What an intriguing read!

I love a court room drama and this one takes us right into a high profile criminal trial where barrister Lila Dalton is defending a mass murderer, accused of domestic terrorism.

The only problem is that on the first day of the trial Lila is standing in court, representing her client with no memory of who she is or why she’s there.

Stranded on an island off the coast of the UK, where they try domestic and foreigners for the most serious of crimes, she figures she will wing it until things become clearer to her. And they do as flashes of memory start to return.

As she blindly navigates her way around the facts of the case, there appears to be evil forces working against her and Lila doesn’t know who she can trust.

Through her storytelling Shepherd cleverly introduces issues around extremist ideologies, manipulation and political activism.

This is no ordinary court room drama though. It’s full of suspense and has many twists and turns.

If you like mystery, intrigue and and drama you will enjoy this.

Thank you #NetGalley and #ljshepherd for an advance copy in exchange of an honest review.

This was definitely a strange book to get into.
You as reader almost feel as lost as Lila does in the beginning. As the story progresses, a lot of the blank spaces are filled for the reader, but not all of them, leaving you a lot to ponder on and digest.
At the end, a lot of things become clearer and scenes from the beginning of the book make a bit more sense now. The final chapter brings a sort of full circle moment and a bit more closure and sense to the book.
A very thought-provoking read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

Our main character, Lila Dalton, finds herself awake in front of 12 jurors with the task of proving someone innocent for a crime she knows nothing about. Unfortunately, I am not super familiar with legal stuff and this book was heavy on that, that’s just me thought. Some parts of the book seemed repetitive and there was stuff I didn’t quite understand about neo nazis being involved? I got a little lost. The premise sounded interesting but it just fell a little short for me.

I did enjoy the plot of this book but found myself kind of stumbling around for a large portion of it just not completely understanding some of the legal aspects and conspiracy theory talk.

Lila Dalton finds herself standing in front of 12 strangers in a court room with no memory of who she is or how she got there. After a time, she figures out that she is a barrister representing her client, Eades, who has been accused of bombing the Abbott House. Now she just has to figure out how she is going to prove him innocent in a trial she knows nothing about.

The beginning of the book was very intriguing, I was in it and enjoying it but towards the middle I just lost interest because of how confused I was becoming with certain things. It picked up towards the end and I was eager to see how it all played out. Overall, I don’t feel like this was a productive read for ME. I do think that there are many that will enjoy it!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this digital ARC!!

This was a unique plot and a highly original premise. However I’m not a fan of dystopian novels and wouldn’t have chosen to read this book if the Kafkaesque qualities of the book had been included in the blurb.

I struggled somewhat with the level of explanation around legal processes, anarchy and conspiracy theories, and found myself confused at times. This is despite having a good understanding of the British legal system but maybe it was because I read at night when I’m tired!

This is an unusual novel which I will remember for a long time, predominantly for the sensations of unease and heightened suspense sustained throughout the book.

Thank you to the author, Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for my advance copy.
3.5 stars

“The Trials of Lila Dalton” is a captivating and remarkable novel, which enchanted and moved me. I'm a fan of psychological thrillers, and dystopian twists. Imagine what it's like to find everything in one book.

I loved the way the author created the characters, they are raw and very real. I strongly recomend.

First person, present tense fiction is one hundred percent “no can do” for me. As soon as I opened this ebook ARC and flipped through a few pages, I knew that it was not gonna be read by me. I wish that NetGalley would specify the POV and tense that books are written in, so that folks don’t go requesting titles that will be an immediate DNF.

Lila Dalton finds herself in a precarious situation. She has put together that she is a barrister, and her client is Eades, but her knowledge outside of practicing law (the law-law, not the details relating to this case) lives in her sub conscience. She’s able to put together that the primary barrister, Pat, has died. So it is Lila’s job to get Eades off. However - the facts surrounding the case, the bombing of Abbott House (where many were killed and more were injured) are both harmful to Eades’ favor as well as missing in detail (30s of CCTV footage is missing). Will Lila put together if the government has conspired to take her daughter as well as Lila’s memories? Is Eades actually innocent and the government and/or another person is responsible for the bombing?

It’s up to Lila to put the facts together and it needs to be done quickly before she is held accountable both for Pat’s death as well as the murder of the detective of Eades’s case (during the trial).

The Trials of Lila Dalton had me hooked from the very beginning with its intriguing plot. I loved being taken along on the journey with Lila to recover her memories. The setting of the remote island with a dark history was almost a character on its own and I was flying through the chapters because I needed to know what was going on.

While I was eager to continue with the story, I did encounter some challenges with certain paragraphs that felt overly complex and academic, requiring me to reread them. Consequently, I found myself extremely confused by the conclusion and I’m thinking I might have to reread the last few chapters again (which is a bit frustrating). Additionally, there are so many major pieces that I feel never received closure (mainly in flashbacks).

I did thoroughly enjoy the courtroom scenes as Lila navigated through the trials and the loss of her memory, despite feeling overwhelmed by the legal jargon and intricate conspiracies. The multitude of puzzle pieces left me struggling to connect them all at the end because I still have no idea who to trust, which may have been the point.

Despite these hurdles, I found the book unique and enjoyable, particularly for those seeking an intellectually stimulating thriller.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 ⭐️'s. I loved the premise of The Trials of Lila Dalton but was disappointed by the execution.

Lila Dalton suddenly wakes in a courtroom with no memories. She quickly works out she is a barrister representing a racist mass murder, but doesn't remember anything about her life or her client. Working on behalf of the controversial client quickly puts Lila in danger, and she scrambles to defend her client, recover her memories, and discover the person behind these ominous threats.

The author spends a lot of time explaining the anarachist neo-Nazi group Lila's client is a part of and conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances of his crimes. The plot got very repetitive and boring. There was a lot of explaining - not a lot of action or suspense. The beginning and end of the story were good, but the middle of the book was a slog.

Overall, I'd pass on The Trials of Lila Dalton. I received an advanced copy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Trials of Lila Dalton
@ljshepherdauthor
@poisonedpenpress
@netgalley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
8/27/2024
(Pretty sure it should be released sooner)

What Everyone is Saying:
I look up to find twelve strangers staring back at me… and I realize I'm the one they're waiting for.

The Trials of Lila Dalton is a twisty, unexpected locked-room mystery that follows one woman's race against time to find a killer, clear her own name, and escape the island that threatens to keep her trapped forever.

My Review:

This book is unique on so many levels. I think ultimately it can be pegged as an intellectual horror. (Did I make the up? Lol?) It is complex, with its rich political world building and definitely different than most thrillers currently on the shelf. The book is somewhat weird too... like people wearing wigs, people with sharpened teeth and supremacy groups? It's a lot. But it's a lot of the right thing.

This book is stressful. Kind of like watching someone peel off a fingernail stressful. Why is the person doing that? What world are we in that people peel nails off? Gross. But then there are the twists. The typical thriller reader will say "Oh I totally know the twist" and then will be slapped with not one, but at least 3 MAJOR twists in the plot. Literally like a cat slapping you in the face, kind of twist.

This book is not for the faint of heart. To get the level of thrill from the book, you have to put the work in. It's rich, it's deep and it has a lot of sly grins that make me nervous. I promise the book is enjoyable, I really do! No one will pull off your nails, but you may inevitably do so out of your own distress. 😅 You've been warned!

#thrillerbooks #bookstagram #thriller #booklover #books #bookstagrammer #bookworm #book #reading #booknerd #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #bookaddict #bookish #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #mysterybooks #bookreview #bookrecommendations #thrillers #thrillerreads #bookblogger #bookcommunity #suspense #mystery #instabook #horrorbooks #bookshelf #bookphotography #psychologicalthriller

The Trials of Lila Dalton opens with Lila, a barrister, in a courtroom. The catch? She has no idea where she is or why she is there. As the novel unfolds, the reader discovers everything and everyone is not as it seems.

This was a very different type of thriller for me, and I really enjoyed it. Some readers may find it to be a bit of a slow burn at the start, but the story really does pick up just a few chapters in. The writing is very good, the plot is intriguing and well thought out. There are plenty of twists and turns that were not obvious at all.. The author keeps you guessing until the very end. I felt that the ending was a little rushed and confused, but overall this was a great read.

It's a book that I feel readers will either love or hate, depending on your interests. If you find any of the following interesting, you will likely enjoy this book: conspiracy, alt-right weirdness, governmental corruption, terrorist plots, memory tampering, and courtroom drama. The book does reach into territory that seems a bit far-fetched but just close enough to reality that you could imagine it might actually happen - a bit like some Black Mirror episodes.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. The Trials of Lila Dalton is the debut novel of L.J. Shepherd and will be released on August 27. 2024.

this book got pretty wild towards the end!!!! story about a court case and trial that leaves the reader guessing what will happen next. 4/5 stars

Wow, wow, wow! This was a great novel that I couldn't put down. It was difficult to predict what would happen next, which kept me wanting more!

Overall, I enjoyed this! I thought it was unique and the plot alone had me wanting to read this. Waking up in a courtroom and not knowing what is going on sounds intriguing and I love a good trial and courtroom drama. I’m giving this 3 stars because the first half had me super interested and I kept coming back to read more. I think the ending got a little crazy but hey, maybe people like that!

It's hard to find thrillers that feel like completely new takes on the genre, but I can't think of a book that's even remotely similar to The Trials of Lila Dalton. Right off that bat, the reader is pulled in because Lila knows just as much as we do, so her need to uncover information feels especially pertinent.

As much as I love the setup, I struggled to stay interested. There was so much that didn't make sense or required a lot of explanation. And while I love unraveling a mystery, it just felt like too much vagueness. This was ultimately a DNF for me, which is a bummer because I was so excited when I started it.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book and provide my opinion. I felt the setup that Lila was walking into the courtroom with no memories was a very good idea. I did not see the ending at all. Thank you for allowing me to read this book for my thoughts.

I was fortunate enough to win an ARC of this book via NetGalley. The plot, as well as the twists, have all the potential to make this a four-star read. However, it feels like the book lacks proper flow and confuses the reader more than intended.

This was a really different story, I was very interested in the beginning, Lila has no memory of her life prior to finding herself standing in a court room responsible for defending a person charged with setting off a bomb that killed many people. Her 'senior' law partner had been in an accident and she was supposed to be the supporting lawyer, instead she has to defend someone who everyone hates. She also quickly finds out that she's on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and has no way of leaving and she can't quit the case, she receives disturbing messages that mention a daughter (she has no recollection of) and that she won't see her again if the defendant doesn't get cleared of the charge. As the reader you learn along the way as she finds out about the town she's in and the people that live there (not many). The story becomes very convoluted (I found) about mid-way through, but I kept plugging away because I wanted to know what the heck was going on. I didn't think this was a science fiction but towards the end there is a bit of that thrown in, overall I think the story was interesting, perhaps including something earlier about what's happening would have helped. Thanks to #Netgalley and #poisonedpenpress for the ARC.

I had to make myself finish this book because I wanted to see if it would get any better. It was so off and too much conspiracies. The best part was the last page with that little twist and with it ending.