it just falls short of that. The secondary characters are plentiful, but because there are so many, none of them are developed very deeply.
The plot makes for a clean, Christian fiction read without worrying about language or content. Overall, it's a fun read, but it left me wanting more from the story.
I received an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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