The Defence by Steve Cavanagh

 

Rating 3.5⭐s

You can buy The Defence...here

You can find out more about the author...here

• The Blurb...

Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different.

It's been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn't have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter, Amy. Eddie only has forty-eight hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial - and win - if he wants to save his daughter.

Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his 'client' and ensure Amy's safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible?

• Our Review...

This novel was the first in what has gone on to become a long and very successful series of books. They all feature the con man turned lawyer Eddie Flynn. I have read a few of the later novels and thoroughly enjoyed them. Reading this novel felt a little like looking back on some old photos and seeing a picture of a gangly, still developing youth from your past who you now know has developed into a strapping, happy, confident man. You can see all the potential in the photo and you can rest safe in the knowledge that that callow did in fact bloom. 

I am quite a lover of courtroom drama, the ultimate battleground of good v evil,  and ex lawyer Mr Cavanagh does not ever fail to deliver an intriguing, twisty battle throughout this book. In addition to the good v bad he adds double jeopardy in the form of consequences (death for Eddie, his daughter and everyone else in the courtroom) and a limited time frame. Like diffusing a bombing as its counting down. You can really feel the pressure that Eddie is under, the author never lets you take a safe breath.

Eddie uses his con man skills honed on the mean streets of New York and makes good use of his high powered contacts on both sides of the law to turn the tables on the pesky Russian gangsters. 

Its a little bit cheesy in places, and over the top. As if you take a thought experiment to its extremes but its good OTT enjoyment.  Would I recommend this book to a courtroom drama lover? Yes but go for the long haul. Read the whole series, which just gets better and better with every book as Eddies builds his ensemble of heroes. 

This, for me felt like being a batman fan then reading his origin story. Do yourself a favour, do it right first time.

• Selected Quotes

"What they all understood was that if they told me they were guilty but that they wanted to fight the case anyway, I could no longer represent them. That was the game."

"Justice is blind, but it can still smell fear."

“Hustling an insurance company was like playing poker with Satan—his house, his rules.”

“You don’t need a bomb to win this case. You’ve already got one—I’m the bomb.”

• About The Author

Steve Cavanagh is an Irish author from Belfast and at the age eighteen he studied law by mistake. He is now the international award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn novels. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel. Steve is still a practicing lawyer (someday he’ll get the hang of it) and co-host ofthe chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. He has been involved in several high-profile civil rights cases, his Eddie Flynn novels have been published in over twenty countries, he’s married with two young children, and in his spare time he is mostly asleep.

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

 

370 Pages

You can buy The Street Lawyer...Here

You can follow John Grisham...Here

This review is by...Owen Powell 

• The Blurb...

Michael Brock is a man in the fast lane.

He's a rising star at Drake & Sweeney, a giant Washington law firm. No time to waste, no time to toss a few coins to beggars. No time for a conscience.

Until the day a man takes several lawyers hostage at his firm, shouting about an eviction. Police snipers shoot the hostage taker dead, but Brock feels compelled to investigate.

What he discovers is a shocking violation of the rights of the homeless on the city streets, with Drake & Sweeney up to its neck in it, and suddenly his conscience begins to stir. But to do the right thing, he might have to steal his own firm's secrets...

• Our Review...

The Street Lawyer is far more than just your typical legal thriller. At it’s core, this is a heartfelt story about poverty, morality and humanity. Following a traumatising encounter within his big, fancy law-firm, lawyer Michael Brock is forced to alter his perspective on… well, everything. As he pursues a mysterious case of improper eviction, Brock immerses himself into the world of D.C’s homeless populace, and witnesses first-hand the tribulations they face every day. Eventually, Brock’s morality outweighs his materialism and he pledges himself to aid the homeless in their abounding legal matters. In doing so, he leaves behind all of the great comforts of his old life - his job, his salary, even his wife! In this new life, Brock is determined to write some of the wrongs conducted by his old firm by helping those in need, instead of once helping those with greed. 

This story starts off strong by throwing the reader right into a nail-biting scene of tension. For these first few pages, I felt compelled to read on, eager to find out the outcome. Unfortunately, this was probably the most exciting part of the story, but we’ll get to that later. The characters in this book are credible and easy to visualise. In my head I cast Bob Odenkirk as the protagonist, for no other reason than he plays a lawyer in the hit series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He was perfectly cast in those series as he is in this story too, if I do say so myself. 

However, if I were to pick one flaw within this book, it would be that nothing much exciting happens after those first few pages. This is a very slow-paced, grounded story that strives to be as realistic as it can be. However, I have the attention span of a small child and sometimes I found this book to be a bit of a slog to get through. There are a handful of interesting scenes throughout, but that’s about it, just like real life I suppose. I realise for some people the super realistic nature of these kinds of stories are something they would enjoy, and if that’s you then this is definitely the book for you. Everything else about it was great.

Overall this book does get a  recommendation from me. It’s well-written, heartfelt, thought-provoking and (if you’re into it) extremely realistic. Certainly one of the better books I’ve read so far.

This book is also very well-written, Grisham does not dwell on insignificant details, keeping the literature super simple and engaging to read, which I found to be quite refreshing. All-in-all this is a strong, thought-provoking story that I implore pretty much everyone to read at some point.

• Selected Quotes...

"Like every med student in the country, she had begun her studies vowing that money was not the attraction. She wanted to help humanity. Same for law students. We all lied."

‘We really need able bodies down here. The shelters and soup kitchens are packed, and we don’t have enough volunteers.’

‘I’m not sure I’m qualified.’

‘Can you spread peanut butter on bread?’

‘I think so.’

‘Then you’re qualified.’

"They would soon become my clients, and I would threaten and litigate with a vengeance until they had adequate housing. I couldn’t wait to sue somebody.

• If You Liked This Then You May Like...

Devil's Advocate by Steve Cavanagh (see our review...Here)

The Reckoning by John Grisham (see our review...Here)

Post Mortem by Gary Bell QC (see our review...Here)

• About The Author...

John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge’s List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he’s not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.

(from jgrisham.com)

The Devil's Advocate by Steve Cavanagh

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can buy the Devil's Advocate....Here

The Blurb...

A DEADLY PROSECUTOR
They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING
When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE
Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A FORMER CON-ARTIST
Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next?

My Review...

In this novel Steve Cavanagh steps right into John Grisham territory. Not afraid to take on the master in his home ground.

 Our hero Eddie Flynn and his ragtag gang of legal warriors step out of their cormfortable New York, liberal world to take on a death penalty case in the hot, sweaty and deeply racist southern state of Alabama.

Their opponent is a serial killer who just happens to kill people using a most deadly weapon i.e."the law." The local DA gets his kicks filling the electric chair, but he doesn't care who he puts in that chair. They don't even have to be guilty. 

Loved the character of the dodgy DA Randall Korn  who is an evil, disingenuous, sickly individual played in my head by John Redwood the former Welsh Sec John Redwood (yes the guy who mimed the wrong words to the Welsh national anthem and looked pissed off for having to do so) Sometimes my head does cast the strangest characters in books that I read, but this one is bang on. Anyway back to the book.

I have read some criticism of the white supremacist sub plot as being slightly cheesy, parody and over the top and I can definitely see where this is coming from but (and I've said this before and will probably say it again, if you want reality watch a documentary) I think it just within the bounds of artistic licence. Especially when you consider right wing groups did actually storm the Capitol in Jan.

A little niggle that bothers me is that Eddie is hired by Berlin. Berlin is vastly powerful black ops/CIA/Homeland security type who has access to practically unlimited financial and material resources. He is very powerful with the ability to kill without being held to account. While he does so for good there is absolutely nothing to stop him using his unbridled power for selfish or even evil reasons. Absolute power, unchecked can give way to corruption (as can be seen is the political arena in both U.K. and USA). I can't help feeling that Berlin would be Eddie's natural enemy and not his ally (possibly not Berlin per se but definitely the role he occupies) Anyway its a minor quibble and probably only in my head and no one else's. 

As always where Cavanagh shines is piling up the evidence and situation against the innocent on trial, backing him into such a corner that you fear he will never escape. However Eddie and the gang ingeniously and theatrically blow the evidence out of the water to provide their own evidence and unmask the real villain.

Two things I really like about this book (on top of the usual stuff that I like about Cavanagh's books). Its now more of an ensemble rather than just Eddie. Makes for multiple POV and character issues. I also like the fact that they are out of New York and are on the road, it really adds another dimension. I Would love to see Eddie and the gang really out of their comfort zone in the UK. Possibly even in Cavanagh's native Northern Ireland, now that would be a real culture clash.

I think Steve Cavanagh's books are great. The latest author in a great tradition of courtroom dramas from to kill a mocking bird, anatomy of a murder, 12 angry men, in cold blood, a time to kill, the rainmaker, a few good men et al. If you enjoyed any of them you'll love Steve Cavanagh.

Selected Quotes...

"It’s never about the first time evidence goes missing. It’s the efforts to cover up that original sin that will corrupt your soul, utterly."

"Only in the greatest country in the world would a working mother have to weigh up buying medication for herself or her son."

"In a capital-murder case, the jury has to be ‘death-qualified’. They have to be willing to impose the death penalty if the defendant is convicted."

"Doing the right thing has consequences, same as doing nothing. And it can be just as hard to look at yourself in the mirror."

‘When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something.’

About the author...

Steve Cavanagh is an Irish author from Belfast and at the age eighteen he studied law by mistake. He is now the international award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn novels. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel. Steve is still a practicing lawyer (someday he’ll get the hang of it) and co-host ofthe chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. He has been involved in several high-profile civil rights cases, his Eddie Flynn novels have been published in over twenty countries, he’s married with two young children, and in his spare time he is mostly asleep.

50-50 by Steve Cavanagh

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Outline...

Two sisters on trial for murder. Both accuse each other.
Who do you believe?

Alexandra Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife.

Sofia Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body and needs the police right away. She believes her sister, Alexandra did it, and that she is still in the house, locked in the bathroom.

Both women are to go on trial at the same time. A joint trial in front of one jury.

But one of these women is lying. One of them is a murderer. Sitting in a jail cell, about to go on trial with her sister for murder, you might think that this is the last place she expected to be.....
You'd be wrong. 

My Review....
I had seen Steve Cavanagh on a few youtube things with other crime writers like Mark Billingham, Luca Veste and Val McDirmed. He seemed a very entertaining and clever guy so I thought I would read one of his books and it did not dissapoint.

Cavanagh is an ex lawyer so knows his stuff. The setting is the law courts of New York and you would think that the author is a native of New York but surprisingly he is a Northern Irishman with a thick accent to boot.

I think this is the 5th or 6th in the series but I had not read any of the previous Eddie Flyn novels. A situation I hope to rectify throught out the course of the year.

This is a book of multiples. We have two potential killers and two protagonists. Eddie Flynn and Kate Brooks.

Our hero Eddie is an experienced street fighter of a lawyer who was once a conman, so has plenty of transferable skills as well as friends in low places. As a lawyer he will not fight for an innocent verdict of someone he believes to be guilty.

Kate is a junior lawyer representing one of the sisters. She eventually ends up blossoming as a lawyer and unfurling her wings. She too believes her client innocent.

The book is a plotters dream with more suspense than Hitchcock's braces. The chapters are seen through several characters point of view but only two are in the first person. One is Eddie the other is "She" the killer sister, whose identity is not revealed. With all these well written viewpoints we get a slick, fast paced tale.

Eventually the good hearted lawyers (I know eh!) begin to suspect malice aforethought by at least one if not both of the sisters. 

The only negative for me is the fact that I'll never listen to "She" by Elvis Costello again 😳🗡❤

As the investigation continues loose ends must be tidied up and the body count begins to rise.
Well plotted, great characters. Cavanagh writes like a young Grisham. 

Selected Quotes
"A murder trial with an innocent client is like saving someone who’s fallen over a cliff edge. You’ve got their hand. You’ve got to hang on. You’ve got to haul them to safety. Their life is in your grasp. Your strength is all that separates them from a chasm."

"Moonlight seemed beautiful to her. It was the devil’s neon."

"Whoever tells the best story wins."

"Verdicts are often flawed because people are flawed."

"The Magnum held five rounds in its cylinder. Each round looked the same size as a cigarette lighter and cost two and a half bucks. No matter what kind of problem you had, as long as you were carrying that gun, two dollars fifty was probably all you needed to spend in order to solve it."

About the author...

Steve Cavanagh is an Irish author from Belfast and at the age eighteen he studied law by mistake. He is now the international award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn novels. His debut novel, The Defense, was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Thriller of the Year, and The Plea won the Prix Polar Award for Best International Novel. Steve is still a practicing lawyer (someday he’ll get the hang of it) and co-host ofthe chart-topping podcast Two Crime Writers And A Microphone. He has been involved in several high-profile civil rights cases, his Eddie Flynn novels have been published in over twenty countries, he’s married with two young children, and in his spare time he is mostly asleep.

Post Mortem by Gary Bell

 

⭐⭐⭐

The blurb...

Can Rook keep his criminal past a secret when facing the most dangerous case of his life?

Thirteen men have died in a London prison. Barrister Elliot Rook QC, who risks losing everything if his secret criminal past is revealed, must defend Charli Meadows, the vulnerable single mother accused of smuggling the deadly tainted drugs inside.

But just as Rook becomes suspicious of those closest to Charli, a note arrives at his flat – threatening violence if the trial is not called off.

While Rook battles to defend Charli and protect himself, his young protégé Zara Barnes is fighting for her livelihood. In a few short weeks, only one tenancy at the legal chambers will be available to the ever-multiplying mass of pupils. Determined to make it hers, Zara takes on her biggest solo case yet.

But will her gamble pay off?

My Review...

I would like to thank Net Gally, Bloomsbury publishing and Raven books for this Advanced reader copy (A.R.C) in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Post mortem is the tale of Elliot Rook the once homeless barrister now fighting for justice in the courts as well as the odd spot of breaking and entering and occasional punching of a known criminal, his protege is the young and equally feisty Zara who is coming to the end of her time as a junior with Rook's law firm and the big guns at the company must soon decide wether to keep her or not offer her a place  at chambers. Against the backdrop they take on two new cases. A prison officer accused of smuggling a deadly batch of drugs that has killed several inmates is taken by Rook, while Zara gets a case of alleged wrong place, wrong time when a young man is arrested as a drug dealer in a police pub raid. As they work together they realise that their cases are connected and a new drug gang is behind them both. 

  I found the plot interesting and twisty enough to keep me turning the page. The depictions of crime and drug ridden Leyton in London and the speech patterns of the locals did seem stereotypical but then again they may be justified as I have never been there 🤷‍♂‍. 

  I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if it were a bit more realistic, in that Rook rose from homelessness to barrister, even being homeless through his early semesters as  junior barrister. It all seems a bit too far fetched for me. Make him a working class lad done well (like the actual author/barrister) by all means but just can't see a practising, albeit junior, barrister living on the street. 

 I believe this book is the second in a series. It can just about be read as a stand alone but there is a fair bit of reference to Rooks earlier adventures. 

 An enjoyable legal thriller/whodunnit, with an interesting plot. It also had engaging lead characters (in my head Rook was played by Alan Davies of Q.I. fame, must have been the curly hair.) 

Selected quotes....

‘You think he’s still dangerous?’ Zara asked. ‘Everybody is dangerous. If you don’t realise that soon, then you’re both going to end up in the ground.’

The houses were small, terraced, squashed up together like drunks in a crowd. ‘It’s this one?’ Zara said as I stepped through a front gate onto gravel that was more dandelion than stone. ‘She’s no Tony Montana.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

Born the son of a coal miner, Gary Bell QC left school without any qualifications and drifted in and out of a number of jobs before being convicted of fraud aged eighteen. He then spent two years penniless and homeless in Europe, before returning to his studies aged twenty-one and, after seven years, became a barrister. He has spent the last thirty years at the Bar, becoming a QC in 2012. He specialises in defending major fraud and murder trials

The Reckoning by John Grisham

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Although this is John Grisham  book it isn't a courtroom drama, it's more of a family secret played out against the backdrop of 1930s and 1940s Missippi and the war in the Philippines. A local landowner and war hero drives into town, rocks up at the church and shoots and kills the local minister. He refuses to give a reason why he has murdered the preacher. 

               So you have the end of the book in the first chapter. We then work backwards to delve into the murderer's  ( hero's?) past and work out how he came to this sorry end. Be warned there isn't a lot of joy in this book. It's a tale of grief, loss, mental illness, infidelity, the horror of war, loneliness and lost love.

              I find it an unusual book in its structure and pacing. The pace varies from stagnant when dealing with Pete's long delays in jail to breakneck when describing his brutal army service in the Philippines. His war history is practically irrelevant to the main plot but I found this the most absorbing part of the book. If Mr Grisham were to write a well researched history of a war hero I would definitely read it. I took a while to get into the book but I am glad I persisted. 

          Overall I enjoyed the book despite some slack areas where nothing appeared to be happening. Mr Grisham writes very evocatively of his native southern states of the USA. So much so, that you can see both the physical beauty and the social cruelty in your imagination. 

        There is a twist in the tail, which I did not honestly see coming. In summation an enjoyable, unusually plotted and paced sad story.

Selected quotes..

"People were classified, and often judged, by their denomination. And they were certainly condemned if they didn’t claim."

"Meaness does not inspire loyalty."

"Hearing the truth is like grabbing smoke in this family"

""