Randy Singer's By Reason of Insanity ~ Reviewed

By Reason of Insanity
Randy Singer
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (April 11, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141431633X


Product Description


After a series of kidnappings and murders in Virginia Beach, newspaper reporter Catherine O'Rourke experiences disturbing dreams that detail each crime. In an effort to aid the investigation, she shares them with her confidential source--a detective working on the case. Catherine's intimate knowledge of the crimes immediately makes her a prime suspect. When scientific evidence corroborates her guilt, she's arrested and charged with murder. As she begins to doubt her own innocence, Catherine turns to Las Vegas lawyer Quinn Newberg, a high-priced specialist in the insanity defense. Quinn believes in justice, Vegas-style. But he doesn't believe in the supernatural, or that Catherine's dreams are anything other than the result of a fractured personality disorder. Who can understand the human mind? Quinn knows that insanity cases are unpredictable, but nothing had prepared him for this! To win, or even survive, Quinn will need more than his famed legal maneuvering and biting skepticism. On this case, he needs a miracle.



My Review:


Insanity is the first of Randy Singer's works I've read and I will definitely look into his other novels. Legal thriller fans who haven't checked into him are missing out if Insanity is any indication of the quality of his previous novels.

Full of medical/psychological detail regarding Dissociative Identity Disorder, capital punishment, legal details into the insanity defense, jail brawls, high stakes gambling and enough plot twists to keep the reader on his or her toes, I whipped through this wild ride of a novel.

The spiritual thread is light until the end, and even then doesn't feel thrown in to sew everything up. Quinn and Catherine were intriguing with the background trauma in their lives, but I struggled a little with the friendship between them. A couple of red herrings didn't get resolved clearly, but I was totally caught off guard by a few plot twists so I gladly forgave this issue.

I didn't know how resolution could work out within the last hundred pages and I was impressed that the book ended on a satisfying note.

Big Honken Chicken club members need to take note -- there are some intense themes and scenes in Insanity.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer