Sanctioned

By: Peter Hardin-Levine

Narrated by: Edison McDaniels

Ben Billings is young and carefree. He recently finished at the bottom of his law school class, and is happily getting by doing what little work he can. To Ben’s amazement, the city’s top lawyer sends the mysterious Liza Allen to him for help on a legal matter.

Ben is thrilled, but his world quickly spins out of control. Liza’s story is far from what it seemed, and Ben suddenly finds himself doing battle with the country’s leading litigators. Ben’s misery grows as he is increasingly befuddled by the beguiling woman down the hall.

Sanctioned is a headline-ripped legal thriller about a young lawyer who finds himself thrust into a fierce battle at the heart of the #MeToo movement. You will not be able to stop listening!

©2018 Peter Hardin-Levine (P)2019 Peter Hardin-Levine

Great legal writing

I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t wan to stop listening. A lot of books that have legal issues are not very realistic. I found this book to be realistic and also touch on the important subject of rape and how difficult it may be to prove.

Narration

The narrative was difficult to understand at times. The character voices were poorly depicted. The book was very entertaining.

Legal thriller that just didn’t thrill me.

If you are old enough to be familiar with film noir, then perhaps this audiobook is for you. From the outset, the book was vaguely reminiscent of the crime thrillers of previous eras despite the fact that the story was very relevant in this”Me Too” age. Although the story was timely & I found the narrator quite talented in his performance, in my opinion, the story & narrator didn’t quite mesh.

As a listener, I will admit a personal bias I just couldn’t get past in this book. Frankly, I found the following quite off putting. When a protagonist, in this case a down-on-his-luck attorney, is frequently compelled to make what I consider lascivious comments on the physical attributes of every woman he meets—I find it crass. But maybe that’s too harsh. But it seems oddly hypocritical & downright boorish to know the inner thoughts of the “hero” of this story who is supposed to be seeking justice while at the same time ogling every woman as if she was on display in a meat case. Maybe you wouldn’t feel the tension there & could focus more on the ‘little guy vs The Big Guys’ aspect of the story.

By chance, I was listening to this story while working & someone happened to overhear the protagonist Ben Billings describe several women. My guest listener got tickled as he listened because as he said, “all the women are described as being ‘sexy’ in one way or another.” Exactly, I thought! Those descriptions didn’t seem appropriate, or pertinent or even intelligent given the subject of the book. Frankly, after my friend’s comment, it was hard to finish the book.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review, however this one was clearly not my cup of tea. But please, dear reader/listener, don’t let my “little old lady” comments dissuade you if you like legal fiction with a character you will find yourself rooting for. The writer probably wasn’t targeting my demographic anyway & the narrator’s talents are worthy of a listen.

There’s a new lawyer in town!

Loved this book. Loved the character development. Loved the way the author let us into Ben’s head. The scene where he was deposing was priceless. I listened to it three times. Laughed out loud. His insecurities and corresponding metamorphosis are enchanting.

Good but not Great

Hard to believe the main character was actually a lawyer so much basic law he did not . Inresting mix of characters. Readers vice takes time to get use to.