Beyond Justice by Joshua Graham

From Goodreads:

Sam Hudson, a reputable San Diego attorney, learns this when the authorities wrongfully convict him of the brutal rape and murder of his wife and daughter, and sends him to death row. There he awaits execution by lethal injection.
If he survives that long.
In prison, Sam fights for his life while his attorney works frantically on his appeal. It is then that he embraces the faith of his departed wife and begins to manifest supernatural abilities. Abilities which help him save lives– his own, those of his unlikely allies–and uncover the true killer’s identity, unlocking the door to his exoneration.
Now a free man, Sam’s new found faith confronts him with the most insurmountable challenge yet. A challenge beyond vengeance, beyond rage, beyond anything Sam believes himself capable of: to forgive the very man who murdered his family, according to his faith. But this endeavor reveals darker secrets than either Sam or the killer could ever have imagined. Secrets that hurtle them into a fateful collision course.

Ok, I admit it, I caved: I actually read an e-book. It did not change my opinion - I am definitely NOT an e-book reader. Although if anything could have changed my mind, it would have been this book.

In Beyond Justice, Joshua Graham tells us the story of Sam Hudson's personal hell. The tale is eerily reminiscent of The Fugitive which is a favourite of mine - well the movie is anyway. (come on - young Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones? Who could resist?) Sam's tragedy is threefold when he arrives home to find his wife and daughter dead and his son beaten into a coma.

The detective who railroads Sam into prison is one Detective Anita Pearson - and did I ever hate her! Mr Graham knows how to develop his characters. It was the characters and their distinct personalities that pulled me past the Fugitive deja vu and into this story on its own merit. I enjoyed working against Detective Pearson and I felt the trials and triumphs of Sam as he struggled to reclaim his shattered life.

Beyond Justice is well developed, interesting and not at all preachy for Christian literature: easy to read and easy on the sensitivities. But I still will not be running out to buy myself an e-reader!

A Taste from chapter one:

My own personal hell began one night almost four years ago. Like images carved into flesh, the memories of that night would forever be etched into my mind. The work day had been tense enough - my position in  the firm was in jeopardy because of the inexplicable appearance of lewd Internet images in my folder on the main file server.
Later that night, as I scrambled to get out the door on time for a critical meeting with a high profile client, my son Aaron began throwing a screaming fit. Hell hath no fury like a boy who has lost his Thomas Train toy. In my own frenzied state, I lost my temper with him. Amazing how much guilt a four-year-old can pile on you with puppy-dog eyes while clinging to his mother's legs. His sister Bethie, in all her seventh grade sagacity, proclaimed that I had issues, then marched up to her room, slammed the door and took out her frustration with me by tearing through a Paganini Caprice on her violin. All this apocalypse just minutes before leaving for my  meeting, which was to be held over a posh dinner at George's At the Cove, which I would consequently have no stomach for