In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley

In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley: On Tour

Posted on September 4, 2018

In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley

Publisher:  Koehler Books (Oct 24, 2018)
Category: Legal/Suspense, Strong Female Lead Character
Tour dates: Oct-Jan, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63393-652-2
Available in Print and ebook, 220 pages

Description In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley

Representing a man accused of throwing his wife overboard, chic attorney Lauren Hill begins to artfully present her case. But when Judge Howell seems to morph into God, Lauren’s life of infidelity, poor parenthood, and self-absorption is questioned by the Almighty, who charges Lauren with committing the seven deadly sins. But is this real or fantasy? Is Lauren on the edge of a nervous breakdown, or is God presiding and ultimately deciding Lauren’s fate? In Defense of Guilt is a gripping story of self-discovery, justice, and ultimately about love.

This is a great book for those who love legal thrillers of John Grisham, and Scott Turow.

Praise In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley

“Through edgy protagonist and defense attorney Lauren Hill, Berkley places us in the midst of a murder trial that could itself be the backbone of an exciting legal thriller – but the metaphysical twist that threatens to change the trial into Hill’s own Judgment Day takes In Defense of Guilt to the next level.”-Christopher Leibig, Author, Almost Mortal  (2016 Indie Book Award)

“In Defense or Guilt is a fast-paced legal thriller with a spiritual twist. Benjamin Berkley has crafted a main character who fears no consequences until she goes on trial before the “ultimate arbiter.” She defends her client accused of murder while wrestling with her own demons of infidelity, greed and lust. Is salvation the light at the end of the tunnel? Well written and highly recommended. Congratulations to my fellow colleague for such a masterful first endeavor.”-Melanie Bragg, Author Crosstown Park, an Alex Stockton legal thriller

“With IN DEFENSE OF GUILT, Mr. Berkley has written a compellingly unconventional courtroom drama. This unique and fascinating story keeps the reader guessing from beginning to end, while offering an inspirational message that extends far beyond the guilt or innocence of the accused. A truly enjoyable read.”-John J. Jessop, Author of Deadly Pleasure  and the Guardian Angel series 

About Benjamin Berkley

From as far back as he can remember, Benjamin Berkley has been fascinated by the law. Growing up in Long Beach, New York, his daily schedule revolved around grainy black-and-white reruns of Perry Mason who, with the help of Della Street, solved the most complicated crimes imaginable. It was therefore no surprise to his family and friends that Berkley chose law as his career path, now practicing for over forty years.

Website: https://www.benberkley.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBenjaminBerkley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorbenjaminberkley/

Buy In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley

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My take:  This was a very interesting take on a courtroom trial.  Is Lauren and her client really seeing God or are they both just sharing a delusion?  What do you do when God appears to you and accuses you of committing the seven deadly sins?  As the book went on I found the story very compelling and I was wondering as I turned each page what would happen next.  If you like courtroom dramas you will find that you will probably like this one.  

I received a review copy of this book from Virtual Author Book tours and the opinions are my own.  

Giveaway In Defense of Guilt by Benjamin H. Berkley

This giveaway is for one print copy or ebook copy of the book.  Print is available to the U.S. only but ebook is available worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 30, 2018 at midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct 19 Kickoff

Dawn Bound 2 Escape Oct 23 Excerpt

Jeanie Open Book Society Nov 1 Review

Danelle Our-Wolves-Den Nov 2 Excerpt

Lisa’s Writopia Nov 7 Review

Lisa’s Writopia Nov 7 Interview

Kathleen Celticlady’s Reviews Nov 14 Guest Review & Excerpt

Dawn Bound 4 Escape Nov 16 Guest Review

Shannon The Pulp and Mystery Shelf Nov 28 Interview

Mindy Room Without Books is Empty Nov 29 Review

Amy Amazon Nov 30 Review

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 30 Review

Monica Writers N Authors Nov 30 Review & Interview

Yari Yaris-book-world Nov 30 Review

This schedule is subject to change

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Chords of War by Christopher Meeks and Samuel Gonzalez Jr.

Inspired by Sam Gonzalez’s true story, "The Chords of War" is the tale of punk rock teenager Max Rivera from Florida, who seeks purpose as he tries to understand why his life always teeters between music and mayhem. After he's kicked out of his band on tour, he joins the Army to change his life. It's after 9/11, and he finds himself under fire in Iraq, part of the surge in Baquabah. In order to deal with his teen angst and raging hormones among daily patrols, coordinated battles, and women fighting alongside him, Max creates a new band with soldiers. Will Max and his friends make it? 

My Take:  What a great book for today's world.  It is the true story of Samuel Gonzalez Jr.  but all the names have been changed to protect the innocent , just kidding about the protect the innocent part.  This is the story with the trappings of a modern army with the gadgets and such but also with the bad things that come with war like the toll it takes on relationships and on the human beng themselves.  I would recommend this book to anyone who in interested in a more modern take on the toil of war.

I received this book from Virtual Author Booktours in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Remembrance of Things Present: Making Peace With Dementia by Peter Maeck

from Goodreads.com:  Caring for an aging father diagnosed with Alzheimer's exposes a multitude of experiences and feelings. Writer and photographer Peter Maeck approached this extremely difficult time of life with extraordinary mindfulness and compassion. Using the language of his craft, Maeck observed that he and his father "moved from a prose relationship into one of poetry . . . less literal and more metaphorical . . . engaging more in rhyme than in reason." Remembrance of Things Present is an important book for our time as dementia nears epidemic proportions; it is wisdom gleaned from facing one of life's most horrific afflictions with word, image, and love.

My Take:  My father died two years ago from Alzheimer's.  As I live two states away I didn't get to spend much time with him during his last years but was able to be with him the last two weeks of his life.  I wanted to read this book for that exact purpose.  I wanted to see how another person went through this time.  My mother was the primary care giver to my father and she had said her goodbye's long before he was anywhere near his death.  I on the other hand was sad when he wouldn't remember me and happy that I was able to hold his hand as he past on.  This book held some similarties to my experience and some differences but I liked the way the author expressed himself through poetry and pictures.  

I received a review copy of this book from Virtual Author Book tours in exchange for my honest review.  

Neespaugot: The Legend of the Indian's Coin by John Mugglebee

from Goodreads.com : Melba Blue Jay, sixteen, scrambling up a snow-filled mountain path, her knife at a child's throat. Archie Chung at the helm of the South Pacific Belle, foremast snapped like a toothpick, barreling toward a coral reef. Spindly Lydia Freeman, skin the color of dark ale, feeding tea made of birch bark to an Irish murderess. Zeke Roxxmott teetering at three hundred feet on the five-inch ledge of his penthouse, bent on a flawless destruction.

My Take:  This is a historical novel paired with mystery.  This book is a testament to how our families living or past help to form who we are and how we live our lives.  Each of the incidents are based on actual events.  I would recommend if you like historical novels, are interested in Native Americans or just like a well told story. 

I received a review copy of this book from Virtual Author Book tours in exchange for my honest review.  

Written in the Ahses by K. Hollan Van Zandt

In the bloody clash between Christians and pagans in fifth-century Alexandria, a servant girl becomes the last hope for preserving peace in this evocative and thrilling tale—a blend of history, adventure, religion, romance, and mysticism reminiscent of The Mists of Avalon.
“Written in the Ashes is one of those rare novels that sets ‘history’ afire, to bathe readers in the glow of a greater, hotter truth. Fans of The Mists of Avalon will find this romantic/alchemical/feminist/spiritual epic equally captivating.”— Tom Robbins, bestselling author of Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life and Villa Incognito.
After she is abducted from her home in the mountains of Sinai, Hannah is enslaved and taken to Alexandria, where she becomes the property of Alizar, an alchemist and pagan secretly working to preserve his culture. Revered for her beautiful singing voice, the young slave is invited to perform at the city’s Great Library, where she becomes friends with the revered mathematician and philosopher, Hypatia, as well as other pagans who curate its magnificent collections. Determined to help them uphold pagan culture and traditions, Hannah embarks on a dangerous quest to unite the fractured pieces of the Emerald Tablet—the last hope to save the pagans and create peace.
On this odyssey that leads her to the lost oracles of Delfi and Amun-Ra and to rediscovered ancient cities and rituals, Hannah will experience forbidden loves, painful betrayals, and poignant reunions. But her efforts may be in vain. Returning to Alexandria, Hannah finds a city engulfed in violence, even as her own romantic entanglements come to a head. Now, it’s not only her future, but the fate of all Alexandria that is at stake. 

My Take:  Being a book lover I have always been interested in the burning of the library in Alexandria.  Such a waste of story and history.  This book is told mostly from Hannah a young girl who was sold into slavery in Alexandria.  It also has as a character Hypatia who I had no knowledge of. I enjoy historical novels as I always learn something new either about the time period or about someone who lived at that time. This is book 1 of a series and I am looking forward to reading the next book.  This was a great debut novel by the author.  

I received a review opy of this book from Virtual Author Book tours in exchange for my honest opinion. 

A Question of Devotion by Anita Kulina

Then she saw it – a sheet of paper in the mailbox, underneath the mail. It was white with large black letters and said LEAVE IT ALONE.

Mrs. B has a quiet life, and she likes it that way. Morning pinochle games at St. Mary’s Senior Center. Afternoon lunches with Myrtle, Anne and Rose. Peaceful evenings with a cup of coffee and the classic movie channel.

But one day she wakes to a phone call, which leads to consequences she could never have foreseen. Secrets snowball and threaten to change the neighborhood of Burchfield forever. Someone has to make things right. It’s up to Mrs. B. 

My take:  This was a really good cozy mystery.  I like cozy mysteries as they don't have alot of profanity and no gory details of the crime.  This one was especially charming as it involvoed a little old lady named Mrs. B.  She reminded me alot of my mother in law as everyone knows her and she know everyone.  She now lives in a retirement community and she loves to go to the Senior Center.  The same way that Mrs. B. does.  I found it interesting to see Mrs. B. learn how to use the computer so she could use it for interenet searches.  I liked that Mrs. B. wanted to help others in her neighborhood and to make sure the real criminals were the ones being punished.  If you like your mysteries more soft boiled and with cute little old ladies like Jessica Fletcher this is the book for you. 

I received a review copy of this book from Virtual Author Book tours in exchange for my honest review. 

The Blue Hour by VickiRighettini

Sometimes you get a second chance to live the life you’ve always wanted…if you’re brave enough to take the chance.

In this epic tale of love, loss, and redemption, the year is 1861, a time when women are expected to be married by a certain age. At 26, spinster Emily Wainwright has no reason to believe her sheltered life will ever change — until the charming Samuel Todd unexpectedly crosses her path.

Samuel yearns to homestead and start a family in Oregon, but he first needs to find a wife. Blinded by Samuel’s good looks, and grasping at her final chance to have a husband and children, Emily accepts his marriage proposal. However, Samuel is not the man she thought he was, and her marriage becomes a cold, cruel prison, offering her no solace amidst the hardships of farm life.

When Samuel dies and a second chance at love and happiness arrives in the form of farmhand Cole Walker, Emily must overcome her bitter past—or risk losing Cole and the life she has always dreamed of having. 

My Take : This must be a new topic that authors are interested in as I have seen several books lately on the topic of women going on the Oregon Trail.  Emily is a bit naive in the book and ends up in a hard life with a husband who doesn't really love her and she doesn't really love him.  She ends up going out west out of desparation which I think alot of women felt back then if they weren't married and having a family by a certain age.  This book is about maturing and realizing what you want out of life and if you are willing to buck social norms to get it.  A great historical fiction book that helps you understand that time period. 
Recommend if you like historical fiction. 

I Received a review copy of this book by Virtual Author Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. 

The Lost Diaries of Elizabeth Cady Stanton by Sarah Bates

From Goodreads.com: Johnstown, New York, 1823: It is a time when a wife’s dowry, even children, automatically becomes her husband’s property. Slavery is an economic advantage entrenched in America but rumblings of abolition abound. 
For Elizabeth Cady to confront this culture is unheard of, yet that is exactly what she does. Before she can become a leader of the women's rights movement and prominent abolitionist, she faces challenges fraught with disappointment. Her father admires her intellect but says a woman cannot aspire to the goals of men. Her sister’s husband becomes her champion–but secretly wants more. Religious fervor threatens to consume her. As she faces depression and despair, she records these struggles and other dark confidences in diaries. When she learns the journals might fall into the wrong hands and discredit her, she panics and rips out pages of entries that might destroy her hard-fought reputation. Relieved, she believes they are lost to history forever.
But are they? Travel with Elizabeth into American history and discover a young woman truly ahead of her time. 

My Take:This book is very good as it tells the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton who along with Susan B. Anthony was very instrumental in getting the 19th Amendment passed.  She lived during a time when women were not given the same opportunities that men had and without her it might be the same way today.  History doesn't really tells us much about Elizabeth as she is outshown by Susan.  But if it wasn't for Elizabeth and many others Susan B. Anthony wouldn't have been able to do what she did.  

I was given a review copy in exchange for my honest reeview by Virtual Author Book Tours.  

Jonah by Vince Lane

“Jonah” is a work of literary fiction, a period piece written in accented vernacular. The story is staged in small town Louisiana in the 1930’s during the great depression. 

An elderly black hobo “Jonah” shows up begging at the door of two ladies humble shotgun shack. Though they are poor, they feed him. So he returns the kindness doing a couple of odd jobs to repay them. They take a somewhat mystical trusting, and immediate liking to Jonah and offer him a job. 

Throughout their time together many amazingly good outcomes happen for the ladies and their families as they are touched by turmoil after turmoil. The story unfolds a murder and cover up involving a prominent Judge who turns out to be responsible for the hit and run death of one of the ladies husbands. 

There is tragedy and death involved, but in the end, the human spirit is triumphant when they realize, only after Jonah has left their midst, that he had been an angel sent to help them through some otherwise horrible times.

About this author

Vince Lane has been writing most of his life, he first began seriously writing literary material around 1980. At the time he was a musician, singer/songwriter, poet, and professional entertainer living and working in Los Angeles, California. As a writer he has always maintained an unabashed style, paying little if any attention to convention. Unlike many writers, he has never settled down into any particular genre having written sci-fi, horror, supernatural, literary, mystery, action adventure, justice, and experimental fiction in iambic pentameter.

"I have enjoyed writing what I like, what I want, the way I want, and I stay true to that artistic freedom to this day."

My take:  I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed the story of the unassuming Jonah and the ladies he comes to help out.  I guess I am naive but it always amazes me that the people who are suppose to uphold the law at times turn out to be the worst offenders of all.  I think if you aren't a stickler for your historical fiction being totally accurate (the author changed the dates of the war to fit the story) then you should enjoy this story of a humble black man helping his fellow man get through hard times.  

Arctic Fire by Paul Byers

 Arctic Fire by Paul Byers

From Goodreads.com

Wealthy entrepreneur Nigel Cain has devised an efficient new way to bring the earth’s most precious resource to the masses – clean water – by transporting massive man-made icebergs from the frigid arctic and delivering them literally to the doorsteps of millions.

Gabriel Pike works at a small engineering firm that has been awarded the task of giving the final safety approval to pilot the first gigantic block of ice into New York harbor.

A consummate showman, Cain has built a fabulous 5-Star hotel and casino high atop the iceberg so his celebrity guests and media elite can cover this spectacle from beginning to end. Pike is whisked away from his work-a-day world and dropped into the lap of luxury where he’s expected to simply rubber-stamp his inspection.

A brutal winter storms ravages the iceberg and exposes structural inconsistencies and hidden agendas that fill Pike with serious doubts about the true intentions of the project. But a grisly double homicide on the ice puts the inspections on the back burner and sends Pike’s life spiraling out of control when he’s accused of being the jealous murderer in a lover’s triangle.

But Pike soon discovers that there is far more at stake than just his life. He uncovers a conspiracy more heinous than anything he could have imagined – a plot that will level a city, change the political face of America, and whose shockwaves will be felt around the world. Fate rests in his hands – if he can survive long enough to take action...

About Paul Byers

Paul grew up in Oregon on the shores of the mighty and mysterious Columbia River, and spent endless hours daydreaming on the beach in front of his house, making up stories about the ships from exotic ports all over the world that steamed up the river – what secret cargo might they be carrying; did they harbor spies who were on dark and exciting missions?

Later in adult life, he moved to another mysterious and provocative city – Las Vegas, just outside the famous Nellis Air Force base. After work he would sit on his porch and watch the fighters take off and land, igniting his imagination with visions of secret missions and rich speculation about what could possibly be hidden at Area 51.

After moving back to his native Pacific Northwest, Paul worked for the Navy and took every opportunity he could to speak with veterans from WWII to the Gulf War, listening to them swap stories and relate the experiences of a lifetime.

So it is this combination of a passionate love of history, a vivid “what if” imagination, and a philosophy of life that boils down to the belief that – there are few things in life that a bigger hammer won’t fix – that led Paul to become a writer of exciting, fact-based action-thrillers. His greatest joy is leaving his readers wondering where the facts end and the fiction begins.

My Take:  What do you do about the world's water disappearing?  Bring down an iceberg from the North Atlantic of course.  But what if there were those who didn't want the plan to succeed? There is plenty of thrills and chills in this book.  If you like thrillers and action packed adventure then this book should satisfy.  There is  plenty to fill your appetite.  I would recommend this book for any one that likes the above type of books. 

I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion from Premier Virtual Author book tours.