Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: The Hidden Law
SERIES: The Henry Rios Mysteries #5
AUTHOR: Michael Nava
NARRATOR: Thom Rivera
PUBLISHER: Audible Studios
LENGTH: 6 hours, 11 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2020
BLURB:
State senator and mayoral hopeful Gus Peña has been gunned down in the parking lot of a restaurant in East Los Angeles. When Chicano teen and ex–gang member Michael Ruiz is arrested for the murder, Henry Rios takes the case. It’s a tough road: Ruiz claims he did it and refuses to help Rios in his defense. But Rios finds inconsistencies in the kid’s story, and is sure Ruiz is covering for the real killer.
Peña had a lot of enemies. As Rios tries to build the case for a different killer, he descends into the dark underbelly of Los Angeles—a hotbed of vice and corruption. Caught between his powerful connection to both suspect and victim, Rios races to prevent a terrible failure of justice.
REVIEW:
Henry Rios once again finds himself in the middle of trouble, defending a latino teenager accused of murdering a state senator. It’s a case with many layers, players and agendas, big and small. So we follow Henry trying to untangle the web of lies and deceptions and how he tries to defend his client to the best of his abilities. At the same time he and Josh are having a rough go of it and trying to navigate it all is getting the best of him.
The Hidden Law is the best book in the series to date. For the most part these books are mainly procedurals trying cases and solving mysteries. I feel that this book really let us get close to Henry. We saw so many sides to him and not only the fierce defense attorney. We saw the man behind the fighter. We saw his hopes and fears, his struggles, he became more human. Not that we hadn’t seen some of that before, but this book really hit it home.
I think that one of the reasons why I love these books is because they are messy. Not in terms of the writing or a poorly crafted story, just the opposite. Michael Nava is a wonderful writer and each book in this series has been amazing. Nava doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, but shows you the harsh truths. Life isn’t predictable or constant, plans and wishes are just that and reality will pull the rug out from under you when you least expect it. And life has really played with Henry in a big way and I can’t be the only one thinking that he needs some lasting happiness after all he’s been through. But alas fate is a fickle creature… And I can’t help but feel that this might only be the beginning.
Thom Rivera, voice actor extraordinaire. He has such a great voice that I could listen to him narrate pretty much anything and love it, so bring on the proverbial grocery list and I’ll still be an avid listener. That being said, he has a true talent for narrating books, and this series in particular. He takes you back in time and makes you believe you live some thirty years ago. He makes you feel every emotion Henry goes through, good and bad. He makes you care for the people and what’s going on in their lives. He makes you wish you could change the world
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