What do you get when you combine a thrilling plot, a crafty lawyer, Russian mobsters and a few Mafiosi for added drama? A rip-roaring, page-turning legal thriller.
This is what Steve Cavanagh delivers in the first novel of his Eddie Flynn series – The Defence. This compelling courtroom/action drama was impossible to put down, unlike any other courtroom story I’ve read.
This is not a book – or a series – you want to miss out on.
The truth has no place in a courtroom. The truth doesn’t matter in a trial.
The only thing that matters is what the prosecution can prove.
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 48 hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial – and win – if 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?
Lose this case and he loses everything.
Having read Thirteen, I knew I had to read the rest of the series. Thirteen in the fourth instalment in this set of stories. I didn’t actually realise when I picked up Thirteen that is was part of set (otherwise I wouldn’t have started at the fourth novel in) but it read amazingly as a stand-alone, and all it did was make me want to go back and read more from Eddie.
Have I mentioned that I love Eddie Flynn? I love Eddie Flynn. He is such an amazing character – he’s witty, he’s incredibly clever, and unlike any other lawyer because of his history as a conman. That’s what makes him so great. And he continually thinks outside the box. His ability to remain calm, to be brave, think through a problem, and see things in a way that no one else can… it makes him admirable.
That, however, is a testament to Cavanagh.
With The Defence, Cavanagh manages to pull of not only an amazing courtroom drama, but also a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s witty, dangerous, and has darkly humorous moments and, as mentioned, a character you will fall in love with.
The Defence has a fast paced plot from cover to cover, and, just like Edie Flynn barely has a moment to catch his breath, as the reader, we feel the same way.
Another thing I loved about this novel, was Cavangh’s message: There’s always another way through a problem. You just need to stay calm and think your way through it. Hold it together and you can make it through any problem.
Throughout the novel, Eddie Flynn holds on to a key piece of advice his father gave him for whenever he found himself in a difficult circumstance. It’s this advice that keeps him going, that allows him to keep a steady head – and hand – throughout everything that happens to him in this book.
At the beginning of the novel, he reflects:
“If I lost our daughter? I couldn’t even begin to contemplate that horror.
From somewhere I heard the voice of my father, the man who’d taught me the grift, the man who told me what to do if I ever got made during a con – hold it together no matter what.”– Steve Cavanagh, The Defence
Hold it together. Remain calm. Think it out.
It’s simple, but incredible advice that pulls Eddie Flynn through the toughest of tasks he’s faced with in The Defence.
Something we do see in The Defence, which I was surprised at, was how similar the world of law is with the world of a conman. The two aren’t that different. It’s all about perspective, it’s about control. Its about what you can do with what you’re given. It takes creativity, strength and resilience – to live in both of these worlds.
This is what makes him such a good lawyer. And, because he could stay steady and hold it together as a conman, he sure as hell could do it as lawyer.
Hold it together. Remain calm. Think it out.
Strong advice we would all do well to remember.
Page By Paige 