Date of Publication: June 8, 2021
A Texas Reckoning
In the early morning hours after a law firm recruiting party at a beachside house on Galveston Island, a female summer intern is found lying on the floor, bruised, bleeding and unconscious. Four men and one young woman attorney who were staying at the house know something terrible happened.
The woman attorney takes her to a hospital but the next day the intern disappears. All of them decide to keep silent, doing nothing about the incident in order to further their own career ambitions while the events of that night haunt the two women. Time passes and then ten years later, crime and hubris bring the former intern back into their lives. Only this time she has the power and the truth is finally brought to light, uprooting everyone’s plans.
From the power centers of Houston law and oil to the fracking fields of South Texas to the Jersey Shore and Washington D.C., this story chronicles the struggles of two ambitious young women in their quest for legal success and justice.
PRAISE FOR CRUDE AMBITION:
“Crude Ambition is a great read. It is an authentic look at big law in Houston and the Texas oil business. Patricia Hunt Holmes weaves a story of ambition, greed, romance and revenge that kept me turning the pages until all the just desserts were served.”
— Marc Grossberg, J.D., Author of The Best People: A Tale of Trials and Errors
“In Crude Ambition, Patricia Hunt Holmes shows she knows Texas in the way Grisham knows Mississippi—politics, environment, strong men and strong women, egos, oil, arrogance, influence and hunger for power. I don’t think anyone could have nailed it better.”
— Bill Sarpalius, Former U.S. Congressman, Author of The Grand Duke of Boys’ Ranch
“I think we were both victims in different ways. But we’re older and wiser now, and this show’s not over yet.”
You know what they say about payback and karma. In Crude Ambition, Patricia Hunt Holmes captures the essence of these age-old adages to perfection. Fresh off her first week as an intern at the prestigious Houston law firm Edwards and Harrison, Laura Petrillo heads to party at a high-class beach house in Galveston with her sponsor, Carolyn Page. Such an invite from Paul Robinson, who is a shining star at the law firm, is both unexpected and exciting. When Laura wakes up in the hospital after being drugged and sexually assaulted, she tries to piece together the horrific events at the beach house, eventually slinking back to New Jersey under a suffocating cloud of humiliation and self-doubt. To her credit, Carolyn wanted to do the right thing by trying to track her down to help her, but when Laura starts going by the name Ann Meyers, Carolyn chooses to lock those events away to ensure her fast-paced career plan to make partner at Edwards and Harrison remains on track. But the past rarely stays buried forever, right?
Over the next ten years, both Ann and Carolyn become successful lawyers, with their paths destined to cross once more.
Crude Ambition is a medium-paced burn, with greed, cutthroat career building, and selfish ambition boiling over on the front burner and revenge slowly simmering on the back. Following the initial horrific events in Galveston, the overall story maps the rising careers of both Laura and Carolyn and the eventual opportunity for Laura to exact her vengeance on the men who assaulted her and for Carolyn to open her eyes to what really matters in life. As a creative legal backdrop, the author has crafted an incredibly interesting story about the perils of hydraulic fracking and residual dangerous pollutants, with several greedy scumbags preying on hardworking Texas ranchers and promising them riches and royalties when the drilling on their land hits pay dirt, all while illegally lining their own pockets.
When Carolyn discovers her brother has given permission to drill on the family ranch southeast of San Antonio, Texas, the story explodes across the pages in an environmental and inhumane nightmare. While this tale of greed and revenge is somewhat predictable, with no earth-shattering surprises, it is presented in a way that is compelling and entertaining. We all want to see the bad players fall off that pedestal and get their just deserts. Both Ann and Carolyn and their best friends are strong, successful women, and watching them grow and flourish as professional lawyers in that so-called “good ol’ boy” world is delightful and cheer-worthy. Both women are rational and methodical as they transition into their strong moral selves, all of which serve them well when everything hits the legal fan in the ending chapters. Fortunately, the legal aspect throughout Crude Ambition is easy to navigate and understand because the author rarely has the characters pontificate in legalese.
A thread of romance runs throughout, but it is not overpowering, and a couple of twists make Carolyn’s love life quite charming, with no crude language and overt sexuality to detract from the overall story, which is plenty dynamic all by itself. In both professional and personal lives, doing the right thing takes courage and backbone, and silence really does mean consent. Crude Ambition is a story about sweet revenge and self-discovery, and it is a cautionary tale about the dangers of becoming too high and mighty and donning greed and privilege like a flashy superficial coat. The eventual and inevitable fall from grace is nothing short of spectacular.
Enter the giveaway below on or before August 20, 2021, for a chance to win some fabulous prizes!
I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
Patricia Hunt Holmes spent 30 years as a public finance attorney with a large international law firm, specializing in nonprofit healthcare finance and rural electric cooperative finance. Consistently listed in Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, and Top Lawyers in Houston, she was a frequent speaker at national public finance and health care conferences. Patricia has also served on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Tennessee, and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She has written and published in the fields of intellectual history and law.
In addition to her legal career, Patricia has been a member and board member of several social
service organizations throughout Houston, including the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast Women’s Initiative, Dress for Success Houston, the University of Houston Women’s Studies Program, University of Houston Law Review Board of Directors, is a Trustee of the Houston Grand Opera, and Houston Justice for Our Neighbors.
Patricia grew up in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey but has lived in Houston for over 40 years. She has two daughters, Hillary and Ashley, who have successful careers as an attorney and a geologist, and three adorable grandsons. She is an avid golfer and traveler.
Patricia holds a BA in English and History, an MA in History, and a PhD in Russian and South Asian History with honors, all from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and was an editor on the Houston Law Review.
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| 8/10/21 | BONUS Post | LSBBT Blog |
| 8/10/21 | Review | Book Bustle |
| 8/11/21 | Review | Missus Gonzo |
| 8/12/21 | Review | Tangled in Text |
| 8/13/21 | Review | It’s Not All Gravy |
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| 8/14/21 | Review | Julia Picks 1 |
| 8/15/21 | Excerpt | Forgotten Winds |
| 8/16/21 | Review | Rainy Days with Amanda |
| 8/16/21 | Guest Post | The Book’s Delight |
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Great review! And a sign of a good writer that you stayed engaged despite knowing (sorta) what was coming. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.