Good crime writers must frequently edge along an ethical tightrope. It balances things out a bit in a world where only one side is playing by the rules. But too much smudging of the line, and they risk undermining the good-guy bad-guy dynamic that in the end is so satisfying.
In The Unbroken Line, Alex Hammond’s hero, defence lawyer Will Harris, is heading home after a night out when he is attacked and beaten up, his girlfriend Eva deliberately slashed across the face. The menacing warning is “Back off.” Things don’t get better. His partner, barrister Chris Miller is arrested after the drug death of a young up-and-coming Aussie Rules Footballer. And he is still subject to an ethical tribunal investigation for his handling of a previous case, and the on-going representation of a known drug dealer, part of a brutal Serbian gang.