Adjourned: Jury Series, Book 2 (The Jury Series) [Kindle Edition]

lee goldberg writes a good story.he always grabs my attention and keeps it until the last chapter.detective shaw is a decent and believable character.thanks for the kindle freebie,it is worth much more.

Plot/Storyline: 4 Stars

The two books I have read in this series remind me strongly of the Deathwish movies with Charles Bronson. Brett Macklin is the Charles Bronson-like vigilante who seems to survive even the most punishing scenes.

Taken with that in mind, this book is pure action. It's not literary, nor is it written to send a message or provoke any deep thought. It's just there for pure entertainment.

Mr. Goldberg handled the scenes involving references to child rape and pornography with the utmost respect and circumspect descriptions. I was very happy that he skipped graphic details and used intimation and innuendo instead.

The storyline flowed fast and furious. There wasn't a lot of thought put out regarding vigilantism and whether it is good or bad. There was no preaching or lectures, either. This was just a fast-moving, roller coaster ride of a story.

There is one thing that I abhor in any novel or movie: When a character you thought was dead turns out to be fine. This is especially bad when it is made obvious they are dead, as happened in this novel. I won't go further to avoid spoilers, but I had to mention it as it is the reason for the four stars instead of five for this section.

Character Development: 5 Stars

I debated on what to do with this section, even to the point of considering leaving it out, as this novel is not character-driven at all. However, I realized that Macklin, though just your basic action hero, is still a fairly well-developed character through his actions and some of his thoughts. The paths he chooses and decisions he makes are logical and fit well with his personality.

My only hesitation with a five star rating on this section was with his picking up with another woman in the middle of this book. Upon further reflection, I decided that, though a little seedy, it was still believable, and pretty much in character.

Writing Style: 5 Stars

As I mentioned above, this is not a literary novel. You don't read it for the great metaphors, flowery prose, or vivid descriptions. You read it for the action. With that, Mr. Goldberg really hits his stride. The action scenes are wonderful, quick reads, with plenty of tight descriptions. He knows just when to draw out the scene and when to just get on with it.

Editing/Formatting: 3 3/4 Stars

There were a few too many editing errors that cut into my concentration when reading.

The formatting was of professional quality.

Rating: R (With this subject matter, the reasons are obvious)

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Pinnacle, the paperback publisher who delivered the pulpy adventures of the Executioner, the Penetrator and many other gritty action heroes to drugstores all over the nation, also gave us the .357 Vigilante series in the mid-1980s. Reportedly intended as a parody of the typical Pinnacle hero, Ian Ludlow's first book reads more like a slicker prime-time-television Penetrator instead. "Ludlow"--in actuality, television writer/producer Lee Goldberg--was a student at UCLA when he got the gig writing these books, so he can be forgiven for whatever shortcomings they have. According to Goldberg's UCLA professor (and co-writer?), Lewis Perdue, who turned down Pinnacle's offer to write the series and offered it to his student instead, the novels were intended to be "over-the-top bad." I have a hard time believing anybody would intentionally write a bad novel, especially an aspiring twenty-year-old who's been given a huge break penning novels for a major publisher. I wonder if that's really a later-in-life excuse for subpar writing that embarrasses the successful writers today.

I don't think Goldberg/Ludlow has anything to be embarrassed about, and it's very possible he doesn't think so either. In fact, if you're familiar with Goldberg's TV work as a writer of middle-of-the-road crime dramas like SPENSER: FOR HIRE, HUNTER and DIAGNOSIS: MURDER, you may notice that the .357 Vigilante books are written in the same glossy, straight-ahead style, albeit with slightly ramped-up sex and violence that would probably not be too outrageous for today's prime-time audience. I don't use "middle-of-the-road" in a disparaging way above; matter of fact, I think television could use more shows like HUNTER in a time when solving mysteries has become a grim pursuit, rather than something fun (yes, I realize the concept that chasing murderers should be "fun" sounds kinda weird, but that's what murder mysteries are all about).

The "star" of MAKE THEM PAY, book #2 in the .357 Vigilante series, is Brett Macklin, whose origin (told in .357 VIGILANTE) is similar to that of Mack Bolan, the Executioner. Macklin's cop father was murdered by punks who set him on fire and tossed him under a bus (literally), which then exploded, taking out half a city block. Afflicted with Paul Kersey Syndrome, which means you should not hang out or fall in love with him at all costs, Macklin suffers more personal losses in the sequel, which pits "Mr. Jury" (I don't know why Pinnacle didn't call the series Mr. Jury) against child pornographers. Macklin's cop pal, Shaw, who is steadfastly opposed to vigilante justice, and the city's mayor recruit Macklin to clean up the perverts, who then kill their victims after filming them.

Adding to the moral dilemma over whether vigilantism is a good thing is Macklin's decision to seek some sort of due process on his targets before killing them. To this end, a fourth member is added to the "team"--a burned-out barrister who's now the host of a banal TV courtroom show--who looks over the "evidence" and gives Macklin the go-ahead to rub out the accused.

Goldberg doesn't really spend a lot of time debating the subject of vigilantism, but I think addressing the argument was a good idea. However, MAKE THEM PAY is more interested in blowing stuff up and shooting people, which is as it should be. At just 151 pages, the book is well paced and structured. I'd be surprised if Goldberg hasn't tried to pitch a Brett Macklin television series, though, judging from history, network executives seem to be not too fond of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands between shampoo commercials.