Forcing Amaryllis

By Louise Ure

Selecting twelve could mean eliminating one.

Calla Gentry is good at her job, and her job is jury consulting, helping to find the right people to serve, steering trials towards acquittals or convictions before they even begin. It’s psychology and marketing, it’s understanding people better than they understand themselves, and Calla plays the system expertly.

But when she gets hired to work a criminal case, the mission is simple—get the wealthy son of a rancher acquitted for a rape and murder. As Calla investigates, she uncovers that the accused may be the man, never identified, who raped her sister years prior. Her sister still has not emerged from a suicide attempt following her brutal assault, and her assailant has never been punished. But now, if Calla is right, she has the opportunity to avenge her sister and put a monster away for good.

Brilliantly capturing the heat and culture of the southwest, this dizzying thriller delves into evocative moral dilemmas and challenges readers at every mesmerizing twist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diversion Books
• Release date: May 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781626817821

Reviews for Forcing Amaryllis

[cathyskye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Seven years ago Cally's younger sister, Amy (Amaryllis), was attacked andleft for dead. Seven years ago, Cally Gentry began having nightmares andbeing afraid. Seven years ago, Cally Gentry stopped wearing bright colorsand started wearing hues that blended in with her desert surroundings inTucson.Now Amy lies in a coma after a failed suicide attempt while Cally works as atrial consultant to pay the medical bills. Because of her fears, Cally willonly work on civil cases--until she's forced to join the defense team foraccused rapist and murderer Raymond Cates, son of a local landowner. Callyis sickened by the parallels between the crime Cates is being tried for andher sister's own horrifying assault. She knows that she won't be able to gonear the case until she confirms that Cates wasn't the man who attacked hersister.This is Ure's first novel, and it's pretty good. She was born in Tucson anduses that setting well. The major weakness (and it was *major*), was thehuge dose of "femjep" at the end. I hate when smart women suddenly turnstupid in order to swing the grande finale in gear. However, ForcingAmaryllis was good enough to interest me in her next novel.