This book started off strong and had me interested from the beginning. Sadly, it lost me about halfway through and went in a direction that just wasn’t for me. I would say the first half is 4 stars, but only 1-2 stars for the second half.

Usually when I pick up a legal thriller, it tends to be more of the vein that there is an amateur detective who just happens to have connections to the legal profession. Given that the summary for this book also contained speculative or sci-fi implications, I didn't expect this to be much different. I was so delightfully surprised to be wrong.

I have never read a book that uses the actual trail process, legal language and debate tactics as a legitimate discovery devise as much as it does 'on the ground' work. I am absolutely not surprised at all that the author has the background as a barrister. It shows in all the best ways. While my own areas of study are in the American system and I am not a member of the bar, the linguistic battle approach and ties of court procedure, rules of evidence, etc were music to my ears. It added such a realistic other-level nature to this.

On the mystery and speculative side it does not disappoint either. What seems like a cut and dry argument about extremism and cult behavior turns out to be so much more twisted and in some ways sickeningly prevalent to current day. It also dangles the questions of reality and feasibility long enough so that you wonder if this really is just a psychological manifestation. The solution of which is a twist that I hadn't quite sifted out but felt so very right for the overarching turns.

The most successful mystery-thrillers keep you guessing, work within a realm of possibility for the world they operate in, and are aware of their setting and the placement of clues. This is all that and more with a wonderful narrative tone, a sympathetic central character, and a two fold mystery that uses a period in our history that has opened up and continues to cycle today. Brilliant work. Absolutely recommend.

This is one of those books that requires a suspension of belief as well as some quantum physic style multiverse stuff. I went into it thinking this would be fun. Instead it became a bit of a slow slog with way too many extra components tossed in which took away from the main plot.
Lila is in court as a barrister when she realizes she has no idea who she is or what she is doing there. Cue her racing around freaking out and trying to figure out what to do. Now this and the trial itself could have been great. But they went on to add a cop with a weird grudge and some mind control stuff mixed with Neo nazis……honestly my brain just said ENOUGH.
I know that some people will enjoy this but it sadly was not for me.
I received a ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Dreamscape Media for gifting me. both a digital and audio ARC of this debut book by L.J. Shepherd, wonderfully narrated by Ella Lynch. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Lila Dalton has no memory, yet finds herself in the courtroom as a trial lawyer defending a terrorist. She doesn't know who she is, what she's doing, or the reason behind anything. Somehow, enough memory kicks in that she's able to participate in the trial. Without knowing anything about her past, how can she trust anyone around her?

This was such an intriguing plot, but it's a complex story and requires some concentration on the reader's part. It goes down lots of conspiracy theory paths, courtroom drama, threats about her missing daughter, all wrapped up in Lila's confused brain. To be honest, my brain was a bit confused at the end as well. But it's a solid debut novel and I'll be looking for more from this author!

I don’t think I have ever read anything like this. A book set with a court case. It is a mystery thrillerish with some sci-fi. It took me a while to get into it but at about 20% it really started to pick up. There are so many characters it can get a little confusing. The ending was good but it was weird.

DNF around 70%

I hate not finishing ARCs, but I just can't do it. The synopsis of this book makes you think it's about Lila trying to defend a murderer with no memory, but it very quickly gets away from that. If I'm being honest, I'm confused and I don't know what's going on. I truly can't explain to anyone what this book is about because even after reading three quarters of it, I DON'T KNOW.

Too much confusing lawyer-speak, confusing cult (? I really don't know if that's what it was) stuff, and just confusing stuff all around.

Sorry for the god awful review but my brain hurts.

This was not a mystery/suspense/thriller. It is not what it's advertised at. It is a speculative fiction with more sci-fi than anything and that is not my type. I enjoyed the beginning but then it just started going downhill from there, it was so confusing and weird. Just did not work for me at all.

I hated this book. I feel tricked. It was described as a mystery, however, this was just strange. Very sci-fi. Very, very long. DO not recommend.

🎧 Book Info

- Author: L J Shepherd
- Narrator: Ella Lynch
- Length: 10hrs 38mins

🧠 Plot & Characters

- Brief Plot Summary: The Trials of Lila Dalton follows the gripping story of Lila Dalton, who finds herself trapped on a mysterious island. As she races against time, Lila must uncover the truth behind a series of unexpected events, clear her name from a crime she didn't commit, and find a way to escape the island before it's too late. With twists and turns at every corner, Lila's journey is filled with suspense, danger, and the quest for justice.
- Favorite Character: Lila - poor girl just has been through it, LITERALLY 😂 but she kept her head leveled for the most part, and was able to figure out what happened.

🎙️ Narration

- Narration Quality: perfectly crisp! also, who doesn’t love a British accent 😏

🌌 Atmosphere

- Setting & Mood: on an island
- Suspense Level: 🔍🔍🔍🔍🔍

💭 Final Thoughts

- Overall Enjoyment: I loved how we as the reader/listener figured out on the same pace as Lila. It kept me wanting to listen and grasped me from the beginning. Remind me of reverse engineering in the way that we know the end, but we don’t know how she got there.
- Rating (out of 5 stars):
- Recommend? yes! it’s a bit slow, but it is a solid book!

Thank you LJ Shepherd, Dreamscape and Netgalley for the ALC! Available everywhere today!!

*Remember to research trigger warning(s) before reading/listening. Happy Listening! 😊*

I'm afraid that I found this weird. I liked the idea and was very excited to read this... however I did not love the way this went. I had to DNF.

Thank you, NetGalley!
I liked this narrator but the story was confusing and I still don't completely understand the ending of this book. I was left with more questions than answers. I feel like the premise of this book lied to me, it was not a thriller. I'm not the audience for books like this.

This sounded great from the synopsis, roughly a third of it I was pretty bought into this storyline despite it feeling very confusing bouncing from the main character having zero memory of who they are or how they're doing their job, to fully functioning in a court room. Her monologuing was chaotic which you'd honestly expect if you woke up not knowing who you were or how you got to work that morning. Sadly this is about as far as I got to before it started to become apparent this really wasn't the story for me.

The court case itself sounds really interesting, but coupled with Lila's continuous chaotic monologue and becoming seemingly less competent lawyer, I'm frankly surprised no one took her off of the case long before she made it back to the court room. It became less and less believable she would still be in post.

I'm probably rounding up because 2 stars feels too low, I'd have probably given this half marks. Overall I found myself getting a little lost towards the end and almost hoping this was shorter in the final quarter, which is a stark contrast to how I started out.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ELC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a really intriguing premise of an attorney suddenly becoming aware of her surroundings during a murder trial where she is representing the defendant. This is where her memories begin. It's 1996 in this dystopian (?) novel set out in the Atlantic away from the British mainland, and it is definitely a slowburn at first and somewhat difficult to follow all that is happening. There's so much to figure out...lots of head shaking and "what?". I felt like the author crafted a good story in and of itself, but it was hard to like anyone (for me). Overall the political side plot was so extreme that it left a bad taste. I guess none of it is essentially plausible, but some of these ideas were beyond far-fetched.
I listened to this one, and felt that the narrator did a great job, adding to the overall story. I'm not sure if it would have been better to see the words to follow the story better or not.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

***2.5 Stars***
It breaks my heart to say this, knowing how much time and effort the author has poured into their work, but I found this story to be a bit overwhelming. There was so much going on that I struggled to follow the plot, even with a limited number of characters and a single main setting. I also didn’t feel a strong connection to any of the main characters; I was more curious about how Lila lost her memory than invested in her journey to victory. I believe the book will find its audience, and the author certainly has a talent for writing. However, I felt the narrative was overly complex for those seeking a straightforward mystery. Now, about that ending! The last scene ties things together nicely, but it also raises a ton of unanswered questions. The resolution that’s meant to shed light on everything doesn’t quite do the job, leaving it feeling less than satisfying.

On a positive note, I genuinely enjoyed the narrators voice, and she had a wonderful ability to switch it up for different characters.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

2.5 rounded up. This is a case of a talented author with a really great premise who doesn't trust it. The basic idea is basically a Quantum Leap story where someone finds themselves in a high-risk situation they're unprepared for. It was very intriguing on the face of it. Unfortunately, in practice, it's just extremely convoluted, confusing for no reason, and desperately reliant on twists for the sake of shocking the audience. It's not a case where you want to reread it to see how the pieces fit together, it's a case where rereading it will just show how forced the twists are. In the end, there were so many reversals and reveals that it felt like the vast majority of the book was pointless.

The author isn't bad. This was very clearly a first novel. Hopefully future novels will get a bit more focused and anchored to a single conceit.

The premise of this book had me very exited. At the beginning of this book I was eager to hear what was going on with Lila and how/why she couldn’t remember anything. Interestingly enough, she remembers everything she previously knew about the legal system. As I moved along, this story really got to be “out there,” and I got pretty confused. Lots of crazy happened without much explanation. I don’t think this was quite the one for me.

The book description sounds good. That is what intrigued me. As I started reading The Trials of Lila Dalton, It started off with potential. Then as I kept reading, it became confusing. The storyline seems incomplete.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest opinion.

𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲: 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝?! 𝐌𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟) 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐈 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬!

𝐻𝓊𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐿.𝒥. 𝒮𝒽𝑒𝓅𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒹, 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓅𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝒹𝒾𝒶, 𝒫𝑜𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒫𝑒𝓃 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Firstly, this was so beyond loony I can't even articulate how unrealistic this book was. It started off strong; Woman with little to know memory finds out she's a lawyer and has to defend a mass murderer. Sounds absolutely epic, and it was until it spiraled out of control.

The mind control, white supremacist, religion, politics, and satanic cult like plot lines were just way too much. This book had HUGE potential with it being a courtroom drama with amnesia. If it was left as such this would have easily been 4 stars. This author decided to go on flight of ridiculous ideas and it totally ruined it.

I skimmed so much of this book just to get it done and over with. The first 50% was decent, the last 50% I couldn't wait to finish. It dragged on endlessly with way too many clichés and unfinished plot lines. There was just way too much going on and so much of this book felt incomplete.

The characters were obnoxious and unlikeable except Dev in the first 60%. His character was entertaining. Lila we hardly learn anything about which is odd for it being all about her and her missing memories. The suspense was absent, the thrill non-existent. I wanted to DNF this. This was many hours long.

Sadly, this was just not for me. If you're into weird, unrealistic plot lines this might be for you. But if you're more cerebral, I'd pass on this one.

I really enjoy a good legal thriller and this one captured me right away. This is my first book by this author and won't be my last. Thank you for my gifted copy. I'll be recommending this title to customers.


Thank you so much for my gifted copy.