Why do women lawyers represent rapists? In “Her, Too,” Bonnie Kistler faces this question head on, and the twists she presents in this action-filled legal and moral drama make for page-turning reading. In fact, by the time you’ve finished the second chapter, you will be hooked.

We don’t necessarily like attorney Kelly McCann’s choice of legal field, representing those accused of rape in court. She has high profile clients and is very successful at what she does. And what she does is negotiate payoffs and NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) for those who can be bought off before they go to the police. And she wins at trial, through means fair and foul, for those cases that actually go before a judge or jury.

Kelly needs her high profile, high paying job because she is supporting not only her two children, but her husband. Her much loved husband, Adam, suffered a stroke during the birth of her youngest daughter. While all the medical personnel were surrounding Kelly as she gave birth, no one noticed that Adam was unconscious from a massive stroke. He didn’t recover and for the past 10 years has been in a vegetative state, monitored around the clock by machines. He is able to breathe on his own but must receive nourishment through a feeding tube. Kelly pays someone to take care of Adam when she is at work and with the children.

In the first chapter we see that Kelly wins a much publicized trial representing a world-famous scientist accused of rape. This respected man is on the brink of curing Alzheimers, and he is not only an important figure in the medical field, he is also obscenely wealthy as he holds the majority share in the company working on the Alzheimers vaccine.

When shortly after her huge win, Kelly herself is viciously raped, her world is turned upside down. Will she risk her career to go to the police and have the crime against her made public? What will it do to her profile as a successful attorney defending rapists if she herself is now a victim of the crime?

But Kelly isn’t one to take anything lying down, and she is determined to make the rapist pay. With some of the rapist’s other victims, they come up with a plan to make him suffer. But they are forced to revamp their plans when obstacles arise. Then, the other co-plotters become victims to more than rape. They mysteriously seem to be dying. Accidental death? Suicide? Or is this small group of victimized women being thwarted in their plans for revenge?

Kistler plots this mystery out skillfully as the twists and turns in the narrative keep us guessing until the end. And along with the mystery, there is the touching additional story line about her husband, and what it means to be alive, but not really. Is it enough to be able to breathe if you aren’t experiencing life?

This book will make you angry when you consider all the rich, white (and not white) men who get away with rape. Enough money and you can buy your way out of a lot. Just ask one (or two) of our Supreme Court Justices. The women accusing them were not believed because it seems that we rarely believe the women. It should be enough to make women sick, but it’s not. Here you will be rooting for the women who are trying to even the odds. And you will be touched as Kelly makes some very difficult decisions. All in all, it’s a delightful and extraordinarily meaningful read.

Please note: This review is based on the final book provided by Harper, the publisher, for review purposes.