Pre-Order 'A Calamity of Souls'

All the buzz about David Baldacci's upcoming book + 11 read-alikes

Out on April 16 and available to pre-order now, A Calamity of Souls is the next book by David Baldacci. Known for his compulsively readable crime and legal thrillers, Baldacci is a prolific author who has published dozens of bestsellers over the last three decades. He is also the author of seven books for young readers, including Freddy and the French Fries and the Vega Jane series.

A Calamity of Souls is a legal drama set in southern Virginia in 1968. Protagonist Jack Lee is a white lawyer who has never challenged the racist system around him. Until now. When he decides to represent a Black man charged with a brutal killing, he enlists the help of Desiree DuBose, a Black lawyer from Chicago with a strong record in civil rights cases. Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for a chance for a fair trial and true justice.

This novel reflects a bit of a departure for Baldacci. In his author's note, he says that he spent more than a decade writing the nearly 500-page book. At times, he set it aside to work on other projects, but the story kept calling him back. The author, who was born and bred in Virginia and spent nearly a decade practicing law, also notes that this is his most autobiographical book, yet.

If A Calamity of Souls sounds like something you would enjoy, here are eleven more titles that may interest you.

Books like A Calamity of Souls

A Time to Kill by John Grisham
When two white men brutally attack and rape a ten-year-old Black girl, her father takes justice into his own hands. As the mostly white town of Clanton, Mississippi, erupts into violence, defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life—and then his own.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A gripping tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic views the world—both its beauty and its inequity—through the eyes of a young girl, as her father, a lawyer, risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Crosby
After years as an FBI agent, Titus Crown returns to his hometown and becomes the county's first Black sheriff as he works to reform a bigoted police force. When his deputies fatally shoot a young Black man, Titus follows the truth, uncovering shocking discoveries and secrets hiding in plain sight.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
During the hot, tumultuous months of the summer of 1974, Boston exploded into violence over the desegregation of public schools. Amidst this tense backdrop, Mary Pat is a fierce single mother in South Boston, determined to find out what has happened to her missing teenage daughter.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Mickey Haller is a criminal defense attorney who operates out of his Lincoln Town Car, as he travels around Los Angeles defending a ragtag mix of clients. When a Beverly Hills playboy is arrested for assaulting a woman, Mickey lands the lucrative, and seemingly straightforward case. But things take a turn

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
Alison seems to have it all. A doting husband, an adorable daughter, and a career on the rise—she's just received her first murder case to defend. But all is never what it seems and there's someone out there who knows Alison's secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she's done.

Juror #3 by James Patterson
Ruby Bozarth is a newcomer—both to the town of Rosedale and to the Mississippi Bar. When she's tapped to defend a Black man accused of murdering a woman from one of the town's oldest families, she finds help in unexpected quarters. But as investigations unfold, she's learning that nobody in Rosedale can be trusted.

The Quiet Game by Greg Iles
In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Penn Cage hopes to find solitude and peace in his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. What he discovers instead is his own family trapped in a thirty-year-old mystery—the town's darkest secret, now set to trap and destroy Penn as well.

Hard Evidence by John Lescroart
When the bullet-ridden body of a Silicon Valley billionaire washes up on shore, assistant D.A. Dismas Hardy will serve as the prosecutor in the high-profile trial. The suspect: a Japanese call girl with a long list of prominent clients. But after a bizarre series of events, Hardy finds himself switching sides.

The Color of Justice by Ace Collins
1964, Justice, Mississippi: When attorney Coop Lindsay takes a case defending a Black man accused of murdering a white teenager, he wonders how far some people will go to make sure he doesn't finish his job. Fifty years later in 2014, Coop's grandson arrives in Justice seeking answers to that question.

With Prejudice by Robin Peguero
The night that Melina Mora was murdered, she was seen with a man that matched Gabriel Soto's description. Sandy Grunwald is an ambitious young prosecutor pitted against a preening public defender armed with explosive new evidence. But it all comes down to the seven strangers in the jury box.

If you want to learn more about David Baldacci and some of his other bestselling titles, check out our previous post about the intriguing author. 

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon