The Defense

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For a moment everything became remarkably still—it was just me and that open door. If I ran, I wouldn’t get far—not an option. If I got into the car and stayed close to Arturas, I knew he couldn’t detonate the device. At that moment, I cursed myself for not keeping my skills sharp. The same skills that had kept me alive on the streets for all those years, the same skills that helped me to con million-dollar-salary defense attorneys before I’d even been to law school, the same skills that would have spotted this guy before he got within ten feet of me. Everything a great thriller should be and I can't wait to see more of Eddie Flynn.' Mark Billingham

I finished reading this about 1 month ago and wrote a few notes, one of them being that it had a decent twist that I didn’t see coming. To be honest I couldn’t remember what it was straight away lol!!Ted’s Diner was my favorite place to think. I don’t know how many trial strategies I had worked through in those booths, covering the tables with medical records, gunshot wound photos, and coffee-stained legal briefs. In the old days, I wouldn’t have eaten breakfast at the same place every day. Way too risky. In my new life, I enjoyed the routine of breakfast at Ted’s. I’d relaxed and stopped looking over my shoulder. Too bad. I could’ve used being on edge that morning: I might have seen him coming. This first book in the series introduces us to Eddie Flynn, a former con man turned lawyer, who has given up his career after a horrible ordeal that left him broken, and suffering from a deep crisis of conscience. Well, it starts with a jaw thunker at several other points my jaw gets bruised! It’s a good fast paced thriller, fraught with tension and danger as Eddie finds he is at the centre of a very dangerous game for which he doesn’t know the rules so has to use his ingenuity and create his own. He is brave, gutsy instinctive, intuitive and clever (a bit too clever???) and I definitely don’t envy those that he comes up against. The ups and downs of the case are very good and it gets very murky, if a bit of a head spinner. The court room scenes are the stand out feature of the book. Towards the end the game comes on of persuasion and audacity as it builds to a high octane finale.

The irreverence that Steve Cavanagh brings to his fictional portrayal of the legal profession is most notable in The Defence’s audacious opening. I wanted a slight separation from my professional life as lawyer,” he says of the pseudonym. “I started writing the book after my Mum passed away, and in many ways my pen name is a tribute to her, as Cavanagh was her maiden name. It’s also handy to have a name that appears fairly early in the alphabet – it helps with book browsing.” Another reason for the US setting was that Steve loves writing fast-paced legal thrillers. The British way is much slower, so the books can’t take place there, especially since there is the dual system of representation (solicitor and barristers) which doesn’t exist in the US, which would have needed the addition of a second main character that the author didn’t want to introduce into the story. In addition, the British and Irish legal system is still quite pompous and stuffy, or at least that can be people’s impression. It just didn’t fit with the kind of story I wanted to tell.I liked that Flynn, the protagonist, is not just a lawyer but has a controversial past and let's say... A bit shady. There is a certain dichotomy in his actions and he can be defined as morally gray. A couple of years ago, I requested “Thirteen”, not realizing that it was book 4 in the Eddie Flynn series! (legal thrillers) The situation seems helpless and there is no way this can end well, but Eddie was a con man/hustler and has ways of turning situations to his advantage. The plot is incredibly well thought out and would be a great story even without a superb character such as Eddie, but with him…..

If you're a fan of John Grisham, Scott Turow, and Brad Meltzer, then you will be a fan of Steve Cavanagh's The Defense. Cavanagh's debut novel introduces a wonderfully flawed hero, Eddie Flynn, one-time con man, now turned lawyer, who will hold you spellbound. This is a hell of a genre-bending book. I hope Cavanagh's working on the sequel.” —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Radiant Angel Moving the action to the US solved those problems, as attorneys perform the role of the lawyer and advocate. Setting it in New York fitted with the pace of the story and the character.” THE DEFENCE is everything a great thriller should be and I can't wait to see more of Eddie Flynn -- Mark Billingham Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different. I usually don't enjoy books that involve the mob, any mob. This one has both the Russian mob and the Italian mob, plus a con artist main character. Despite those three strikes against the book it starts off with such a bang that I had to know how Eddie was going to get out of this impossible situation. It's all a bit of a stretch that so much can happen in such a short time but it's also an entertaining and horrifying situation that had me wanting to know how this story would end. Since this is a series, I now have several more books to watch Eddie work his magic but I do hope he can stay away from the mob, in the future.Some writers are focussed on gritty realism, and I enjoy those kind of books as a reader, but personally, I’ve always been more interested in the spectacular because that’s entertaining and that’s what gets the reader’s blood pumping.” It's sharp, clever and a brilliantly executed thriller. And it's not often I write those words. THE DEFENCE is a great debut, and here's hoping there's more of Eddie Flynn to come * RAVEN CRIME READS *

Get ready for a legal thriller that'll grab you by the throat . . . Eddie Flynn makes his explosive debut." - Gerard Brennan At that time I didn’t believe I had the skill as a writer to create two compelling lead characters, and that splitting the action between the two of them would unbalance the book. It was like reading an action movie. It literally did not stop. And I just LOVED the courtroom stuff. I mean sure, you have to suspend your beliefs slightly, but that’s what books are for DAMMIT!

Multibuys

Mi única crítica es que la trama es un tanto poco original y que nuevamente tengamos un abogado con discrepancias con su familia por su trabajo y sus vicios (alcohol). Me gustaría leer alguna vez sobre un abogado sin addiciciones, con una familia unida a pesar de las dificultades que se presentan en la vida de un abogado penal. Creo que por esto Her Deadly Game de Robert Dugoni me gustó tanto. Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren’t that different. Don’t get me wrong,” he says, “there are a number of writers working today that nail courtroom scenes and how the art of advocacy really works.