Tag: Bloch

Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller4 Comments

Publisher: Headline (Trade Paperback – 13 August 2024)

Series: Eddie Flynn – Book Eight

Length: 392 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

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For those in the mood for a highly entertaining and exciting legal thriller, look no further than the latest book from the always impressive Steve Cavanagh, Witness 8.

Over the last couple of years, I have become a major fan of entertaining thriller author Steve Cavanagh.  A compelling writer with a flair for over-the-top narratives, Cavanagh has deeply impressed me with books like his twisty standalone novel, Kill For Me Kill For You, as well as his outstanding Eddie Flynn legal thriller series.  Following a former conman turned defence attorney, the Eddie Flynn books are always deeply enjoyable as Cavanagh brings some outrageous legal thriller scenarios and fills them with some fantastic characters.  The last two books in the series, The Devil’s Advocate and The Accomplice, have been a ton of fun, and the latest entry, Witness 8, has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2024.

Ruby Johnson is a seemingly ordinary nanny and maid who works for many of the wealthy families in Manhattan’s exclusive West 74 Street.  Memorising their needs, routines and secrets, Ruby has made herself indispensable to various families on this elite street, even though most of them look down on her due to her family’s past connection to the rich community.  However, Ruby is about to shake up the entire street when she witnesses the murder of one of their most controversial inhabitants.

The only person who truly knows who committed the terrible murder, Ruby sneaks away key evidence and places an anonymous call to the police, naming the killer.  However, Ruby lies about who the true killer is, and instead frames an innocent man for the murder and turns the entire street against him.  As chaos descends upon West 74 Street and an innocent family suffers the stigma associated with murder, it becomes clear that something is very wrong with Ruby, and that she will destroy anyone to get what she wants.

It soon falls to Eddie Flynn, former conman turned trial attorney to defend the innocent man accused of the crime.  Facing off against an ambitious District Attorney, the all-consuming secrecy of the West 74 Street’s inhabitants, and threats much closer to home, Eddie Flynn will need to bring every legal trick and con in his vast repertoire to keep his client out of jail.  However, can even Flynn and his expert team uncover what Ruby has done in time to save an innocent man, or will her dark secrets strike again and bring even greater tragedy?

Steve Cavanagh continues to impress as his latest book, Witness 8, was an amazing and compelling thrill ride that had me hooked the entire way through.  The eighth book in the Eddie Flynn series, Witness 8 was extremely fun, and I had an outstanding time getting through it.

Witness 8 has a fantastic story behind it that really drags the reader in with its outrageous plot, ambitious legal sequences, and eccentric characters, all of which is a trademark of the Eddie Flynn series.  Initially focusing on the character of Ruby Johnson, you witness the starting events of the plot that see the housekeeper become a central figure in a murder investigation, which serves as a great start to the book while also expertly introducing one of the novel’s most complex figures.  From there, the plot begins to focus on series protagonist Eddie Flynn, and his eccentric colleagues, as they are tasked with defending the man Ruby framed and uncovering the reasons behind his arrest.  Clashing with an ambitious district attorney, Flynn starts utilising his trademark unpredictable tactics to infuriate and confuse his opponents, which results in some fun early scenes.  However, Flynn faces lethal problems of his own when the leader of a gang of corrupt cops puts out at hit on him, believing him to be a threat to his organisation.

The story goes in some very interesting and unexpected directions as the protagonist finds himself forced to simultaneously defend his client and deal with the killers coming for him.  Cavanagh does a great job of breaking the story up across various distinctive characters, with the machinations of Ruby blending well with the legal manoeuvrings of Flynn and the investigations of his team.  The author also adds in several other great alternate perspectives, including that of the wonderfully sinister gentleman assassin, Mr. Christmas, who starts to take his own interest in several characters associated with the case.  These intriguing alternate perspectives allow for a more elaborate, yet still fast-paced novel, and I loved where some of the various character arcs went.

The second half of Witness 8 is loaded up with surprises, tragic blows, over-the-top moments and funny ploys from the protagonist, and you are constantly on the edge of your seat as you wait to see how everything unfolds.  I really appreciated the excellent way that Cavanagh builds up towards the big conclusion of the plot, and the resulting payoff comes together extremely well.  The closer you get to the end, the more you appreciate how the author had previously layered in clues and hints in the first half of the book, and I particularly enjoyed the breadcrumbs about Ruby’s motivations and what she hoped to achieve.  The author tops this off with some fantastic and entertaining cons and schemes from the protagonist, which results in some ironic comeuppances for several of he more morally dubious characters.  This proved to be a very fun ending, and it will be interesting to see where some of the storylines go from here, especially around some newly introduced characters.

Much like the previous entries in the series, Witness 8 can be read as a standalone novel, and new readers can have a wonderful and easy time exploring the accessible and interesting series and characters for the first time.  Witness 8 was the usual fun mixture of action, clever legal scenes and overall insanity that fans of the Eddie Flynn series are well use to.  I always like the unique legal scenarios that Cavanagh comes up with for his books, and the one in Witness 8 was pretty damn good, as the protagonist deals with the crazed witness who has her own schemes in this murder.  The story veers into psychological thriller territory at times when it comes to this main antagonist, and her twisted tale of revenge and recompense blended well with the thrilling adventures of Flynn and his cohort.  Cavanagh did a great job of keeping the story running at a fast pace, and the inclusion of several deadly assassins hunting after Flynn, ensured that the reader was constantly engaged with the book, especially with the inclusion of some well-placed tragedy.  While much of Witness 8 is light and is primarily dedicated to providing entertainment, Cavanagh throws in some particularly dark moments throughout the book, which provides some memorable and powerful moments for the reader.  This blend of tones, which includes some extremely troubling scenes, helped to ensure that Witness 8 was more than just a one-trick pony story, and readers will really love the book’s depth and dark humour.

However, for me the best parts of Witness 8, and indeed any Eddie Flynn book, were the excellent scenes that depicted Flynn engaged in his trademark legal cons and shenanigans.  Cavanagh’s well thought out courtroom sequences are always enhanced by the outrageous actions of his protagonist, as he uses unconventional tactics garnered from his conman past to trick and manipulate events to his advantage.  These ploys often play off the more conventional tactics of his opponents and the rest of Flynn’s legal team very well, and you are never quite sure what direction his trial strategy is going to go.  While I usually prefer a more straightforward courtroom sequence in a legal thriller, I deeply enjoy seeing Cavanagh’s more entertaining takes on the story element, and it is so much fun to see what outrageous ploy the author comes up with next.  These eccentric court scenes play off the rest of the book extremely well, and I felt that they were once again a great highlight of this Eddie Flynn book.  Indeed, I kind of wish that the author had ensured that more of the book was spent inside the courtroom rather than having the protagonist battle assassins, but I still really appreciate how the story came together.

A key part of why Witness 8 was so entertaining was the fantastic and memorable characters featured within it.  Cavanagh utilises an intriguing cast for Witness 8, that includes a collection of recurring characters from previous books, as well as several new figures who are cleverly inserted into this story.  I have already mentioned how much fun series protagonist Eddie Flynn was in Witness 8, and his entertaining ploys and determination to stick up to even the most dangerous people in the city, ensure that he is a hard character not to like.  While much of Flynn’s story revolves around him outsmarting the bad guys in humorous ways, Cavanagh also ensures that there are some darker moments for Flynn in Witness 8, especially as he finds his team under threat and someone close to him hurt as collateral damage.  The rest of Flynn’s team, including his legal partner Kate Brooks, the firm’s lethal private investigator Bloch and former serial killer hunter Gabriel Lake, are well represented throughout the course of Witness 8, with Lake’s unique past coming into play in some compelling ways.

While these protagonists are great, Cavanagh also spent a lot of time building up some outstanding and memorable antagonists who really fit the series’ unique vibe and proved to be major highlights of Witness 8.  The most prominent of these is Ruby Johnson, the seemingly innocent maid, who manipulates events around the murder for her own advantage.  Cavanagh does an excellent job selling Ruby as a conflicted and damaged being, haunted by her past and the terrible things she needs to do.  I really appreciated how effectively Cavanagh sets up Ruby as a particularly dangerous figure, and you really buy into her issues and dark persona, especially as Cavanagh throws in some interesting curveballs around what drives her.  In addition to Ruby, the other major antagonist I want to highlight is the assassin Mr. Christmas.  A deadly killer with curiosity, class, a dash of morality and a love for Marlon Brando films, Mr. Christmas steals nearly every scene he is in as he manoeuvres around the other players in the book.  A professional who likes to keep things sporting, Mr. Christmas enjoys interacting with his targets before he kills them, and his encounters with many of the characters, including Flynn and Ruby, are some of the most captivating parts of Witness 8.  Cavanagh did an outstanding job building up Mr. Christmas here, and I loved his genial threats and unique professionalism, as well as his connection to Gabriel Lake, which provides some much-needed seriousness around this figure.  Indeed, it seems like Mr. Christmas is a figure that is likely to return in future entries in the series, which is something I am rather keen for.  Throw in a raft of other desperate, greedy or easily manipulated figures, and Witness 8 had a truly amazing cast of characters that ensured this book was everything you could hope it to be.

Witness 8 was another amazing novel from Steve Cavanagh, who continues to produce some of the most entertaining and fun legal thrillers you are likely to read.  Filled with big characters, outrageous situations, and complex scenarios, Witness 8 had me hooked the entire way through, and I honestly could not stop reading this fantastic read.  I really cannot emphasise how much fun I have with the Eddie Flynn series, and I cannot wait to see what cool story Cavanagh comes up with next.

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The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller17 Comments

The Devil's Advocate Cover

Publisher: Orion (Trade Paperback – 27 July 2021)

Series: Eddie Flynn – Book 6

Length: 403 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Bestselling thriller author Steve Cavanagh returns with another exciting and over-the-top fun legal thriller, The Devil’s Advocate, an awesome read with a very entertaining plot.

Randal Korn is an evil man, a dangerous killer, and an unrepentant corrupting influence on everyone around him.  Unfortunately for the residents of Sunville County, Alabama, Randal Korn is also their District Attorney, who uses his skills and influence to get the legal system to commit his killings for him.  Known as the King of Death Row, Korn has sent more men to the electric chair than any other district attorney in US history, deriving great pleasure from every life his prosecutions have taken.  However, not all of Korn’s victims have been guilty, a fact that Korn knows and deeply relishes.

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found brutally murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, the corrupt sheriff’s department quickly arrests the last person to see her alive, her innocent African American co-worker Andy Dubios.  After the racist cops quickly beat a confession out of him, Andy is set to stand trial with Korn prosecuting a seemingly airtight case.  With the entire town already convinced of his guilt and with no chance of a fair trial, Andy’s death looks certain, until Eddie Flynn arrives in town.

Hired after Andy’s previous lawyer goes missing, former conman turned brilliant New York lawyer Eddie Flynn heads down to Alabama with his team to try and save Andy’s life.  However, the moment he arrives, Eddie begins to understand just how stacked the deck is.  Thanks to Korn’s immense influence, the entire town is hostile to him, the police are refusing to cooperate, witnesses are threatened or arrested by the sheriff, the judge is already on the prosecutor’s side, and any potential juror will already believe that Andy is guilty.  To save his client’s life, Eddie will have to use every single trick he has to con the jury into finding Andy not guilty, but even that might not be enough.  Worse, it soon becomes apparent that the killing of Skylar Edwards was only the start.  A dangerous murderer still stalks Buckstown, killing whoever gets in their way to achieve their own sinister agenda, and their sights are now firmly set on Eddie.

This was a pretty awesome and wildly entertaining novel from the talented Steve Cavanagh.  A lawyer himself, Cavanagh burst onto the crime-fiction scene a few years ago with his debut novel, The Defence, the first book in his Eddie Flynn series.  There have since been several other Eddie Flynn books, each of which places the protagonist in a unique legal situation.  I have been meaning to read some of Cavanagh’s books for a while now due to the awesome sounding plot synopsis and I currently have a couple of his novels sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.  Unfortunately, I have not had the chance yet, although I think I will have to make a bit of an effort after reading The Devil’s Advocate, which I was lucky enough to receive a little while ago.  The Devil’s Advocate was an outstanding and captivating novel and I swiftly got drawn into the exciting and amusing narrative.

The Devil’s Advocate has an awesome story to which is extremely addictive and enjoyable.  When I picked up this book, I initially intended only read around 50 pages in my first sitting, however, once I started I honestly could not put it down, and before I knew it I was halfway through and it was well past my bed time.  Cavanagh produces an extremely cool narrative that starts with an awesome scene that introduces the main antagonist and ensures that you will really hate him.  From then, Cavanagh quickly sets up the initial mystery, the introduction of the legal case, and the plot that brings the protagonist to Alabama.  The rest of the narrative neatly falls into place shortly after, with the full details of the case, the corruption of the main setting, and the massive injustice that is taking place, coming to light.  From there, the protagonists attempt to set up their case while facing sustained and deadly opposition from pretty much everyone.  While the initial focus is on the legal defence aspect of the thriller, the story quickly branches out into several captivating storylines, including an examination of the antagonist’s corrupting influence on the town, planned action from a white supremacist groups, attempts to run off or kill the protagonists, as well as mystery around who really killed Skylar.  All these separate storylines are really fascinating and come together with the plot’s central legal case to form an exceptionally fun and electrifying story.  The reader is constantly left guessing about what is going to happen next, especially with multiple red herrings and false reveals, and I ended up not predicting all the great twists that occurred.  While I did think that Cavanagh went a little too political with the overall message of the book, The Devil’s Advocate had an outstanding ending and I had an exceptional time getting through this thrilling story.

One of the best parts of this entire story is the outrageous and unfair legal case that the protagonists must attempt to win.  This case forms the centre of The Devil’s Advocate’s plot, with most of Eddie and his colleagues’ appearances focused on their upcoming legal battle.  Cavanagh really went out his way to create a truly unique and compelling set of legal circumstances for the protagonists to wade through, with the case so tightly sewn up against their innocent client before they even get there.  Despite this, the protagonist goes to work with a very effective, if unconventional, legal strategy that plays to the antagonist’s underhanded tactics.  The entire legal case soon devolves into crazy anarchy, with both sides doing outrageous actions to win, which Cavanagh writes up perfectly.  I found myself getting quite invested in the case, especially after witnessing several blatant examples of the prosecution’s corruption, and these terrible actions really got me rooting for the protagonist, who had some entertaining tricks of his own.  This all leads up to an excellent extended trial sequence, where the various strategies and manipulations in the first two-thirds of the novel come into play.  There are some brilliant and entertaining legal manoeuvrings featured here, with the protagonist initially focusing more on pissing off the prosecution and the judge rather than producing alternative evidence.  However, there are some great reveals and cross-examinations towards the end of the book, as Eddie has a very good go at dismantling the case.  The way it finally ends is pretty clever, and I really liked the way some of it was set up, even if it relied a little too much on a minor character’s conscience finally flaring.

Cavanagh also featured some great and entertaining characters in The Devil’s Advocate, with a combination of new characters and returning protagonists from the previous novels.  The author makes great use of multiple character perspectives throughout this novel, especially as it allows the reader to see the various sides of the battle for Buckstown’s soul.  Seeing the moves and counter-moves of the protagonists and antagonists enhances the excitement of the novel, especially as it shows the creation of several traps that could potentially destroy Eddie and his client.  Most of the characters featured in the novel are very entertaining, although I think in a few cases Cavanagh went a little over-the-top, with some of the villains being a bit cartoonish in their evilness.

The main character of this novel is series hero Eddie Flynn, the former conman who now works on impossible cases as a defence attorney.  Eddie was an awesome central protagonist, especially as his unique sense of justice and criminal background turns him into one of the most entertaining and likeable lawyers you are likely to ever meet.  I loved the very underhanded way in which he worked to win his case, and the variety of tricks and manipulations that he used were extremely fun to see in action, especially as it rattles the police antagonists and completely outrages the other lawyers and judges.  I loved his style in the courtroom scenes, especially as most of his appearances eventually end up with him thrown in jail for contempt (it is a pretty wise legal strategy).  Eddie has a very fun code in this novel, and I think that I will enjoy seeing the earlier novels in which he transitions from conman to lawyer.

Eddie is also supported by a fantastic team from his small law practice, each of whom get several chapters to themselves and who serve as great alternate characters who in some way overshadow the main protagonist.  These include his wise old mentor character, Harry; the younger lawyer, Kate; and the badass investigator, Bloch.  Each of them brings something fun and compelling to the overall story, and I liked the way that Cavanagh ensured that they all get their moment throughout The Devil’s Advocate.  I really enjoyed some of the great sub-storylines surrounding these three supporting protagonists.  Examples of this include Harry, a genuine silver fox with the ability to attract a certain type of older lady, who serves as the team’s heart and soul, although he’s not opposed to some improper legal tactics.  I also enjoyed Kate’s appearances as a secondary trial attorney, especially as she serves as a good alternate to the flashier Eddie, while also finding her feet in a murder case that has rattled her.  I personally enjoyed the gun-toting investigator Bloch the most, mainly because of her hard-assed attitude and inability to be intimidated by the various monsters lurking around town.  Bloch has some very intense and exciting scenes, and it was really entertaining to see her stare down rabid militiamen and crooked cops.  These protagonists end up forming an impressive and cohesive team, and it was a real joy to see them in action.

I also must highlight the outstanding villain of the story that was Randal Korn.  Korn is a truly evil and terrifying creation who is pretty much the direct opposite of the more heroic Eddie.  Cavanagh has clearly gone out of his way to create the most outrageously despicable antagonist he could, and it really works.  Korn, who apparently is a bit of a pastiche parody of five real-life American prosecutors who always seek the death penalty, is a man who became a lawyer solely so he would have a legal way to kill people.  The pleasure he receives from controlling people and ensuring that they die, even if they are innocent or undeserving, is terrifying, and it ensures that the character will go to extreme lengths to win his case.  The author does a fantastic job painting him as a despicable figure, including through several point of view chapter, and there are some interesting examinations about his psyche and his desires.  Having such an easily hated villain really draws the reader into the narrative, mainly because the reader cannot help but hope that he gets what is coming to him.  Despite that, I think Cavanagh went a little overboard in some places (the self-mutilation and the rotting smell are a bit much), and the whole soulless creature angle is layered on a bit too thickly.  Still, the author achieved what he wanted to with this antagonist, and I had a wonderful time hating this character from start to finish.

The final point-of-view character that I want to mention is the mysterious figure known as the Pastor.  The Pastor is another antagonist of this novel whose identity is kept hidden from the reader for much of the book.  This is mainly because he is the real killer of Skylar Edwards, whose death was part of an elaborate plan.  The Pastor is another great villain for this novel, due to his crazed personality, murderous tendencies and horrendous motivations for his crimes.  I think that Cavanagh did a great job utilising this second villain in his novel, and I liked the tandem usage he had with Korn.  I was especially impressed with the clever mystery that the author had surrounding his identity, which was kept hidden right till the very end.  It took me longer than I expected to work out who the Pastor was, thanks to some clever misdirects from the author, but the eventual reveal was extremely good and helped tie the entire story together.  Readers will have a lot of fun trying to work out who this character is, and I really enjoyed the extra villainy that they brought to the table.

The fantastic Steve Cavanagh has once again produced a captivating and intense legal thriller with The Devil’s Advocate.  This latest Eddie Flynn thriller was an amazing ball of crazy fun that I powered through in two sustained reading sessions.  With some over-the-top characters, a clever legal case, and an exciting overarching conspiracy, The Devil’s Advocate proved to be next to impossible to turn down and is really worth checking out.  I will definitely be going back and reading some of Cavanagh’s earlier books, and I look forward to seeing what insane scenarios he comes up with in the future.

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