"There's a smartphone app that can crash a plane. And it's for sale to the highest bidder. Attorney Sasha MacCandless soon realises the crash was no accident: a developer has created an application that can control a commercial plane's on-board computer from a smartphone."
As a fan of both Air Crash Investigation-style documentaries and legal thrillers, the synopsis of `Irreparable Harm' - emailed to me by a reviewing site, appealed enough for me to request a review copy of the book. I must admit that I had fairly low expectations, as the site that offered it to me mainly deals with indie and self-published writers. From the very first chapter of this novel, however, I was hooked. Set in the a top law firm in Pittsburgh, it borrows elements from the backdrop of legal drama `The Guardian' -
Guardian: Complete Series [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] - also set in Pittsburgh. There are hotshot lawyers, overworked associates, harassed secretaries and the kind of merciless corporate culture that is only really fun to watch in fiction. I wonder if Miller has also seen the show?
The fast-paced, action-packed plot sucks you from the start, but what really sets this novel apart from a multitude of others is a credible, likeable female protagonist, associate Sasha MacCandleless. "Almost 5'3" tall" - in three-inch heels, the diminutive attorney practices Krav Maga, the notorious, street-fighting-derived self-defence technique employed by the Israeli army; a skill that will, of course, turn out to be very useful in the course of the story.
The story, in brief, revolves around Sasha's efforts to find out what really caused the plane to crash, and to prevent further disasters. Along the way, she meets Agent Leo Connelly, an air marshal who has the misfortune of being on the receiving end of Sasha's Krav Maga training. Predictably enough, the two start working together to uncover the truth and stop the people behind the application from effectively getting away with mass murder.
As the protagonist, Sasha MacCandless is portrayed as a realistic, three-dimensional human being, without the usual name-dropping of designer shoes and handbags which seems to be the canon for female characters at the moment - something that, from the point of view of a female reader, iis both irritating and patronising.
Instead, Sasha's character is brought to life by the richness of the detail; we are allowed into her daily routine, timed to the nano-second to include a run and a training session at the Krav Maga studio; her apartment is described as modern and convenient, but "soulless", unlike the old Victorian house that she used to rent. Everything in Sasha's life appears to be functional to her job, planned and programmed to protect her in the shark-infested waters of corporate law.
A look in Miller's website reveals that the author is an attorney herself, and her experience in the field shows in the narration, which is cleverly interspersed with insights on Sasha's career as an attorney, such as anecdotes on past cases, terrifying judges and junior associate lore. The title itself - `Irreparable Harm' refers to one of the four criteria required to obtain a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) - which comes into play in the story. The legal stuff, however, does not get in the way of the action; Miller handles the `extra' content expertly, achieving the perfect balance between character development, commitment to the genre and a tight plot that never loses pace.
For a first novel, Irreparable Harm is a polished, highly-accomplished page-turner; it grips you from the opening page; it has a great female protagonist and some equally great supporting characters; it is also very, very hard to put down. I wish there was another one I could start reading straightaway. But the good news is that Melissa F. Miller has publicly stated that she is already working on the next instalment, and I for one am already looking forward to the next Sasha MacCandless adventure.
