The Appeal

This book was such fun to read! It's really unusual in that it's told entirely by letters, emails, and text messages. It has no chapters and invites lots of flicking pages back and forth to go back and check things, so it's super interactive (I was glad I got the paperback!). I really liked that most of the characters are unlikeable, and none of them seem to like each other very much, either. I LOVE unlikeable characters.

On top of that, much of the information they give in the letters is unreliable at best or completely untrue at worst. This… show more.

What is it like to be a lawyer in the information age? Janice Hallett’s characters show us, in this update of the epistolary novel. Two lawyers are handed a sheaf of emails, text messages, police reports, press releases, and medical records by their firm’s top partner. He tells them that he wants fresh eyes on documents pertaining to a case he tried and may appeal. He won’t prejudice their reading of the material by explaining what the crime was or who committed it, much less what the court decided or why he might challenge the ruling. Along with the reader,… show more.

A bit of a cheat, as this story isn’t only told through letters, but also emails, text messages, annotations, and even sticky Post-It notes. It’s the most innovative and clever story I’ve read recently and it’s laugh-out-loud funny, too. The slow unravelling of the truth behind the fundraiser, as well as the eventual whodunnit, alongside an amateur production of All My Sons, is clever and gripping in equal measure.

Who is real and who isn’t? A seemingly provincial body of amateur dramatists are seen only by their email exchanges. An innocent person has been charged with murder, and these correspondences hold the key to their release. And someone isn’t who they say they are. A great book and timely reminder of the power of the written word to obfuscate and mislead.