Cover Image: The Pinocchio Brief

The Pinocchio Brief

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Member Reviews

To be honest, this was a bit of a challenge for me as it's focused on the British legal system. That said, the characters are good and I learned a great deal. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC,

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I'm still sometimes confused by the British legal system, and I'm not ashamed of that, but I put off reading this book for that very reason. When I finally finished the book, I had a firmer grasp on some of the terminology, and I thought this book was clever in the way it explored the perils of technology and a twisted murder mystery at the same time. I don't think this book was for me, but I know that others may enjoy it immensely.
2 stars

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Many thanks go to Abi Silver, Lightning Books, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review Ooooh this was a good one! Very clever A 15 year-old boy is arrested for stabbing his maths teacher to death and an attorney comes out of retirement to represent him against a state of the art prosecution tool called Pinocchio, a lie detector. It's what happens in court that's earth shattering. I was sucked in immediately. Did he do? Didn't he? How does Pinocchio work? Is that something that the courts will utilize soon? How do I feel about that? So then I start thinking about little white lies and how bad I probably am at that. So then I'm feeling guilty. And then I want to practice on people. No!no! No! That's not how any of this works! Sorry (clears my throat) I lost control for a minute. Anyway...this was a great book. Very ethical, very current event. I'd recommend it

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Great British courtroom drama/mystery. A retired barrister helps a younger less experienced barrister help with a murder case involving a somewhat autistic student. I kept thinking of the movie Primal Fear as another reviewer stated so I know it was not just me.

I felt the older character, Judith, was really well drawn, but Constance, the younger, not so much. If this is going to be a series, the author will need to fix that. Loved Judith.

All in all, I would definitely recommend and will keep my eye out for the author's next book.

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Great book that’s at once a British Courtroom Drama as well as a statement novel regarding technology permeating our lives. Easy read with lots of dialogue.One main character, Judith, had her story fleshed out over the course of the book. Although this book switches points of view between two charecters, we truly only get to know one of them. It would have been nice to get to know the other a bit more.

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Ok then. Sociopathy has always made for some interesting reading, particularly when it’s backed by high IQ. It was certainly the star of this legal thriller. Normally not my favorite of thrillers, but there is also a murder mystery here technically. Two female lawyers, a young and an older much more experienced one who comes out of retirement just to take on a tough case, made all the tougher by introduction of a new technology that (surprise, surprise) originally was created to make things easier. Decent read, especially for a debut, narrative and interactions are slightly stilted outside of the court scenes, but otherwise a very professional job. Entertaining, with an obligatory twist at the end. All the while made me think of the movie Primal Fear, superlative by comparison, but this novel is different enough to be its own entity. Thanks Netgalley.

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What a nice surprise! I must admit that I kept putting this book aside for no other reason than I thoroughly disliked the title! Was I wrong! This book captivates you from the beginning and just keeps giving. Never judge a book by its cover. Turns out that Pinocchio is a technological form of a lie detector and is being used in the trial of a 10-year-old student accused of killing his headmaster. The two attorneys working to free Raymond Maynard do not have much to work with as Raymond only asks them for a mirror and an iPhone and allows them to ask three questions and from then on refuses to talk to anyone. The plot line was great and kept you going almost to the very end. I didn’t like the last chapter and thought it totally superfluous to the book and I would rather remember the book as it were before this. It just didn’t seem to add any value to the book. I will definitely be looking for more books from this new author and recommend this book completely. I was given the book by #NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

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Debut author Abi Silver's Pinocchio Brief was a good legal mystery with some interesting and engaging characters. I enjoyed the plot and pacing. Will recommend to my customers who enjoy legal thrillers with an excellent plot twist at the end!

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The Pinocchio Brief is about two attorneys who defend a 16 year old boy from murder charges. The title references a software program that is a form of a lie detector. This novel was quite well written. What it lacked in thrills it made up for in an intelligent storyline.

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