Put everything on hold, you need to pre-order this and take the day off when it arrives! It's that simple. It will blow your mind.

I remember reading my first Christina Dalcher book, a few years ago. As I closed the book on the last page, I was already picking up my keys to go to the bookshop to buy anything else by her. Her writing is so powerful, evocative and thought-provoking. You can't escape the the of the book, devastatingly worrying as it is.

If you order the death sentence and the person turns out to have been innocent, the life that is lost will be your own.......Discuss the rights and wrongs of the death sentence but this is a killer of an idea.

The Sentence revolves around a criminal justice system in which the death penalty can be used but if it turns out the accused is innocent then the prosecutor who sentenced them will be executed instead. The story centres round Justine who has sentenced Jake Milford to death.

The premise of this book was really interesting and unlike anything else I’ve ever read. I enjoyed the moral and legal dilemmas it explored and thought including both Justine and Jake’s points of view made it so impactful.

However I felt that some of the characterisation fell a bit flat and I found myself not really warming to any of the characters.

Overall this book was very original and the plot was fairly fast paced. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a piece of crime fiction with a bit of a twist!

Another great book by Christina Dalcher.
Hooked from the beginning I felt fully immersed into the main character’s emotions. If work, reaching destination and other day to day mundanity hadn’t got in the way this is easily a read in one sitting book as I didn’t want to stop reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. I am a big fan of Christina Dalcher and have loved all of her books so far. This new one has to be her best so far! A brilliant story with a slight dystopian twist, although not as dystopian as her previous books. I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole way through the book. The ending was perfect! Absolutely loved it. Highly recommended to all. A massive 5 stars from me.

This is an interesting story exploring the concept of the Redemption Act, where the prosecutor can be killed if an individual on death row turns out to be innocent, therefore capital punishment is a rarity as it is a big risk to take. I found it refreshing to have a unique concept being explored and the plot allows for good discussion, probing moral conflict.

I enjoyed the structure of the chapters, having the death row inmate chapters scattered in between, and found the overall theme of the book harrowing and thought provoking. I was expecting more of a mystery style thriller when I first went into this book and feel that something was missing to make me really connect with the story and the characters. Overall it is definitely a worth while read, well written and great for book clubs. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in return for an honest review.

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher was complicated... I don't know why but I found it hard to connect with this storyline and characters. I loved the Death Row Inmate entries as was interesting to follow his thoughts and journey but I struggle to connect with the main character Justine. Probably the main topic wasn't for me, I don't know. Sometimes, if I am trying audio format after some time it's settle down better so this is what I will do, I will wait for an audiobook!
I really wanted to love this one as Q and Vox are my all-time favorite books but unfortunately didn't happen. Even so, I still enjoyed the book, I love Christina Dalcher's writing. I enjoyed this mental struggle between good and bad, life and death.
I definitely recommend this book to everyone who loves law and justice!
Thank you, NetGalley and HQ for the advance copy.

Unfortunately I think this is my least favourite of this author’s books. I didn’t enjoy the main protagonist’s view point or how she treated people around her and I felt this took away from what was a decent plot.

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ for this advanced digital copy in exchange for my review.

I am one of the few people I think that hadn’t already read anything by this author. I have to admit I’m not really into dystopian fiction, so she probably wasn’t on my radar. I was interested in this one due to the concept whereby if you sentence someone to death and they are then found innocent you must then be put to death. Fascinating and horrific.

The book was really well structured and I enjoyed the dual POV. There were also different timelines running which again made it more interesting. It felt more near future than way out dystopian to me, so kept me well within my comfort genre. The characters were developed well but I have to admit the only thing that marked this down for me was the dead husband. What an annoying arrogant individual! That part of the story and their background together didn’t work for me at all.

The theme of Capital Punishment is a harrowing one, and reading some of the accounts was disturbing but also interesting.

Overall a good read that is original and kept me interested right until the end.

This was an interesting premise for a book, and a riveting first chapter, although I'm still not quite sure why it would just be the prosecutor who faced the death penalty and not anyone else involved. I live in the UK and we don't have the death penalty so I felt, in my case, the author was preaching to the converted with her anti death penalty diatribe. I enjoyed her writing style, but had to skim all the chapters with the death row inmate as they were too distressing.
Thank you to netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of this book.

Imagine an America where the death penalty still exists but is rarely issued. The reason for this is that any prosecutor who seeks the death penalty has to be absolutely convinced they are right because their own life is on the line. If the death penalty is carried out and the person is later exonerated then the prosecutor will be killed.

I love books like The Sentence from Christina Dalcher, ones which are set in a society we are familiar with but where one small thing has been changed. Not as dystopian as something along the lines of The Handmaid's Tale but with enough of a dystopian element to be thought-provoking.

The Sentence is told from two very distinct perspectives, the main one is prosecutor Justine Callaghan. When we are first introduced to her she is struggling with the aftermath of her latest trial. She has managed to gain a murder conviction but despite the overwhelming evidence and a confession, she refused to seek the death penalty. This has not gone down well with a vocal, and hostile, group of people. With a young son to take care of she's not prepared to risk her own life should the person she has just convicted ever be exonerated.

The second character we hear from is Death Row Inmate #39384 via extracts from his diary. Convicted of murder seven years previously he is counting down the days until his execution.

As the story progresses we learn a little about each character's background. We learn that Justine was partly responsible for the Remediation Act becoming law. As a law student, she met her future husband and they were both strong advocates against the death penalty, arguing that it was an arbitrary sentence. They also argue that with advancements in science evidence used to convict people has been discredited.

We also discover that seven years previously Justine, during a moment of extreme distress, sought the death penalty for Jake Milford, a man convicted of the brutal torture and murder of a child. Overwhelming DNA evidence and lack of an alibi were enough to convince Justine.

Jake Milford is inmate #39384. In his diary, we learn about the moments leading up to his arrest for murder and the reason he has no alibi. His story is heartbreaking. We learn that despite an unhappy childhood he has settled down and made a life for himself.

Following Jake's execution new evidence arises. Justine is placed in a difficult position, should she destroy the evidence, flee the country or pass the evidence on? Deciding to investigate the events leading up to the murder Jake was found guilty of, Justine discovers there is far more to the case than was initially made public. She feels that with everything that has happened, there is only one thing she can now do to make things right.

This is the type of book where you wish everyone around you was reading it at exactly the same time so that you had someone to talk to, obviously it will be ideal for a book group.

I’d not come across Christina Dalcher before and as such did not have any preconceived ideas. From the outset, I thought this was going to be a dystopian outlandish thriller, which focuses on the Remedies Act. This is a law that doesn’t currently exist, which is designed to put controls when prosecutors in the USA request the death penalty to be imposed. In brief, if the Act is brought into play, it means the executed person has subsequently been found not guilty. In these cases, the prosecutor will then face the same penalty, ie they will be executed also. Its sim is to make prosecutors more accountable albeit in an extreme way.

The story follows prosecutor, Justine who has been responsible for requesting the death penalty for convicted child killer, Jake Milford. Unfortunately, questions start to be asked about Jake’s conviction and doubts are shed on his presumed guilt or innocence. Justine is literally putting her life on the line to protect the rule of law.

So on the surface, this appears to be a far-fetched and fanciful read. What you actually end up with is a serious and detailed study of the horrors and failings of the death penalty in the USA, how people making those decisions live with themselves and if making those life or death decisions changes lawmakers as people.

You tell yourself it couldn’t possibly happen in real life, then you realise it might. Dalcher marries up the suspense thriller real-life dilemmas very well.

This is, by no means, an entertaining read. It is, by its nature, quite harrowing. However, I would recommend it as it is very original.

I'll be honest and say I've had a...not a love/hate relationship, that's too extreme, but definitely a like/dislike relationship with Dalcher novels, but I can't always point out why. Some I have really enjoyed and others have just been a bit too much for me. So I went into this one with open eyes and an open mind.

And this one had me hooked almost instantly. It flowed so well and had such a thrilling story and some great well-rounded characters.

And this is why I never write an author off, even if previous books weren't my thing, because then they come up with something like this and it blows all my preconceived ideas out of the water.

What I will say about her books is that you always know you're going to get more than just an enjoyable, entertaining book. You're going to get difficult questions and difficult answers, your morals will be questioned, and it will really fight against your opinions, and she has managed that through all of her books.

It is so brutal, in the literal visual deaths, but also in the emotions. It had me holding my breath on several occasions.

I don't know much about capital punishment happily, and I know that some bits of this story are fictional (I did have to Google to ensure that the main clause was fictional), and some is based on the little I know about it. But the level of research I imagine she did for this book to make it sound true and to be sensitive to quite an emotive topic, is very horrifying but very impressive.

There are a number of characters but a handful of main ones. We've got Justine, who is our protagonist and I really liked her. She's not perfect, she's clearly very conflicted inwardly and outwardly, in a personal and professional capacity. She's flawed. and I liked her for that. She's got a job that no-one would want and all the pressures that come with that. Then there's her partner Daniel. I don't know why but I didn't particularly like him. I can't say there was a particularly obvious reason why, but there was just something I didn't like. There's her son Jonathan, her sister Susan and he nephew Tommy. Not huge characters but they do enough to further Justine's story. We also have Jake, the death row inmate, and his wife Emily. I shouldn't have liked Jake really, but I did. Emily on the other hand...she was okay, but I didn't feel as much sympathy towards her as I suspected I should have. But overall, this is Justine's story through and through; she steals every scene and shines off every page.

It's mostly set in the present as a linear narrative, but every so often we get a chapter written by "Death Row Inmate #39384", otherwise known as Jake, the inmate who Justine did sentence to death. This is a great way of writing the story because we get enough of the present scenes to get involved and invested, but with enough little background jumps to understand the difficulties in her life, and what is making her act the way she is in the present.

It is a really powerful book. Yes it's enjoyable and entertaining and good for passing the time. But it's got such a punch that you won't stop thinking about it even once you've finished. It'll stay with you, uncomfortably so, asking you questions. I think it'd would make a brilliant book club read.

I love Christina Dalcher’s books. I think this one might be her best one since Vox: it follows the story of a prosecutor living in an alternate-day America where the punishment for sending someone to the electric chair or lethal injection and their later being proved innocent is the execution of the prosecutor who called for the accused’s death. Brilliantly intense with elements of thriller fiction.

#bookreview #netgalley #kindle #bookstagram #fiction #dystopianfiction #thriller #speculativefiction

I have been more into dystopianesque books recently - which is no surprise with how the world is. I really enjoyed this, it was well-written with a compelling storyline and well-developed characters. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

An absolute masterclass as usual from Christina Dalcher.

The issues will stay with you long after reading. A little bit of dystopia and a huge helping of moral questions that are very current issues. Capital punishment doesn’t seem like something you may want to read about but I can guarantee you will want to finish this quickly and then be sad there isn’t more

I cannot recommend her books highly enough..

I got The Sentence by Christina Dalcher for free from BookSirens for a fair and honest review.

The Sentence by Christina Dalcher is more than just a mystery thriller as it really delves into the subject of capital punishment and its place in modern society.

However there is no need to worry as the book works well as a normal mystery thriller with a great plot line that draws the reader into the book, to make The Sentence an out right page turner,

The premise of the story is that while a law student, Justine Boucher is involved in a campaign against capital punishment, which leads to the Redemption Act, which means that if evidence clears a person who was previously executed for their crimes at a later date. Then the prosecutor is sentenced to death.

As a reader, when I saw the premise of the novel I wondered if the writer could pull off such an innovative storyline as I have read so many novels that fail to deliver an actual story with an intriguing idea.

Then I started reading it and was relieved that Christina Dalcher not only equaled the premise but exceeded it as well.

This was done firstly with an engaging main character as Justine Boucher, a single mother who campaigned for the law that now threatens their life.

With the story mainly told through her eyes it would have been very easy for the story to be all angst or tilted in such a way that all the sympathy was tilted her way but with the way that Christina set the story up this was never the case.

While this may seem as very contrived it never felt overly sweet.

As for the ending there will be those that say it ruins the book for them as there is not a definite ending, however for me it is the perfect way for a story with a moral dilemma to go.

All this makes The Sentence by Christina Dalcher the perfect thriller.

I have read all books by Christina Dalcher and I have a love-hate relationship with them.

Starting from the fact that dystopia is not a genre I really read, her books always deal with delicate and complicated matters that do interest me a lot.

Previous books follow more or less the same narrative. This one, however, is different from those, which I welcomed with open arms. It flows nicely and the writing is more to my liking.

The story is told from two different perspectives one of them is not linear, it goes from the present to the past; moreover, the story itself doesn't have a clear conclusion, I want to think that is the purpose of this story.

It is not a book I would re-read but one that is important to read nonetheless.

I went into this expecting more of a thriller but sadly it was just a bit too slow for my taste.
The premise sounded incredible and really unique but overall, it fell a bit flat for me.
It was incredibly well written and had a good amount of commentary on the death sentence, however, I wanted much more from this.
I also understand why it ended the way that it did, it just didn't tie up things in the way that I hoped it would.
I would be open to reading more from Christina Dalcher in the future, as I did like the writing style but this wasn't what I was hoping it would be.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An exciting read with twists that keep you guessing till the end! Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

I was gripped from the start of this book, but it’s not one I can say I enjoyed. The descriptions of the crimes that had been committed were heartbreaking and, oh my word, the executions were absolutely harrowing. I did get a bit confused at times with all the jumping back and forth and I was left with a few unanswered questions. The writing was brilliant and I loved the ending. So, a good book? Definitely yes. Enjoyable? Definitely no. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review. I was gripped from the start of this book, but it’s not one I can say I enjoyed. The descriptions of the crimes that had been committed were heartbreaking and, oh my word, the executions were absolutely harrowing. I did get a bit confused at times with all the jumping back and forth and I was left with a few unanswered questions. The writing was brilliant and I loved the ending. So, a good book? Definitely yes. Enjoyable? Definitely no. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.