Blood Defense

Written by Marcia Clark

Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

First in a new series from bestselling author and famed O. J. Simpson trial prosecutor Marcia Clark, a “terrific writer and storyteller” (James Patterson).

Samantha Brinkman, an ambitious, hard-charging Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, is struggling to make a name for herself and to drag her fledgling practice into the big leagues. Sam lands a high-profile double-murder case in which one of the victims is a beloved TV star—and the defendant is a decorated veteran LAPD detective. It promises to be exactly the kind of media sensation that would establish her as a heavy hitter in the world of criminal law.

Though Sam has doubts about his innocence, she and her two associates (her closest childhood friend and a brilliant ex-con) take the case. Notorious for living by her own rules—and fearlessly breaking everyone else’s—Samantha pulls out all the stops in her quest to uncover evidence that will clear the detective. But when a shocking secret at the core of the case shatters her personal world, Sam realizes that not only has her client been playing her, he might be one of the most dangerous sociopaths she’s ever encountered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: May 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781511359306

Marcia Clark

California native Marcia Clark is the author of Blood Defense, Moral Defense, and Snap Judgment, the first three books in the Samantha Brinkman series, as well as Guilt by Association, Guilt by Degrees, Killer Ambition, and The Competition in the Rachel Knight series. A practicing criminal lawyer since 1979, she joined the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office in 1981, where she served as prosecutor for the trials of Robert Bardo—convicted of killing actress Rebecca Schaeffer—and, most notably, O. J. Simpson. The bestselling Without a Doubt, which she cowrote, chronicles her work on the Simpson trial. Clark has been a frequent commentator on a variety of shows and networks, including Today, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and MSNBC, as well as a legal correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. For more about the author, visit www.marciaclarkbooks.com.

Reviews for Blood Defense

[Brenda Kovacs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book! Great storyline! Didn't turn it sexual or anything my kids couldn't listen to.

[Stacey Aldridge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In book one of the Samantha Brinkman series, Marcia Clark makes what I consider to be a rather large error. Instead of allowing the reader to get to know Samantha and care for her before we get the twist that ***SPOILER***
her client is actually her father, a fantastical concept at its best, she throws these unbelievable scenarios in before the reader is even sure whether Samantha is someone we care about or whether she is a good person or bad person. This would have worked much better in book 2. The rest of the story is full of more fantastical twists and turns, and as with the Rachel knight books the crime is actually solved by the lawyers not the detectives. I do appreciate that Samantha’s support characters feel more real than the supporting characters in the Rachel knight books who are little more than cardboard cutouts. This book is a fine way to pass the time while driving or working out, there’s nothing very special about it and I find all Clark’s books are fun but not especially difficult to figure out. Mildly entertaining fluff.

[Mel Singleton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ooooohhh ---nice twists in the book.
And oooooh wait for the ending. Thank you for ending this book in a manner that made me gasp.

I'm giddy at the thought of another installment to this series.

[Aaron Matheson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a chore to finish, and had a hard time keeping my attention. I chose this book because I enjoyed The Competition, by Marcia Clark, but this one didn't hold up.

[Dolores Weiss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the book it was different from the the others just a little unterealisted as to how many hours they worked. Caught you in the end as to how father and daughter were so much alike.

[Trudee Richard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This story had decent twists and turns. I look forward to reading more stories written by Marcia Clark.

[SF Hoel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the twists and turns, and would recommend it!

[lisa · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Did not like the end. Marcia Clark has probably seen it all but not liking the desensitized characters.

[vesper1931 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Samantha Brinkman, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney lands a double murder case. One of the victims is a much loved television star on the comeback road, and the defendant a LAPD detective.
This is the sort of case to give her profile a much needed boost, even if she is not sure of his innocence.
There were some surprises along the way. This is the first of her books that I have read and look forward to the next in the series.
A NetGalley Book

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marcia Clark's first Samantha Brinkman mystery uses the author's prior experience as a criminal defense attorney. Blood Defense is a fast-paced story with a plot that kept me guessing, and it certainly doesn't lack in verisimilitude. However, there was "too much middle" which did slow down the action a bit until the explosive ending. The secondary characters all seemed rather one-dimensional, too. This is definitely Sam's show. She is a nuanced, fascinating character, but unfortunately, I could never warm up to her. Sam always has one eye on the percentages and keeps close tabs on what she can reap from every sentence she speaks, every smile she bestows. Useful for a lawyer who's trying to get her practice off the ground, but not the sort of person I enjoy being around. There's also another reason why I didn't warm up to Sam. I can't go into this reason in any depth because I would reveal too much of the story, so I'll just say that she makes several morally ambiguous choices that I don't agree with. With the exception of a slightly sagging middle, this is a good legal thriller; however, its main character will keep me from reading further in the series. (Perhaps I'm more prosecutor than defense attorney.)

[she_climber · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through the Amazon First Look program and was intrigued by the author, Marcia Clark, of the OJ Simpson trial fame. I found the book more to my liking than I expected. The main character, Samantha Brinkman, was actually pretty likable as were crew of "associates" which also passed as her family. My favorite had to be her investigator, Alex, even though I found it him rather unbelievable as a rookie investigator. Brinkman is thrown for loop after loop in the defense of a cop (and????) for the murder of a series TV star and her roommate. I enjoyed getting the defense attorney point-of-view, from a known top notch attorney. I had to wonder though....how much of what Clark said was accurate and how much was how she wished her job was.Lastly, I liked Brinkman's dark side and twist at the end. I'm very tempted to continue and see where this series goes.

[pomo58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Blood Defense is the first volume in Marcia Clark's new Samantha Brinkman series. Like most I was familiar with her from the O. J. Simpson trial but had not read any of her previous fiction. I was unsure what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised with this novel.Like most first volumes in a series this one started a little slow as we learned about the characters who would be the recurring ones. I found them to be likable and Sam to be someone I wanted to pull for. As the story moved along I was struck by how unhurried the plot was. I did not find it slow or boring but a steadily increasing pace which built on our introductions to the characters while developing the plot. I found that enjoyable, it allowed me to get better acquainted with the dynamics of the characters rather than just the basics.The plot contained enough twists and surprises to keep me wanting to continue. While the story was, I thought, very good, I think my biggest motivator in reading subsequent volumes will be Sam, this seems like it will be a character-driven series (though very different in what they do, I thought of Kinsey Millhone while I was reading). I could be wrong but even so, the plot would still get me to read the next book.I would recommend this to anyone interested in crime/courtroom mysteries, especially character-driven series.Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads' First Reads.

[nomadreader_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The backstory: I thoroughly enjoyed Marcia Clark's prior mystery series, featuring Los Angeles prosecutor Rachel Knight: Guilt by Association, Guilt by Degrees, Killer Ambition, and The Competition. Blood Defense is the first in a new series featuring Los Angeles defense attorney Samantha Brinkman. (It also signals a change in publishers for Clark.) And yes, as her Twitter handle says, she's that Marcia Clark, who is still most famous for prosecuting O.J. Simpson for murder.The basics: Blood Defense introduces Samantha Brinkman, a defense attorney struggling to make a name for herself. She appears as a defense expert frequently on a new talk show, but her office is in the heart of gang territory, and she lacks high profile, paying clients. That changes when she takes the case of Dale, an LAPD detective charged in the double homicide of Chloe, a starlet and his girlfriend, and Paige, Chloe's roommate. My thoughts: The mystery at the heart of this novel is who killed Chloe and Paige. The mystery drives the narrative and offers insights into Samantha's interior monologue. There are other small storylines featuring other clients on low or no-profile cases that offer a nice glimpse into the working life of a defense attorney, but the murders of Chloe and Paige is the focus. It's clear why Dale looks guilty, but it's satisfyingly murky if he actually did. There's plenty of circumstantial evidence, of course, but that leaves plenty of room for reasonable doubt. Samantha and her investigator, a hacker and former client, work hard to find other theories of the crime. Samantha struggles to both find another theory she can use in the courtroom and to figure out if Dale actually did it or not.The verdict: I was ambivalent about Samantha as a character for most of this novel. I found the primary mystery quite compelling, but the final pages found me sitting with my jaw open, followed by squealing and immediately pre-ordering Moral Defense, the second novel in the series, which will be published November 8, 2016. I'm fully, ecstatically on Team Brinkman, and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

[serenity_tigerlily · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely loved this book. Can't wait for the next one.

[susan.macura · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a big fan of this author, so I was really looking forward to this book. However, I found it not to be as good as her others that featured prosecutor Rachel Knight. This new book delves into the world of Samantha Brinkman, a defense attorney who lives by her own rules and ethics, not that of the world around her, or even the bar under which she practices. She works with her childhood best friend and an ex-con to solve all sorts of cases that no one else would touch, even one involving a man accused of murdering a young actress and her roommate in cold blood. While there are some interesting twists in this tale, there are a few that are just too unbelievable. I anticipate that Samantha will be adding her dad to her list of co-workers in the next installment of this series. Clark’s Knight is a more credible character, but perhaps that is because with her background, Clark is more comfortable with that side of the table. This was a good read, but not a great read.

[cissa_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I find Frieda a very compelling character, and am very interested in reading more about her.This novel is more personal for her, as Frieda returns to the town in which she grew up, and deals with both her past and contemproary events.I seem to be on a kick of detective novels with bad mothers. They have been mostly well-written, and something of a comfort to those of us who did not have the saintly Mother's Day moms.Anyway! Good tale, well-plotted, and very engaging. You could probably start with this one, but it's richer if you've read the earlier novels.

[brannonsg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Marcia Clark, the former O.J. Simpson murder trial lead prosecutor, demonstrates surprisingly that she has a talent for writing in this who-done-it told from the defensive side of the courtroom. There are some interesting twists and turns along the way, but Clark keeps the story moving along at a nice pace. Dialogue seems reasonable, never hokie, rarely profane. Scenes are quick paced, with a few nail biters tossed in. So why three stars? Firstly, the story just seemed to go on and on without any real sense of purpose. The lead character (Samantha Brinkmann) moves from following clue after clue until, very late in the book, finally, one of these clues actually means something. While this may reflect real life, it does not create a compelling story. Also, the reader is left continuously wondering, "who did the crime, if not her defendant?" There are no clues dropped along the way for the reader to piece together, encouraging Samantha to "follow up on that!" or "watch out for this guy!". It's just scene after scene, scenario after scenario, minor meaningless clue after minor meaningless clue, until the big finish. Then, like many modern detective stories, the story throws the reader the standard twist at the end. Not bad, pretty good for a first book, unfortunately it's just not that good.

[arlenadean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Title: Blood DefenseAuthor: Marcia ClarkSeries: Samantha Brinkman # 1Reviewed By: Arlena DeanRating: FiveReview:"Blood Defense" by Marcia ClarkMy Thoughts.....I found "Blood Defense" was one good mystery, suspense, surprises, crime and thriller read all round up into one good long fast moving read. Be ready for a lots of twist and turn that will definitely keep your attention to he end. The main character [Samantha] along with several other supporting ones[Michele & and Alex] and a few complex ones were well developed, defined, portrayed and believable all helping to give the reader quite a attention grabber read. I will say that this was definitely one of those reads where I thought wow is this what was it like in a day in the life of this lawyer. When you think you have it all figured out there will be many more surprises just around the corner for this lawyer and her team. If you are looking for a good mystery that flows so well with all of its twist I would suggest you pick up this well written novel to see for yourself how well this author brings it all out to the readers. That ending of this story was quite one that I didn't see coming only leaving me to say wow! So, if you like a mystery with lots of surprises I would definitely recommend this one for you and I look forward to this authors next series.