Review – The Judge

The Judge captures and connects with your imagination and presents suspense at peak level from beginning to end, while revealing the fact that your past discretions will find you out.

I’ve only watched a couple of reality shows out of Australia.  Whether you love them or not, check out this Faith on Trial reality show!  Hosted by an unknown billionaire who’s been diagnosed with an inoperable brain cancer, he wants to find the true religion to believe in to make it right with his Maker.  Hiding this agenda, he picks contestants from the major faiths to defend their beliefs through all the trials thrown at them on the show.

The main character, Judge Oliver Finney, is a cigar-smoking Christian with terminal cancer.  He signs up to defend his faith and to hopefully bring others to the Lord through this worldwide TV show.  Little does he know how he will be tested!

Nikki Moreno is Judge Finney’s law clerk who thinks of him as her father figure.  She’s been ‘tested’ by Finney to get her ready to pass her law exam.  This information will be needed, and more, to assist the judge during the reality show.  In fact, before the judge leaves for parts unknown for the show, he shows her his book on apologetics that also includes cryptograms that he worked into the book.

However, when the judge sends Nikki his first plea letter, she’s at a loss as to the meaning.  She does recognize the Wellington Farnsworth name included in the letter and sets out to track him down. She finds out that he just happens to be the judge’s best known, top teenage cryptanalyst.  Thus he becomes one of the crucial players in the game.

What a zinger of a book! The cover alone is ominous enough and the title brings out many innuendos that come to mind.  What kind of judge is he?  Is he honest? Corrupt?  Is he up to something?

The relationship between the beautiful, leggy Nikki and nerdy Wellington is uproarious.  The author has them play off each other to the hilt, to the chagrin of Nikki.  These two become my favorite characters.  Not to be outdone, the characters on the island are portrayed in such a way that you would most likely recognize them on the street if you saw them.  All their quirks, characteristics, physiques, qualities, and every event they encounter are delineated with intricate detail.

Besides the feisty old Judge Finney, I enjoyed ‘Swami’ with his personable personality.  Kareem’s personality was a great contrast, causing more consternation than the others put together.  All of them have their own personal secrets, which are exploited to develop a deadly game. It’s those dangers that cause Judge Finney to find a way to get cryptograms off to Nikki.

The author utilizes even the titles of the book sections to cause you to critique what was to come next in the reality show and to up the ante for the contestants. Tracking the book through a trial process was genius! It truly was a Trial by Faith!

1. Agendas
2. The Contestants
3. Cross-Examination
4. Rebuttal
5. Verdict

To accelerate your involvement, the author adds cryptograms within the text, challenging you to figure them out either before or with Nikki and Wellington.  He is very thorough in capturing and connecting your imagination and presenting the suspense at peak level from beginning to end.