It’s a little over a year since I reviewed Jack Jordan’s Do No Harm for My Weekly magazine in a post you’ll find here. Having loved that book I was delighted to be asked onto the blog tour for Jack’s latest thriller Conviction and would like to thank Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to participate. It’s a real pleasure to share my review today.

Way back in 2015 I reviewed Jack’s Anything for Her in a post you’ll find here. I also reviewed My Girl here and helped to reveal Jack’s Before Her Eyes here.

Published by Simon and Schuster on 22nd June 2023, Conviction is available for purchase through the links here.

Conviction

TO STEAL A MAN’S FREEDOM ALL IT TAKES IS . . . CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept before burning the family home to the ground.

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows it could be the career making case she’s been waiting for. But only if she can prove Wade’s innocence.

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must lose this case or the secret about her own husband’s disappearance will be revealed.

Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about until she follows orders.

Neve must make a choice – betray every principle she has ever had by putting a potentially innocent man in prison, or risk putting those she loves in mortal danger.

For fans of Steve Cavanagh, Linwood Barclay and Gillian McAllister, introducing the latest novel from the master of the moral dilemma, Jack Jordan.

My Review of Conviction

Neve Harper has a new court case to defend. 

Used to fast paced, heart thumping reads from Jack Jordan, I had expected a pacy thriller in Conviction. What I got was an adrenaline rush of a read that held me completely gripped until I had devoured every word. 

The plot simply zips along, aided by the division into trial days and the short chapters. I thought the premise of the story, based around morality in all its forms was stunning. Certainly there are those who are pure evil in this narrative, but what Jack Jordan does so brilliantly is to cause the reader to adjust their own moral compass, and to consider what they would do in similar circumstances to Neve. This is a book that is thought provoking and unsettling as well as gripping and exciting to read.

I loved the authentic insight into a court case and the legal system. This aspect of Conviction feels so well researched and convincing. And I loved too, the way the title encompasses the courage of conviction as well as the potential for criminal and legal conviction. With themes of manipulation, corruption, honesty, family, betrayal and relationships Conviction has an aspect that appeals to, or resonates with, every reader, making it absolutely engrossing and causing the reader to experience a range of emotions from fear through contempt to pleasure and hope in response to what is happening.

Whilst those like the Messenger are identifiably and unquestionably unpleasant, corrupt and threatening, Neve is so nuanced and layered that it’s mind blowing to read about her. Her moral dilemma, her reasons for acting as she does, and the things she has done in her past, give her depth and make her completely fascinating. I thought she was wonderfully balanced as a character. 

Conviction holds everything a reader wants in a thrilling read. I devoured it and when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it. I thought it was excellent and even better than I’d hoped.

About Jack Jordan

Jack Jordan is the global number one bestselling author of Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), Before Her Eyes (2018) and Night by Night (2019).

His thriller, Do No Harm, was an instant Times bestseller and shortlisted for the Most Recommended Book in the DeadGood Reader Awards. Coined the thriller of the summer for 2022, it was described as “relentlessly tense” by Sunday Times Bestseller Lesley Kara, and “Chilling and perfectly paced” by New York Times Bestseller Sarah Pearse.

To find out more about Jack, enter numerous annual giveaways to win signed copies of his books, and be the first to hear of new book releases and news, you can follow him on Instagram, Twitter @JackJordanBooks and Facebook.

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