MISGUIDED: A LEGAL THRILLER
AUTHOR: JAMES CHANDLER
FICTION

RATING: 5 out of 10

Enjoyed the read. Chandler keeps you intrigued throughout but nothing earth shattering. Although it wasn’t a hugely suspenseful thriller… it was entertaining and I would recommend if you like legal/crime oriented stories.

THEMES

PTSD | CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM | JEALOUSY | BETRAYAL | CAREER CLIMBING | ETHICS | CRIME | MURDER | MORALITY

KNOWLEDGE FROM THE PAGE

Chandler’s book is a deep dive into morality and our internal struggle with doing what is “right” even if that means doing something that may negatively impact our personal and professional lives. We all have made mistakes in our lives, some bigger than others (writing this from prison…case and point), but most of the time we are unwilling to admit these mistakes due to embarrassment, perceived negative consequences or a number of other excuses that we tell ourselves to save face. But it is only when we face our mistakes head on, admit and own them that we can begin the process of remedying and repairing the damage and thus truly move forward.

This is not only the case in our personal lives but in our professional world as well. Independent of one’s position, we all make mistakes… from a jury in a court room (depicted here) to a judge, a teacher or the president…. we are all human beings and part of being human is screwing up, realizing it and owning the mistake in order to learn from it. If we are too closed minded, embarrassed or scared to admit and rectify our mistakes… people’s lives can be severely impacted. As stated in the book, “you give one man or woman power to judge and punish, there’s a good chance human emotion, bias, prejudice, or just plain clouded thinking will get in the way.” Without staying conscious of the pulleys that influence our decisions, having the strength to admit when we are wrong and doing what is right even though it may make our lives a bit more difficult for a period of time… we could be negatively impacting people’s lives and society as a whole in drastic ways.