An apparently simple assault case spirals into a complex web of violence and deception in this bold debut thriller. Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid walks into her office in Portland's Drug and Vice Division one Monday morning to find three police officers waiting for her. A thirteen-year-old girl has been brutally attacked and left for dead on the city's outskirts. Given the lack of evidence, most lawyers would settle for an assault charge; Samantha, unnerved by the viciousness of the crime, decides to go for attempted murder. But as she prepares for the trial, she uncovers a dangerous trail leading to an earlier high-profile death penalty case, a prostitution ring of underage girls, and a possible serial killer. And she finds her judgement - not only in matters of the law but in her personal life - called into question. In Samantha Kincaid, Alafair Burke has created a complex, appealing character - a woman consumed by a sense of justice, who is tough enough to take on a man's world. Seamlessly moving between courtroom and criminal investigation, JUDGMENT CALLS reveals not only an insider's knowledge of the justice system but a fresh new voice in the world of crime writing, and the start of a great new series.