Saturday, November 15, 2014

ALL GOOD DEEDS Review


Lucy Kendall worked for Child Protection Services for ten years. Time and again she witnessed the systems failure to protect the innocents.  Well, Lucy’s had enough. After quitting CPS she becomes a private investigator. With her clandestine network for tracing and tracking she’s taking matters in her own hands and unlike Lady Justice, Lucy isn’t blind. She clearly sees the guilty and knows exactly what needs to be done.

Lucy Kendall is a thought provoking protagonist.  She’s aware of the inner darkness that allows her to be judge, jury, and executioner; the consequences when she’s finally caught. It’s not a question of if but simply when. By correcting the lapses and mistakes of a system that fails those it’s assigned to protect Lucy is simply providing a service for society and thereby preventing further victims.

Lucy may be a killer but she isn’t your typical vigilante. She doesn’t consider herself infallible nor is she intractable. Lucy makes every effort to ensure her prey is guilty. She asks herself hard questions and it never becomes routine or easy.  But things are seldom that black and white. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, what if she’s wrong?  The other characters Lucy meets on her twisted route to find Kailey Richardson, Chris, Justin, and Todd to name a few, are well developed, expanding the scope and plot in unexpected ways.  The path to Kailey is one of the most sinuous trails I’ve ever read.

It’s surprisingly easy to like and relate to Lucy. Pedophiles can’t be cured or fixed. Why are they allowed back in society? They’re predators and a danger to children, shouldn’t that trump everything else? Registering isn’t enough to stop them, after all, where there’s a will there’s a way.

Pedophilia and other child abuses make ALL GOOD DEEDS a disturbing read that, none the less, holds the reader in a viselike grip. Ms. Green peels back the curtain revealing an ugliness and depravity that hurts your heart and leaves an indelible mark. It’s bound to make moral compasses spin madly. W hen children are involved most of us can easily be swayed to desire an eye for an eye and more. ALL GOOD DEEDS saving grace, the bright shining thread through all the ugliness is hope. I’m on board for whatever & wherever is next with Lucy.
4 stars

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