No Way Out by David Kessler **Review**

NO WAY OUT by David Kessler

Series: None
Pages: 528
Publisher: AVON
Release date: 10th June 2010
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones

Goodreads synopsis:
When 19 year old Bethel Newton accuses Elias Claymore of raping her, America is deeply divided on the issue in David Kessler's new thriller No Way Out. In his youth, Claymore was a Black power militant, as well as a convicted rapist and escaped convict. But after undergoing a Pauline conversion, he came back to America as a born again Christian to serve out his sentence and reinvented himself as a respectable, neoconservative TV talkshow host. 


In the face of the new serious charge, Claymore turns to his friend Alex Sedaka for help. Alex is persuaded to share the defence with a law firm appointed by Claymore's insurers and finds himself working with Andromeda ("Andi") Phoenix, whose lesbian lover Gene works at a rape crisis centre. 


But when Andi makes an issue of the under-representation of African-Americans on the jury, she starts receiving anonymous threats. Meanwhile Alex finds holes in the prosecution case but hits a major obstacle when he comes up against the DNA evidence. 


Over the course of the trial, Alex must battle his way through jury tampering and a malicious computer hacker to find out who is telling the truth. And while all this is going on, Alex's on-ex-girlfriend, TV reporter Martine Yin, is covering the case. But is she getting too close and putting herself in danger?

‘No Way Out’ follows the lives of multiple characters as they come together in defence of previous convicted criminal, but born- again Christian, Elias Claymore.
When I began reading, I was immediately transported into the novel and firmly gripped by an exciting plot and believable, amiable characters – I did not want to put the book down.
The chapters are split into dates and times, while also alternating between characters, which gives the novel a very realistic feeling.

The characters were also fantastic. I loved Alex Sedaka right from the beginning; he held the same charm and appeal as Kate Atkinson’s leading character, Jackson Brodie; the strong-minded, caring and protective character with a real sense of justice. I also sympathised immediately with Elias Claymore. I was convinced from the beginning that he was the innocent party, and despite his cruel and reckless past, I instantly liked him. In contrast to this, Bethel Newton, the young girl accusing Claymore of raping her, was a character that I sympathised with in the beginning, but grew to dislike her throughout the course of the novel.
Conversely to this, as the reader is bought more deeply into the plot and the trial, I found myself becoming a little bored at times. This was not due to any fault in the story, but more to do with the depth in which the DNA evidence was described. While it is obvious that David Kessler has researched the topics in his novel well, I found myself skipping paragraphs at a time when explaining the more complicated aspects of the DNA evidence, simply because parts of it were out of my understanding.
However, the ending to the novel was mostly excellent; full of action, danger and plenty of plot twists to keep the reader full of suspense right until the final word. Although a couple of the plot twists were a little predictable, most were not, and this provided the novel with a very exciting ending.
No Way Out is an excellent read, and I look forward to seeing more from this author in the future.