HOSTILE WITNESS: A Josie Bates Thriller (The Witness Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

With so many positive reviews, I was very hopeful when I found this book. Unfortunately, it became quite obvious from the get go that the author was very much into adjectives and nonsensical descriptions that didn't quite match the scene or character. The one that made me stop and delete the book from my Kindle was:"Linda felt him vibrating, radiating frustration and anger. It rolled around the room like a Dervish."That says it all.

More like 2.5 stars - definitely gave me mixed feelings. I felt like it was meant to be a thriller, but fell short of the mark. Hannah is 16 and accused of murder. She is on trial and Josie Bates is defending her. As the triall unfolds, dark secrets are exposed and Josie doesn't know what is fact and what is fiction. It's a crazy game of Whodunit? Josie fights to defend Hannah and find the truth but is constantly bombarded with obstacles and opposition on every side-even from those supposedly there to help.The things that bothered me were in the writing - so many things that happened were not revealed to the reader - I'm not saying to give away the mystery- but so many conversations and parts of conversations were hidden from readers and nothing was clarified - even in the end. It was frustrating to feel so kept in the dark and not getting any important details. It bothered me the whole time. The other thing that irritated me was the switching of the situation and speakers and everything without even a paragraph break. Like one second Josie is talking with Hannah and the next sentence is Archer arguing with someone else or whatever but it annoyed me. If you are going to change the characters in the middle of a conversation, at least put a break in the page.

The Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Fritz Rayburn is murdered and his sixteen year-old stepgranddaughter Hannah Sheraton is arrested. Her mother, Linda turns to her old college roommate Josie Baylor-Bates for help. At one time, Josie was a "hotshot" criminal defense attorney, but she has left that life behind her and settled into a small practice in Hermosa Beach, California. When Hannah is charged as an adult, Josie decides to help her...Josie is haunted by memories of something that happened to her mother — and an old case where she defended a woman named Kristin Davis — it was her last case as before she left the "fast track" behind. After that case, Josie "realized she no longer had the stomach for defending those who should have been indefensible" ...I was engrossed in this book from page one and I did not put it down until I reached the very last sentence. The characters are richly drawn, you can visualise each of them in great detail — all the way to seeing Hannah's cuts and her frightened eyes. You feel like a spectator as you watch the courtroom drama unfold. It is fascinating to follow the clues and evidence and try to figure out the whodunnit. I thought I knew early on who murdered Fritz Rayburn and why, but I was wrong. The real culprit was a bit of a surprise to me...This book has all of the ingredients necessary for a great legal thriller: secrets in a wealthy family and the lengths they will go to to keep those secrets from being exposed; a tenacious defense attorney ready to put it all on the line for a mentally traumatised young girl she believes is innocent; excitement as the courtroom drama plays out — and the desire to find out the truth no matter what...I was very impressed with the details of Hannah's mental disorder that were included in the book — it is very clear to me that the author cared enough to take the time to do the research...I am a new Rebecca Forster fan and I will definitely be reading the rest of The Witness Series!

This was a pleasant read. As a whistleblower attorney, author and CEO of a national office that confronts workplace bullying, I find that reading across different genres helps relieve stress and provides a relaxing diversion.It also broadens one's mind and deepens one's literary repertoire. In short, being a prolific reader across diverse genres makes one more interesting.As an author myself, I know that serious writing (as opposed to vanity fluff just to see one's name on Amazon) is no easy task. Here, the author does a fine job of storytelling and keeping the reader engaged.Every book has its flaws, regardless of the notoriety of the author. Nevertheless, I am grateful for this reading experience.

The main character, Josie, seems flat and one-dimensional. She was also a bit unlikable, which made out difficult for me to find any empathy for her. I will try another of the author's books, but this one was a fail.

I downloaded this novel when it was free, and it took me months to finish reading. First I'll mention what I liked most, then express what I did not like and why this took so long to read. The storyline is good. After the main course of this thriller, which involves the incident and all the secrets and changed lives as a result, it actually leads readers along to an actual trial. I really appreciated action within the courtroom and revelations of legal manipulation we all know happens in these situations. Relationships between judges and attorneys is put out for us to digest, even though we've read it before and know it's truer than we care to believe. Hostile Witness has some unpalatable characters and also some memorable characters.Unfortunately, parts seemed a tad absurd since I have worked in the legal field. And albeit a plausible storyline, it truly needs proofreading and sentence restructure in areas that made it difficult to easily comprehend. When you have to re-read a sentence to fully understand, this can become aggravating if it happens too often. Switching viewpoints wasn't properly accomplished, occurring in most unlikely places like midway into a paragraph. I'm not a mystery/thriller reader per se, but figured out the killer way before the last several chapters.I was hoping for a mega surprise ending, but that did not happen.It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't a novel I'd recommend - even as a free read.

Of course the word ‘witness’ in the title fives this away as a courtroom drama. But it’s not what I expected. A supreme Court Judge dies in a dire, evidence seems ro indicate it may have been murder, and Josie is drawn into the puzzle as a mother enlists her help to free her daughter who has been charged. With more twists and turns than a maze Josie takes the case to court, despite the wishes of the step father, and the advice of Archer. What happens in court is far from usual, but you will have toread the book yourself to find out. Great book.

There are a number of ways to categorize ‘Hostile Witness’ – it is a murder mystery, a crime investigation, a legal thriller, and a courtroom drama and it embraces numerous issues of law, politics and family. With so many different elements it is not surprising that its plot is far-fetched – but hey – it’s fiction – it’s fabulous fiction full of tension and suspense. It is exciting and entertaining.Lawyer Josie Bates is the main protagonist who takes on the defence of a sixteen year old girl, Hannah, accused of arson and killing a prominent Supreme Court Judge. He is Hannah’s step-grandfather, his son is her step-father married to birth mother, and all hide secrets and have interweaving interests. The plot is so wonderfully convoluted that it is hard to imagine anything left for Josie to do after conclusion of ‘Hostile Witness’ which is the first of a seven book Josie Bates thriller series.‘Hostile Witness’ spans almost the full spectrum of the worst and best of human behaviour from dark and disturbing treachery and betrayal to love loyalty and duty. Narrative is gripping and compelling as it stirs up feelings and emotions. Characters are well developed and they shift between matters of motives, evidence, alibis, suspects and witnesses via multiple twists and turns and red-herrings. This is fabulous 5-star fiction.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I intend to read more.I found the introduction was slow, and flashes of Josie's past home life were not very informative although they gave some insight into her character as an adult and her behaviour in this case. I didn't see any of the poor writing standard described in older reviews and think the case was built well as more evidence and knowledge was uncovered. In books of this genre how the reader is drawn to the conclusion is much more important than who 'did it' so even if the criminal is correctly identified it doesn't spoil the enjoyment of a good read, although in this instance that is the reason for losing 1 star.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it as an interesting read.

This book drags out the tension to the very end. We can tell almost from the very beginning that Hannah didn't do what she is accused of,so what is the truth behind the events of that night. This isn't exactly a detective story but it is an investigation into the truth of what happened on the night a death ocurred. Whilst it would appear that no-one really knows exactly what happened, the fact that the victim was a judge means that someone has to be held responsible, and it might as well be an insecure girl exhibiting signs of mental instability. Whilst everyone else is striving to ensure that they can fit the facts around the suspect, her distraught mother begs her old friend to be the girl's lawyer.The tale unfolds with good timing which helps the credibility and keeps the reader's attention. This isn't all car chases and an arrogant investigator, more a hesitant investigator fighting to hold onto the case in the teeth of opposition from where she expects support. Can Josie find the strength to hold on and keep trusting her client, even when logic, and all those around her are shouting her guilt?I didn't expect to like Josie very much but i found that I did. I liked her vulnerability, but also her determination even in the face of doubt. I like the way she held on even when she realised that not only did she not like her old friend but that they had never really been friends despite their shared past and I really like her integrity. Josie has the kind of courage which makes her hang on even when she is scared to death. I would rather have her as a friend than an adversary.

Hostile Witness is a courtroom drama that follows Josie, a lawyer who is cntacted by her old college room mate, Linda for help with Linda's daughter, Hannah. Hannah is a suspect in the case of her grandfather-in-law's murder. He died in suspicious circumstances, with a head wound which someone had tried to cover up by starting a fire. Since Hannah and her grandfather had been seen arguing, she was implicated.So, of course, Josie takes the case, convinced that Hannah is innocent, a position she is occasionally forced to revise and then revise again. Josie is conflicted herself because of events that occurred before the start of this story, in which she convinced a jury that a women was innocent and the women later murdered more people. Add in that Hannah's grandfather had been a powerful judge and his son (Linda's new husband) is up for becoming senator, and things get more complicated still.It's really not my kind of thing - I don't think I've ever read a court room drama before this one. On the other hand, I did keep coming back to it. It might have taken a long time for me to read the whole thing but I didn't give up on it.There are muddled, repetitive parts which I found a bit annoying. Presumably these were designed to mirror the process of going back over the evidence again and again to try to find something that had been missed. It didn't work for me though. Apart from that and some occasionally weird dialog and filler sentences it wasn't a bad read. The twists at the end of the book were particularly great (although the end of the book also had one section that made me roll my eyes).On balance, not bad. I'm not sure I'll be picking up the next in the series or that it's persuaded me to seek out more court room dramas, but it was fine.