Tag: Legal Thriller

Waiting on Wednesday – The Right to Remain by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on WednesdayLeave a comment

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I focus on a cool upcoming legal thriller I recently highlighted as one of the top books I’m looking forward to reading in early 2026 with The Right to Remain by James Grippando.

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Over the last couple of years, I have grown to really enjoy the fantastic legal thrillers of veteran author James Grippando, especially those that form part of his Jack Swyteck series.  Following the titular Jack Swyteck, a Miami based criminal defence attorney who takes on the toughest cases, the series features some outstanding court sequences and legal scenes, especially as Grippando routinely envisions some very clever and unique scenarios and clients for the protagonist to defend.  I had an incredible time with the last two books in the series, Goodbye Girl and Grave Danger, and I am extremely keen to see where the series goes next.

Luckily, I don’t have too much longer until the next Jack Swyteck novel is released with the epic upcoming book, The Right to Remain, coming out in early January 2026.  The 20th entry in the Jack Swyteck series, The Right to Remain features another very interesting plot idea, with the protagonist this time forced to defend a man accused of murder who is literally refusing to speak up in his own defence.  I love the cool idea behind this upcoming book, and I can only imagine just how awesome and unique the resulting trial is going to be.  As such, The Right to Remain is now poised to be one of the first new thrillers I check out in 2026, and I am so damn curious about how this story will unfold.

Plot Synopsis:

In this thrilling novel from bestselling author James Grippando—the twentieth in his revered series—legendary criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck takes on a twisty, difficult case that becomes one of the most complex in his illustrious career.

Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck must contend with a unique problem. His client, Elliott Stafford, indicted for murder, has gone silent. Not just silent in asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination—Elliott refuses to speak. He won’t talk to the judge, his girlfriend, or even the attorney fighting for his life. There seems to be no medical or psychological reason for his silence. He has, as Jack puts it, “chosen to become his own worst enemy.”

To some, it’s an act of protest against a broken criminal justice system. Jack doesn’t buy it. Undeterred by the hoopla and calls to walk away, he keeps his client and tries his best to save Elliott from himself. As he digs for facts, Jack discovers a much more disturbing reason for Elliott’s silence. Virtually everything Elliott told Jack before the indictment is proving false, including Elliot’s criminal history, family turmoil, and secret past. As Jack plunges deeper, he comes to believe that Elliott isn’t trying to hide his own guilt. He may be protecting someone else—and the stakes could not be higher.

With plenty of courtroom action, scenes in which “Grippando’s years of experience shine brightest” (New York Times), The Right to Remain is one of the most thrilling entries yet in this hugely popular series that keeps going strong.

Grave Danger by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 14 January 2025)

Series: Jack Swyteck – Book 19

Length: 10 hours and 53 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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One of the top authors of intense legal thrillers, James Grippando, returns with another outstanding entry in his long-running Jack Swyteck series, Grave Danger, which places the titular protagonist in the middle of a particularly captivating case.

Of the various crime fiction subgenres I have the pleasure of reading, one of my favourites is the legal thriller.  There is just something exciting and addictive about well-written and thrilling books set around the courtroom, especially if they feature complex or life-altering legal cases.  While there are several great authors who specialise in legal thrillers, one of the more intriguing ones I have come across in recent years is veteran author James Grippando, who has been writing compelling novels for over 30 years, with a combination of long-running series, including his main Jack Swyteck series, and other gripping standalone reads.  I personally only started reading Grippando last year when I had the opportunity to read his latest Jack Swyteck novel, Goodbye Girl, a fascinating read that saw the titular Miami lawyer attempt to save a glamorous popstar from several music piracy-related lawsuits.  Goodbye Girl was one of the more entertaining and memorable legal thrillers I read last year, and I was keen to try out the next book in the series, Grave Danger, especially as it had an intriguing plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

Bestselling author James Grippando’s legendary criminal defence attorney Jack Swyteck is back to defend a single mother accused of kidnapping her own child in a perilous case involving politics and international diplomacy that will test his legal expertise and his marriage.

Jack Swyteck’s new client fled Iran to Miami with her daughter, and has been accused of kidnapping by her husband. The seasoned attorney must not only plan a winning defence. To stop the father from taking the girl back to Tehran, Jack must build a case under international law and prove that returning the child would put her at risk.

But everything in this case isn’t what it seems, and Jack quickly learns that his client is really the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police. But what role did the father play in his wife’s death, and why is Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, being pressured by her bosses to persuade Jack to drop the case?

Plunging into an investigation unlike any other, Jack must discover who is behind the legal maneuvering and what their interest is. As politics threatens to derail the case and compromise the best interests of the child, Jack and Andie find themselves on opposite sides—with their marriage hanging in the balance. For their relationship to survive, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that extends from a Miami courthouse to the highest echelons of Washington DC, and spells grave danger at every turn.

James Grippando continues to impress with this fantastic and exciting new legal thriller.  Cleverly set around some unique legal circumstances and compelling world-politics, Grave Danger had an outstanding plot loaded with a ton of drama that is guaranteed to hook you all the way to the end.

I felt that Grippando pulled together a very interesting and emotionally charged narrative for Grave Danger, which quickly drags you in with its unique and powerful elements.  The main story primarily involves protagonist Jack Swyteck choosing to defend Iranian refugee Ava Bazzi in a custody case around her daughter Yasmin, with the Iranian government backing Yasmin’s father Farid in the case.  However, as the case proceeds, it becomes clear there are more angles to the story, mostly related to whether Jack’s client is Yasmin’s mother, and whether the real Ava Bazzi is alive or has been killed by the Iranian morality police.  At the same time, Jack is dealing with deeper personal issues as his career has put a strain on his marriage with Andie, who once again is facing pressure from her bosses to influence Jack’s case.  As the various trials continue, both Jack and Andie uncover deeper lies and conspiracies from all the participants in the case, including the United States government influencing events from behind the scenes, and Grave Danger’s narrative goes in some very interesting directions.  Grippando wraps the story up with some excellent twists, which includes some tense action and danger, and readers come away satisfied with the conclusion and curious where certain long-running story points in the series will go next.

Grave Danger was another well-written novel from Grippando that provides readers will all the entertaining legal thrills and courtroom drama you could want.  Serving as the 19th entry in the Jack Swyteck series, Grave Danger works well as a continuation of the series, especially when it comes to the personal drama of the protagonists.  At the same time, Grippando has an accessible style which allows new readers to enjoy this novel without any prior knowledge of his previous books.  There are a lot of great elements to this new novel, although I personally enjoyed all the outstanding courtroom sequences, which prove to be a true highlight of the book.  The author clearly puts a lot of care, attention and personal knowledge into all the legal aspects of Grave Danger, and you really get drawn into the complex aspects of the case and the protagonist’s attempts to help his client.

I personally enjoyed how Grippando featured a complex, international custody case in this book, which gave Grave Danger a very distinctive edge, especially as it features some obscure bits of law.  The author’s intriguing dive into US-Iranian relations and how this would potentially impact a case like this was also very fascinating, especially with certain recent real-world events happening around the time I was reading this novel.  Grippando covers all these events in a measured and thoughtful manner, and the underlying political and diplomatic elements of the plot added a lot of fantastic tension to the overall narrative and helped turn Grave Danger into a particularly compelling read.

One of the more interesting elements of Grave Danger are the compelling or relatable characters featured within the plot.  Primarily focused on Jack Swyteck, a lawyer struggling with draining personal battles on top of his own legal case, the book has some interesting sequences with the protagonist, especially as he deals with the lies of his client and the emotional strain of the case on his marriage.  The rest of the cast was quite entertaining or complex, including Jack’s client,  Ava Bazzi, who has escaped from Iran with her daughter/niece, and who seeks to keep custody no matter the cost.  Ava’s various secrets add some deep intrigue to the plot, and Grippando builds some intricate storylines around her, especially with the reveal of who she is and the greater history behind Ava’s treatment by the Iranian morality police. The opposing client, Farid, Ava Bazzi’s husband and the father of Yasmin, proves to be an interesting semi-antagonist in the novel, especially with his alternating motivations and a particularly vindictive lawyer in his corner.

While I enjoyed all these characters, I must say that I had issues with how Grippando utilised Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, in this novel.  Despite being Grave Danger’s secondary protagonist (and the titular protagonist of another series), Grippando somehow manages to make Andie into one of the most annoying figures in the entire novel with her unreasonable requests around her husband’s work, constant combative nature, and sheer determination to get her way.  The author compounds this further by portraying her in this book as being particularly naïve, constantly ignoring several obvious conspiracies and lies actively working against her husband, despite her status as an FBI agent.  I honestly felt that Grippando’s portrayal of Andie was a real weak point of Grave Danger, and I struggled a little bit with her scenes.  Hopefully the author will utilise her a little more effectively going forward, as her appearance here just added way too much unnecessary drama to an otherwise excellent book.

After enjoying Grippando’s previous novel on audiobook, I made sure to get Grave Danger on the same format, primarily because it once again featured the narration of Jonathan Davis.  One of my favourite audiobook narrators, Davis is probably best known for his work voicing various Star Wars audiobook, including Kenobi by John Jackson Miller, Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber, Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp and Brotherhood by Mike Chen, just to name a few.  This excellent voice work translates across to the Jack Swyteck series extremely well, and I deeply enjoyed his work on Grave Danger.  Not only does he bring the perfect pace to the court cases and other high-intensity parts of the plot, but he also provides some great voices to the varied characters featured within.  I ended up breezing through Grave Danger’s near 11-hour long runtime because of this great narration, and the audiobook version comes very highly recommended as a result.

Overall, Grave Danger was another excellent novel from James Grippando, who continues his excellent Jack Swyteck series in impressive fashion.  Featuring a particularly compelling legal centre, as well as some great thriller elements, Grave Danger was an amazing read from start to finish, and I fully intend to read more novels in this series going forward.  Indeed, the 20th Jack Swyteck novel, the extremely interesting sounding The Right to Remain, is coming out in early 2026, and I cannot wait to read it.

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The Widow by John Grisham

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Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 21 October 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 404 pages

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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Iconic author John Grisham continues to shine as one of the leading authors of the legal thriller genre with his outstanding new novel, The Widow, a clever, character-driven book that relentlessly drags you in.

Most people will be very familiar with author John Grisham, considering he has been presenting awesome novels filled with complex legal cases since 1989, many of which have been turned into films or television series.  I started reading Grisham in the last few years, having been lucky enough to receive copies of some of his latest novels, including The Judge’s List, The Boys from Biloxi, Sparring Partners, The Exchange and Camino Ghosts.  All these novels proved to be a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the interesting collection of stories and sub-genres that Grisham would explore in these books.  As such, I was very keen to read Grisham’s new novel, The Widow, especially as it had an exciting and compelling plot behind it.

Plot Synopsis:

She needs a lawyer. He needs a payday.

Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer struggling with debt, gambling issues and an impending divorce. But when Eleanor Barnett, an 85-year-old widow, visits his office to secure a new will, it seems his luck has finally changed: she claims she’s sitting on a $20 million fortune and no one else knows about it.

She could be the ticket to his fortune.

Once he’s hooked the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar, even from his own assistant. But there are complications: other lawyers are circling his client like vultures.

But when she is hospitalised after a car accident, Eleanor’s story begins to crack. Simon realises that nothing is as it seems. And as events spiral out of control, he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder.

The Widow was a very interesting and captivating novel from Grisham that combined a distinctive story of a down on his luck protagonist, with a complex mixture of murder and thrilling legal elements.  A very clever read that I had an excellent time getting through, The Widow is Grisham at his best and proved to be a particularly engaging read.

Grisham relies on a well-crafted character-driven narrative for The Widow, which gradually draws the reader in until they are unable to put the book down.  Starting off with a deliberate, slower pace, the early parts of The Widow are primarily focused on introducing and showcasing the life of protagonist Simon Latch, as well as the various people in his orbit.  A lawyer with a stalled career, gambling issues, and a failing marriage, Simon is eager for fresh opportunities, which seems to walk in the door in the form of elderly widow Eleanor Barnett, who requires a new will.  Unable to resist the allure of Eleanor’s reputed fortune, Simon secretly takes her on as a client, hoping to manipulate her into signing a favourable will that he can later abuse for his own financial gain.  Forced to remain in Eleanor’s orbit for his scheme, Simon begins to learn more about his unusual client, who seems to bring trouble down on all around her.  At the same time, Simon keeps making all the wrong decisions in the other areas of his life, which results in him becoming increasingly desperate for a payday.  Grisham does an outstanding job of building up the extensive background of the characters and their motivations in the first half of The Widow, and the elaborate picture of greed, secrets and self-destructive behaviour allows for a very impressive second half of the book.

Deftly amping up the pace in the second half of The Widow, things change quite dramatically when Eleanor passes suddenly, and Simon is free to enact his plan.  However, before he can go through with it, Simon is charged with Eleanor’s murder and soon finds himself a pariah in his own town.  With the evidence stacked against him, the protagonist finds himself embroiled in an elaborate court battle as he tries to prove his innocence.  Expertly building on all the events and interactions in the first half of The Widow, Grisham sets up an impressive and very realistic series of court sequences, all while the Simon’s life falls even further apart around him.  There is a brilliant sense of desperation and despair in this second half of the book, and you really get drawn into the thrilling legal battles, which are laced with beautiful uncertainty, as you are unsure if the protagonist is truly innocent and where the story is going to go next.  I personally was enthralled with this second half of The Widow and powered through it extremely quickly, as I was keen to see how the court case ended and the reveals about who was responsible for Eleanor’s death.

While I loved all the key legal battles, and the extensive court case that takes up a good chunk of the second half of the book, I must admit that I was a little disappointed with how The Widow ended.  This was because the final 50 pages contained a rushed, and slightly unlikely, investigation arc that looks to uncover the truth of how the titular widow died.  While there are some excellent elements to these final pages, the revealed truth about Eleanor’s death comes a little out of nowhere and derailed the careful nature of the rest of the plot.  While there are some hints about who or what was responsible earlier in the book, I think that Grisham erred with this ending, and a different reveal more connected to the main plot would have been better.  Still, it was a mostly satisfying conclusion to book’s overall narrative, and readers will be happy where some of the main cast, especially the protagonist, finish up.

I really enjoyed how Grisham wrote The Widow, as the author effortlessly pulled together a complex story of the legal system told primarily through the eyes of an ethically dubious lawyer.  Featuring elements reminiscent of the author’s other small-town legal thrillers, particularly those set in Clanton, this was an amazing character-focused book.  Grisham does an excellent job of effectively introducing the protagonist, Simon Latch, and viewing his descent from respected lawyer to suspected killer thanks to his own greedy actions.  Thanks to Grisham’s clever examination of all the events of the protagonist’s life, you feel very sympathetic towards Simon, even if he continuously makes things worse for himself.  The somewhat simplistic dishonestly of Simon is well matched by some of the more devious or naturally deceitful characters in The Widow, including the elderly Eleanor Barnett, who suddenly becomes the most important person in Simon’s life.  Old, crotchety and stubborn, Grisham paints a great layer of uncertainty around Eleanor, which ensures the reader is never quite sure whether she is genuinely rich, or pulling some sort of elaborate con on Simon and the other lawyers in his town.  The eventual reveal of this truth is extremely fun, and thanks to the way the two characters are entangled at the end of Eleanor’s life, it helps produce a fantastic murder trial that you can really sink your teeth into.

The resulting criminal defence case was the true highlight of The Widow, and Grisham was in his wheelhouse writing not only the trial but the more mundane legal elements of the protagonist’s practice, which proves to be a key part of the plot.  I deeply appreciated how well the court case played out in the second half of The Widow, which cleverly revisits the events of the first half of the book to examine the protagonist’s guilt.  It soon becomes clear that Grisham did an amazing job hiding a lot of hints and relevant details in the early parts of the plot, and the way these elements come to be used later in was extremely clever.  While I still have my doubts about the novel final reveal, the rest of the book has an excellent flow to it, and I really appreciate how Grisham upped the pace in the second half of the book with a truly gripping court battle.  Throw in an excellent depiction of small-town life and the Virginia legal system, thanks to the portray of fictional town of Braxton and this ended up being a very compelling novel I honestly couldn’t put down.

John Grisham continues to highlight why he is one of the very best writers of legal thriller fiction with The Widow.  A complex and powerful novel, with a compelling protagonist focus, The Widow was a brilliant read, and I loved how wrapped up I got in the book’s outstanding mystery and the various secrets and legal battles surrounding it.  While there are some stumbles towards the conclusion, The Widow was an overall incredible read that is going to appeal to all Grisham fans and those who love a good legal thriller.  I look forward to diving into whatever Grisham writes next.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday6 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  In this latest Waiting on Wednesday feature, I look at a very cool upcoming legal thriller that I know I am going to love with Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh.

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Over the last few years, I have become a massive fan of all things thriller, especially with the cool range of different stories that the genre encapsulates.  One of my favourite thriller sub-genres is the legal thriller, as there is something highly entertaining watching over-the-top court battles take place amongst over interesting storylines.  There are some very fun legal thriller novels out there, but I have taken a particular liking to the Eddie Flynn books by Steve Cavanagh, which have proven to be exceptionally awesome.

Cavanagh is an excellent author with some truly entertaining novels under his belt.  Not only did he write the outstanding standalone read, Kill For Me Kill For You, but he has been consistently impressive with his Eddie Flynn novels.  Set around former conman turned lawyer Eddie Flynn, the series sees the protagonist use his old unlawful talents, as well as his legal acumen, to defend interesting clients from impossible or unfair cases.  Each of these novels usually features a fun twist that takes the trial up a whole notch, such as having the real killer be a juror or featuring a sadistic prosecutor who manipulates the system to always get the death penalty.  I have had an exceptional time reading the latest Eddie Flynn books, including The Devil’s Advocate, The Accomplice and Witness 8, and I am very eager to see what Cavanagh has in store for us next.

Luckily, the next novel from Cavanagh isn’t too far away, as the ninth Eddie Flynn novel is currently set for release in late July 2025.  This upcoming novel, Two Kinds of Stranger, will feature another complex and unusual case, as the protagonist attempts to save a fallen internet celebrity from her own kindness.

Plot Synopsis:

SHE HELPED A PERFECT A STRANGER. SHE DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS THE PERFECT KILLER…

 Ellie Parker had everything.
Perfect husband. Perfect apartment. Perfect friends and the perfect job.
As an internet celebrity – famed for her random acts of kindness – everyone knew it.
So when a betrayal causes her to lose it all, millions of people are watching.

But even at her lowest, Ellie will always help someone in need.
Which makes her the perfect target for a sadistic game.
Because as she soon learns, you can never trust a stranger – and a seemingly random encounter plunges her into a nightmare worse than she ever imagined.

The only person she can turn to is conman turned trial lawyer Eddie Flynn, who must take on a case where nothing is what it seems. With the most cruelly ingenious mind manipulating events from the shadows, everyone is in danger – including Eddie and his family.

While the above synopsis is nice and cryptic, it does suggest a very interesting plot that I am quite excited for with Two Kinds of Stranger.  Cavanagh always excels at writing desperate characters and elaborate scenarios, and this fits that bill nicely, especially the parts involving a sinister stranger who gets the protagonist’s new client into all sorts of trouble.  I look forward to seeing what sort of evil manipulations and dark scenes emerge thanks to this dark figure in the shadows, and it will be fascinating to see how the always twisty and clever Flynn worms his way out of it.  I have no doubt that the above scenario is going to turn into something very impressive, and I cannot wait to see how entertaining and over-the-top the story gets.

Based on how much fun I’ve had with Steve Cavanagh and the Eddie Flynn novels over the last few years, I was always going to get Two Kinds of Stranger when it came out, but I must admit the above scenario has got me very curious about what sort of cool thriller this is going to be.  Two Kinds of Stranger has a ton of potential, and I look forward to powering through this new offering from Cavanagh the second it comes out.

Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh

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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 Outsider by Stephen King

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Thriller, Throwback Thursday11 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton/Simon and Schuster Audio (Audiobook – 22 May 2018)

Series: Standalone/Holly Gibney series

Length: 18 hours and 41 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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After years of having it on my to-read list, I finally got around to checking out The Outsider by Stephen King, and boy was it a particularly epic book.

Fans of this blog will know that I have been getting more and more into Stephen King lately, especially as I have been lucky enough to receive copies of his more recent books.  I have so far deeply enjoyed Mr Mercedes, Later, Billy Summers (one of my favourite books of 2021), Fairy Tale, Holly (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), and You Like it Darker (one of my favourite books from the first half of 2024).  These have all been amazing reads in their own way and I really enjoyed the elaborate stories, dark plots, and complex characters that King comes up with.  However, one of my new favourite King novels with a captivating scenario was the fantastic read The Outsider.

Released back in 2018, The Outsider was an intriguing novel that really caught my attention with its unique concept.  I immediately identified it as a book I wanted to read, but I was unable to fit it into my reading schedule back then, which I deeply regret now.  Despite not reading it when came out, The Outsider remained firmly in mind, especially as it had connections to the Bill Hodges trilogy, which I had also heard good things about.  This need to check out The Outsider was dramatically increased after I read Holly last year and was blown away by the elaborate and exceedingly dark story.  As such, I have been looking for an opportunity to enjoy The Outsider for a while, and a recent road trip gave me all the excuse I needed, and boy was I glad that I did.

It is the worst crime to ever occur in the history of Flint City.  A young boy, Frankie Peterson, has been brutally killed, raped and mutilated, his violated body left on display out in the local park.  The Flint City police, led by detective Ralph Anderson, are determined to find the monster responsible for Frankie Peterson’s death, and they soon zero in on a prime suspect, local sports coach and one of Flint City’s most respected citizens, Terrence Maitland.

With unassailable evidence and numerous witnesses placing him at the scene, the police have a watertight case against Maitland, and Anderson orders the public arrest of the coach in front of his family, friends, and the entire town.  However, despite the DNA, fingerprints, and numerous reliable witnesses indicating that Maitland killed Frankie, Maitland insists that he is innocent and has an airtight alibi for the time of the murder, having been in a major public conference in another city, surrounded by unimpeachable witnesses.

Determined to prove that Maitland committed the murder, Anderson and his colleagues attempt to destroy his alibi.  But the further they dig, the more apparent it becomes that Maitland was nowhere near the scene of the crime, and Anderson begins to believe Maitland’s pleas of innocence.  With lives being destroyed all around him and the citizens of Flint City baying for Maitland’s blood, Anderson is forced to figure out how a man can be in two places at once.  But when the situation takes a dark turn, both Anderson and Maitland’s supporters call in unusual investigator Holly Gibney, whose own experience with impossible cases will take them in the darkest of directions.

Well damn, that was particularly awesome.  I knew I was going to love The Outsider well before I read it, but even I was unprepared for how impressive and captivating this novel proved to be.  Featuring King’s typical elaborate storytelling, powerful characters, and unique insights into the human mind, The Outsider was a complex and sinister read that will have you hooked from the very beginning and which gets a very easy five-star rating from me.

King presents the reader with an incredibly, dark, complex and thoughtful narrative that burrows into your head and refuses to leave.  Starting off strong and proceeding into darker and more horror-lined territory, this complex narrative sucked me in almost instantly thanks to the very impressive initial story concept.  Introducing a particularly gruesome murder, The Outsider starts off in crime fiction/legal thriller territory, as King showcases the details of the initial arrest of Terrence Maitland, while also bringing in a few key characters.  These early chapters are cleverly offset by a series of short inclusions that showcase police interviews and forensic evidence for the main investigation, all of which firmly paints Maitland as the killer.  However, events take an outstanding turn shortly into the book, when Maitland reveals an impossibly airtight alibi that flies in the face of the substantial evidence of the police.  The full extent of this alibi is particularly compelling, especially with King name-dropping one of his peers, and it really turns the entire plot on its head.  The subsequent scenes are extremely intriguing, as the reader sees both sides of the case, and find themselves wondering if Maitland committed the crime, is completely innocent, or whether something far more sinister is going on.  I honestly love every second of this first half of The Outsider, and I cannot emphasise just how exceptional and thought-provoking this complex scenario proved to be.

At around the halfway point, The Outsider features a substantial moment that changes the entire tone and focus of the plot.  While I was initially a little disappointed with this, mainly because I was already loving the direction the story had been going up to that point, it helps turn The Outsider into a more typical King novel, loaded with complex horror elements that reflect dark human nature.  The author also deeply enhances the story’s emotional drama, placing several characters in terrible situations, and amping up the desperate tragedy of the plot.  Thanks to the introduction of recurring King protagonist Holly Gibney, the protagonists start to consider a more unnatural solution to the crime and begin to investigate accordingly.  I quite enjoyed the dive into the darker, supernatural side of the story, and the resulting investigation is quite unique, requiring the grounded protagonists to believe in the unknown.  King ensures that the supernatural investigation elements of the book come across in a compelling and sensible manner, and it was intriguing to see how the character’s reached their conclusions.  The case eventually leads the protagonists on an extended trip to Texas, which ends with a series of showdowns.  King keeps the intensity of the plot going all the way to the very end, and readers will be left guessing about who’s going to survive and how the story will unfold.  The chase for the culprit and the big showdown were a very solid conclusion to the entire narrative, and you will come away extremely satisfied with how The Outsider ended.

I really enjoyed how this book came together, and I personally think that this was one of the stronger King novels I have so far had the pleasure of reading.  A lot of this comes down to the initial clever scenario, which King does an extremely good job of setting up.  The whole idea of someone accused of a crime they are innocent of and have a perfect alibi for really makes you think, and King utilises it to perfection, diving into the thoughts of the police, the alleged perpetrator, and the various family members associated with it.  It helped that King once again returned to his favourite setting of a small American town, and he was able to capture the resulting chaos as rumour and fear spread throughout Flint City.  You can really feel the emotional turmoil of all the people in the town, especially the main characters, and it helped to deeply enhance the impact of every scene, especially when you have no idea whether Maitland committed the crime or not.  The way in which the author starts off as a more traditional crime fiction story also works extremely well and helps to drag the readers into the plot with its mystery.  However, the transition over to horror is particularly effective, and the way in which the darkness infecting the plot goes from that created by ordinary humans to something more supernatural, is an effective and powerful part of the book.  This proved to be a particularly haunting and moving read that will keep you up late at night thinking about how you would react in the exact same scenario.

While most of King’s books prove to be standalone reads, The Outsider is connected to the author’s previous Bill Hodges series due to the inclusion of a major supporting character.  I had heard in advance that readers needed to be familiar with the Bill Hodges books to fully appreciate this book, however, I felt that The Outsider stood on its own merits as a standalone novel.  New readers can easily dive into The Outsider’s excellent story without any issues and will become enthralled in King’s complex mystery and his excellent depictions of human nature.  Established fans of the Bill Hodges books will probably get the most out of The Outsider, especially as it is a continuation of King’s unique look at the crime fiction genre, and the return of a key character offers a lot of opportunities for those who loved his previous trilogy.  However, I would say that this is a book that pretty much all mystery, thriller or horror fans can really enjoy, as there is something for everyone here, although some readers should be warned about how dark and graphic this story can get.

I really need to highlight the outstanding character work that King featured within The Outsider.  This fantastic book featured a rich cast of complex small-town characters who find themselves caught up the twisted darkness of a small child’s murder and the subsequent revelations about who was behind it.  King does such an exceptional job of diving into the various mindscapes of the impacted characters, from the obsessed investigating detective who is taking the case personally, to the distressed wife of the apparent killer, and even the confused accused himself.  The complicated mindscapes of all these characters, and more, are shown in exquisite detail throughout The Outsider, and you really grow attached to their powerful personal tales.

While I don’t want to go into too much specific detail about the book’s primary cast here for spoiler reasons, I will say that the way the various characters deal with events and the many dark twists makes for quite a personal and emotionally charged read, and it was fascinating to watch so many characters try to let go of their conventional thinking and try to see the world in a different light.  I also must highlight the intriguing way in which King enhances his cast in the second half of The Outsider by bringing in investigator Holly Gibney from the Bill Hodges trilogy.  Holly, the slightly unusual but brilliant private eye, proved to be a compelling addition to the plot, and it proved very interesting to see her interact with the established cast, especially as Holly has a much more open mind due to her previous experiences.  Fans of the Bill Hodges books will really love seeing Holly return, and her compelling character development since her original appearance in Mr Mercedes proves to be a great part of the book.  I really cannot emphasise just how impressive the various characters, as well as their complex development, is in The Outsider, and you will have to check it out.  Be warned though, no one comes out of this book unscathed, including the reader when they become attached to these great figures.

As I mentioned above, I managed to enjoy The Outsider while out on a road trip, which meant that I listened to the audiobook version of it.  I have had some great success with Stephen King audiobooks in the past, and The Outsider was another impressive example of how this format can enhance the powerful story within.  Coming in with a substantial runtime of nearly 19 hours, listeners do require a bit of a time investment for The Outsider audiobook, but it is well worth it.  I felt that I got a fantastic sense of the story while listening to it, and I love the intense depictions of the characters, the small-town setting, and the dark deeds being done within.

In addition to the great way it brings to the story to life for the reader, one of the big highlights of The Outsider audiobook was the inclusion of veteran actor Will Patton as the narrator.  Patton, who has lent his voice to several of King’s previous audiobooks, does an outstanding job narrating The Outsider.  His softly spoken and measured voice really fits the dark and sinister story contained within The Outsider, and you get an excellent sense of the personal horror and complex emotions that the events of this book unleash.  Patton also does an outstanding job voicing the eclectic and damaged characters featured within The Outsider.  Patton infected many of these characters with his southern accent, which fit the small-town vibe of The Outsider extremely well, and you can really imagine King’s characters a lot better with Patton’s voice behind them.  Highlights for me include his take on the antagonist of The Outsider’s real voice, as well as an entertaining old lady found down in Texas, who steals all the scenes she’s in, especially with Patton’s exaggerated tones.  However, I did feel that Patton overplayed the awkward nature of Holly Gibney when she entered the plot.  Patton made all of Holly’s dialogue, as well as the description of events in the chapters told from her perspective, very subdued and halting, which messed with the flow of the audiobook.  While I know that he was trying to capture Holly’s ethereal and damaged nature with this narration, it was honestly a bit distracting.  Despite this slight annoyance, this ended up being an awesome way to enjoy The Outsider and I can personally guarantee that it is an incredible accompaniment to a long road-trip.

Overall, The Outsider proved to an outstanding and exceptional book from the always impressive Stephen King that I could not get enough off.  Featuring both an incredible mystery and some brilliant dark horror moments, The Outsider is a particularly gripping and intense read that will live rent free in the dark corners of your brain.  Highly recommended and one of my new favourite Stephen King books.

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Waiting on Wednesday – Grave Danger by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller, Waiting on Wednesday7 Comments

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I look at an awesome legal thriller set for release at the start of 2025, with Grave Danger by James Grippando.

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Earlier this year I had the very great pleasure of diving into the latest book from a long-running series when I read the amazing novel, Goodbye Girl by James Grippando.  The latest entry in Grippando’s Jack Swyteck series, Goodbye Girl was a highly clever legal thriller, loaded with twists, exciting legal manoeuvres and a sinister killer.  Thanks to its great plot and fantastic characters, I ended up having an amazing time with Goodbye Girl, and it was one of the better audiobooks I listened to in the first half of 2024.  As such, I am now keen to check out every new Jack Swyteck novel that comes out, as I know I’m going to have a ton of fun with them.

To that end, I have been keeping an eye on Grippando’s upcoming releases, and I was very excited to see that a new Jack Swyteck book is coming out in January 2025.  This book, Grave Danger, will see Swyteck caught up in another elaborate legal case with deadly implications for himself, his client, and those that he loves.

Plot Synopsis:

Bestselling author James Grippando’s legendary criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck is back to defend a single mother accused of kidnapping her own child in a perilous case involving politics and international diplomacy that will test his legal expertise and his marriage.

Jack Swyteck’s new client fled Iran to Miami with her daughter, and has been accused of kidnapping by her husband. The seasoned attorney must not only plan a winning defense. To stop the father from taking the girl back to Tehran, Jack must build a case under international law and prove that returning the child would put her at risk.

But everything in this case isn’t what it seems, and Jack quickly learns that his client is really the child’s aunt and that the biological mother may have been killed by Iran’s morality police. But what role did the father play in his wife’s death, and why is Jack’s wife, FBI Agent Andie Henning, being pressured by her bosses to persuade Jack to drop the case?

Plunging into an investigation unlike any other, Jack must discover who is behind the legal maneuvering and what their interest is. As politics threatens to derail the case and compromise the best interests of the child, Jack and Andie find themselves on opposite sides—with their marriage hanging in the balance. For their relationship to survive, the couple must navigate a treacherous web of deceit that extends from a Miami courthouse to the highest echelons of Washington DC, and spells grave danger at every turn.

I have to say that I am very intrigued by this upcoming book, especially as Grippando appears to have pulled together a particularly compelling narrative.  The case at the heart of Grave Danger has some awesome international and political implications behind it, which look set to tie into some contemporary world-events.  I have no doubt that Grippando is going to wrangle together some excellent court sequences, and this sounds like a particularly strong central storyline for a great legal thriller.  It also sounds like Grippando is going to continue diving into the marital issues between the protagonist and his wife, as the strain of a high-profiled defence attorney being married to an FBI agent continues to emerge.  This should result in a particularly intense read, and I am very much looking forward to it.

Honestly, after how much Goodbye Girl impressed me earlier this year, James Grippando and the Jack Swyteck series is now firmly on my annual to-read list, so there was no way that I am going to miss Grave Danger when it comes out.  However, I also really love the sound of the cool story that Grave Danger has, and I am already very intrigued to see how the entire narrative comes together.  This will probably end up being one of the stronger thrillers I read in 2025, and I cannot wait to get my hands on Grave Danger to continue my new adventures with James Grippando and the Jack Swyteck series.

Quick Review – Camino Ghosts by John Grisham

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller5 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 28 May 2024)

Series: Camino Island – Book Three

Length: 292 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Iconic thriller author John Grisham returns with another excellent and compelling novel, Camino Ghosts, that takes the reader on an intriguing journey.

Grisham is another author I don’t really need to introduce.  The mastermind behind so many classic best sellers, Grisham has been wowing audiences since the 1980s with fantastic and intricate tales.  I myself have only reading Grisham in the last couple of years, with books like The Judge’s List, The Boys from Biloxi, Sparring Partners and The Exchange, leaving a big impression on me.  As such, I was eager to try out Grisham’s latest novel, Camino Ghosts, especially as it had a great plot premise behind it.  The third book in the author’s Camino Island series, Camino Ghosts was a fascinating book that I got quite attached to.

Plot Synopsis:

Following John Grisham’s international bestsellers, Camino Island and Camino Winds, Camino Ghosts is the story of an island off the Florida coast with a haunted, violent history and an uncertain future.

Dark Isle off the Florida coast is said to be cursed: drownings, disappearances and hauntings have been the fate of intruders. The people who lived there were once enslaved. Now abandoned, it is the target of greedy developers.

Lovely Jackson is the last survivor and claims to be its legal owner. But there is not a shred of evidence to prove that is true.

It’s unlikely that the developers will be deterred by the claims of one old woman. They have millions; Lovely only has Steve Mahon, a pro bono environmental lawyer, and Mercer Mann, a floundering novelist, to fight in her corner.

With the court case looming and the bulldozers waiting to roll in, Steve and Mercer are in a race against time to unearth the truth behind Lovely’s story and save the legacy of the island.

I really liked Camino Ghosts, which proved to be a very entertaining and unique novel that I had such a wonderful getting through.  This was quite an interesting read, and Grisham came up with quite an unusual story that really appealed to me.  Although billed as a thriller or legal thriller, Camino Ghosts honestly felt more like a comfy slice-of-life story to me that occasionally featured some legal thriller elements, as well as an outstanding historical fiction background.

As I mentioned above, Camino Ghosts is part of the Camino Islands series, and is once again primarily set on the fictitious Camino Island, home to an eclectic mixture of people, all bustling along on their island paradise.  The series primarily focuses on recurring characters Mercer Mann, an idealistic novelist, and island bookseller Bruce Cable, new local figure Lovely Jackson, as well as a various other friends and inhabitants who come together as the story demands it.  The latest book is essentially a standalone read with its own self-contained story, although readers can expect the same easy-going atmosphere that Grisham included in the previous Camino Island novels, as well as a few minor references to prior events.

The plot of Camino Ghosts revolves around a historically significant abandoned island that sits just off the main Camino Island, known to the locals as Dark Isle.  The always entertaining Bruce provides Mercer with an interesting, self-published history of Dark Isle, and which Mercer decides to use as inspiration for her next book.  Seeking out the author, Lovely Jackson, the last living inhabitant of the island, Mercer and Bruce soon get involved in Lovely’s battle to save Dark Isle from developers, which results in a lengthy legal battle.  At the same time, the characters learn more and more about the unique history of Dark Isle, which served as a refuge for runaway slaves, and upon which a dark curse still apparently lingers.

This ended up being a sleek and captivating story that really drew me in.  Grisham quickly sets the scene for the narrative, with the returning protagonists becoming aware of the history of Dark Isle before becoming invested in saving it from the property developers who want to destroy it.  The main plot is very character driven, and it combines their actions in trying to document and save the island, with their day-to-day lives and interactions on Camino Island.  There are quite a few interesting and memorable figures who get involved in the resulting case, which includes a mixture of returning figures from the previous books, as well as several great new characters.  The entire story proceeds a fast and compelling pace, and soon you get stuck into the legal proceedings around the ownership of the island.  While Grisham throws in some entertaining legal shenanigans and ploys, for the most part the main story comes across as a nice and comfy read, with a focus on character interactions and human interest.  There is even a pretty fun ongoing discussion about the joys of writing novels/books and the complicated behind the scenes elements of securing publishing and getting paid for your work.

As the main story progresses, Grisham also throws in an entertaining historical fiction aspect to the plot, which I really enjoyed.  Thanks to extracts from Lovely Jackson’s book, you come to learn the history of Dark Isle, and its intriguing role as a haven for escaped slaves, who formed their own community on the island.  Grisham spreads these historical inclusions throughout the plot of Camino Ghosts, and they feature an intriguing array of narrative threads, which honestly are much darker than the main story of the book.  Focusing on slavery, brutality and even some unconventional war down in Florida, the history of Dark Isle proves to be highly fascinating, and I honestly would have loved to see a whole book written about this fictious island.  I really appreciated how these historical elements melded into the main plot of the story, and it gives some context to events happening as well as discussing the apparent curse haunting the island and causing issues for the antagonists.  I felt that the shift in tones between the main plot and this dive into the past contrasted nicely against each other, and it allowed for a much more powerful read, especially as it allows the reader to fully appreciate the importance of saving Dark Isle and the connection Lovely Jackson has to the location.

This combination of story elements comes together into a satisfying and entertaining overarching narrative which honestly proves hard to put down.  Thanks to both the relatable characters and intriguing history, you grow quite invested in the fight to save Dark Isle, and Grisham works in some exciting legal sequences to keep the reader on the edge of their seats.  The story ends on a very satisfying, thoughtful note, and readers come away really engaged with the complex story the author was trying to tell.  I really loved how deep and personal Camino Ghosts felt at times, and I honestly was surprised at how much I enjoyed this more comfortable storytelling from Grisham.  As such, Camino Ghosts is a very highly recommended book that will appeal to a range of readers, especially those looking for a nice, easy to read novel with some unique twists to them.

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Goodbye Girl by James Grippando

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Thriller11 Comments

Goodbye Girl Cover

Publisher: Harper Audio (Audiobook – 9 January 2024)

Series: Jack Swyteck – Book 18

Length: 12 hours and 2 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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In the mood for a complex, gripping and endlessly entertaining legal thriller?  Look no further than the exciting and compelling read, Goodbye Girl by acclaimed author James Grippando.

I am still relatively new to the thriller genre, and I have been trying to catch up on all the different and compelling thriller authors out there I have yet to experience.  One new-to-me author I just came across was James Grippando, who has been writing intriguing thrillers since 1994.  A former lawyer, Grippando has produced a raft of awesome sounding books over the years, including several great standalone novels and his iconic and long-running Jack Swyteck series, which focuses on a titular defence attorney who gets caught up in a range of deadly and intense cases.  I personally became interested in Grippando earlier this year when I came across the synopsis for his new Jack Swyteck book, Goodbye Girl, which really appealed to me.  The 18th book in the series, Goodbye Girl, sounded like so much fun and I ended up having an outstanding time reading it.

Jack Swyteck, Miami’s top criminal defence attorney, has defended many infamous and notorious people throughout his career, but none had the star power of his new client, beloved popstar Imani Nichols.  A Grammy-winning star with worldwide fame, Imani is every definition of successful, except when it comes to the money she makes.  Signed to a controlling contract as a teenager, the rights to Imani’s original songs are now firmly owned by her ex-husband and manager, Shaky Nichols, who receives all the royalties for her music.

Determined to get back at her ex-husband, Imani has begun a controversial campaign, encouraging her fans to “go pirate” and download her early music illegally, ensuring that no-one, especially Shaky, makes any money from her songs.  In response, Shaky has engaged in ruinous litigation against Imani, who in desperate need of counsel, hires Jack to defend her.  The case swiftly turns into a salacious media circus, where allegations of infidelity, manipulation and abuse fly from both sides of the courtroom.  However, this scandalous trial is only the beginning, and soon Jack is forced to defend his client against far more serious charges.

Years earlier, a young man was found brutally murdered by asphyxiation and his body displayed in Biscayne Bay, chained to a piling with the words “goodbye girl” written on his chest.  When connections between the victim, Tyler McCormick, and Imani and Shaky are discovered, the police believe that they are responsible for his death, and suddenly Jack must now defend the estranged spouses in a complex murder trial.  Caught in the sensational trial of the century, Jack and those closest to him are forced to contend with the chaotic consequences of this case, including enraged Russian oligarchs, deadly hitman, and a deranged serial killer who bears a murderous grudge against online pirates.

Goodbye Girl was an incredible novel from Grippando that had me absolutely hooked from the very beginning.  A powerful and exciting thrill-ride filled with intense legal cases, complex investigations and fantastic characters, Goodbye Girl was a truly awesome read that proved very, very hard to put down.

I really got drawn into the awesome story that Grippando came up with for Goodbye Girl, as this book features a thrilling tale of murder, broken relationships, and betrayal, all centred around a series of intense legal cases.  The primary story initially sees Jack defend the famous singer Imani from a complex civil case from her ex-husband, which turns into a highly entertaining and salacious legal affair in the courtroom.  This initial trial is quite fun, especially as it bears some similarity to the infamous Johnny Depp/Amber Heard case, and it proves to be a compelling initial occurrence.  However, things get far more complicated as the protagonist’s client, and her former husband, are drawn into other cases, including federal charges of piracy, and the gruesome murder of a young man, Tyler McCormick, who has a past connection with the singer.

While Jack is caught up in these various complex, but highly entertaining, trials, the narrative splits to follow several other protagonists on parallel adventures.  Jack’s best friend, Theo Knight, becomes embroiled in related trouble in London, as he manages to annoy a Russian oligarch involved in the piracy business.  At the same time, Jack’s wife, Andie, begins investigating a series of murders that mirror the death of Tyler McCormick, and she soon finds herself hunting a deadly serial killer with a very specific motivation and methodology.  These intriguing storylines combine nicely with the main legal-thriller elements of the plot, resulting in a complex, multi-directional narrative which expertly keeps the reader’s attention.  Grippando loads up the story with some clever misdirection, over-the-top moments, and a few big twists, all of which increases the intensity and attractiveness of the plot.  I honestly was surprised at some of the directions that the author took the story, and I loved how crazy parts of the book got, especially when it came to why victims of the serial killer where being targeted.  The author keeps the tension going right to the end, and I loved the clever resolution to the various storylines, especially as the reader comes away extremely satisfied.

I really enjoyed how Goodbye Girl was written, especially as Grippando has an entertaining and fast-paced style that really drew me in.  The extremely strong story was well enhanced by the author’s ability to quickly jump between his protagonists, as well as a few antagonists.  The multitude of unique perspectives added a lot to the impact of the story, especially as the three main protagonists each experienced their own intense hurdles, including thrilling action in London, and an intense hunt for a serial killer in America.  While Theo and Andie’s storylines are a lot of fun and add a lot to the overall plot, the highlight of this book is the intensely compelling legal-thriller elements, which centre around main protagonist Jack Swyteck.  Throughout the course of Goodbye Girl, the protagonist becomes involved in a raft of different cases and trials, all of which are extremely compelling, and tie into the main story in some very interesting ways.  Grippando really utilised his experiences as a lawyer to create a series of realistic courtroom sequences, and I loved seeing the fantastic and fun back and forth that occurred in the court.  These trial scenes were really well written, and the reader gets effortlessly drawn into proceedings, especially as the protagonist is forced to engage in a range of tricky and entertaining legal manoeuvres in the various complex cases.  These court sequences were some of the best parts of the book, and the other story threads played off them extremely well, ensuring a complex and twisty narrative.  Throw in some fascinating and highly relevant discussions about online piracy, which becomes a key part of the plot, and Goodbye Girl really had something for all thriller and crime fiction fans.

I must admit that when I started reading Goodbye Girl, I did initially worry that it would be hard to come into the Jack Swyteck series at the 18th entry.  However, this proved not to be the case, as Goodbye Girl proved to be a very easy novel to enjoy without any prior knowledge of the other books in the series.  Most of the story contained within Goodbye Girl is insular, and readers can dive right into the plot without having read any of the other books.  While there are references to prior cases and the character history, none of it is especially relevant to the current plot, and Grippando’s explanations allow the reader to easily follow what is going on.  The author also does a great job of once again showcasing the relationships between the existing characters, so all readers get the full emotional experience of the story.  The author did feature some complex character interactions amongst the recurring protagonists. which seems likely to continue in future, however, nothing was exclusive to fans of the prior books.  There is also a range of cool new characters, especially the big personalities associated with the main case, and I enjoyed their entertaining interactions with the main characters, even if Grippando did lean too heavily into deliberately featuring “pick-me girl” characters.  As such, Goodbye Girl can easily be enjoyed by new and existing readers without any difficulty, and indeed anyone interested in a fantastic and compelling legal thriller will be spoiled by this book.

I ended up grabbing Goodbye Girl on audiobook, which is often my favourite way to enjoy a good novel.  This proved to be a great idea in the case of Goodbye Girl as the audiobook version was very fun to listen to and really brought the awesome story to life.  Coming in with a run time of 12 hours, this was a relatively quick audiobook to get through, and I had a blast listening to the complex story.  It helped that Goodbye Girl featured the vocal talents of one of my favourite audiobook narrators, Jonathan Davis.  Davis, who I best known for his work on some epic Star Wars audiobooks (including Master & Apprentice, Lords of the Sith, Maul: Lockdown and Kenobi), is an exceptional narrator with a variety of cool voices and accents at his disposal.  I really liked how Davis read out Goodbye Girl, and the fun characters and over-the-top scenes that emerged were highly entertaining when narrated by this amazing talent.  The various characters are each giving fitting and fun voices that I really enjoyed, and Davis brings a range of serviceable accents to the fore in the various international settings.  I also appreciated how he helped to enhance the magic of the author’s various court sequences, and the fantastic back and forth between the various character in the trial really came across in a clear and effective manner through Davis’ narration.  Due to this amazing narration, as well as how thrilling it was to listen to this great story be read out, I strongly recommend Goodbye Girl on audiobook.

My first experience with James Grippando’s amazing writing proved to be a lot of fun as the new Jack Swyteck novel, Goodbye Girl, ended up being quite extraordinary.  Featuring an outstanding narrative that blended a complex array of legal cases and trials, with some exciting thriller elements, Goodbye Girl was an exceptional read from start to finish and I got so drawn into this novel as a result.  This was such an incredible book, and I now fully intend to read all the new Jack Swyteck books from Grippando in the future.

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The No.1 Lawyer by James Patterson and Nancy Allen

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Thriller6 Comments

The No.1 Lawyer Cover

Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 3 April 2024)

Series: Standalone

Length: 423 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The blockbuster team of bestselling author James Patterson and former lawyer Nancy Allen return with the outstanding and highly entertaining legal thriller, The No.1 Lawyer.

I have been having an outstanding time getting into the various works of James Patterson the last few years, especially as he produces so many excellent books in collaboration with a range of exceptional authors.  This includes 2 Sisters Detective Agency and The Murder Inn with Candice Fox, Death of the Black Widow with J. D. Barker, Lost with James O. Born and The Perfect Assassin with Brian Sitts, just to name a few.  One of the more interesting people he has been collaborating with is veteran lawyer and author Nancy Allen.  Best known for her Ozarks Mysteries and Anonymous Justice series, Allen has also cowritten two legal thrillers with Patterson, including The Jailhouse Lawyer and Juror No.3.  The No.1 Lawyer is the third collaboration between Patterson and Allen and proved to be an amazing amount of fun.

Stafford Lee Penney is a high-flying lawyer with a shining reputation in the city of Biloxi.  The son of a notorious mob lawyer, Stafford Lee has worked his way out of the mud and holds the distinction of being the best defence attorney in the state of Mississippi.  However, this dubious title comes at a cost, and Stafford Lee’s marriage is in the toilet and his home life is a mess.  Throwing himself into his latest case, Stafford Lee defends a prominent doctor accused of a heinous murder in the trial of the century.

Determined to show that he’s the best, Stafford Lee provides an impassioned defence in this controversial case.  However, Stafford Lee is unprepared for the fallout of his decision to defend the undefendable, when his wife is murdered and he loses everything.  Broken and devastated, Stafford Lee sinks into a drunken losing streak that destroys his reputation and ends his once promising career.

With the help of his friends, Stafford Lee attempts to return to legal profession he loves so much, even if just on the periphery.  But he is unprepared for the dark truth that his wife’s killer might still be on the loose.  Worse, it soon becomes apparent that someone is targeting Stafford Lee personally, and he soon finds himself accused of murder.  To survive, Stafford Lee needs to once again become the No. 1 lawyer of Biloxi to win the biggest trial of his career, his own.

Patterson and Allen are in strong form as they bring together an outstanding and highly exciting legal thriller that is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.  The No.1 Lawyer was an awesome book, that wowed me with its cool court scenes, intriguing protagonists, and thrilling plot.

The team of Patterson and Allen come up with a fun and compelling narrative for The No.1 Lawyer and it was one that I found hard to put down at times.  The authors find the right balance of legal thriller, murder mystery and character driven storylines throughout The No.1 Lawyer and you really get drawn in as a result.  The first half of the book is firmly anchored around a big murder trial that the protagonist has been hired as the defence lawyer for.  This proves to be a fascinating case, especially as it raises some intriguing ethical concerns about Stafford Lee defending a likely guilty man, and the case gets highly personal and crazy at times.  This first half of the book also introduces some key plot points that become very relevant later, while also showcasing the main cast in a great way.  This first part of the book ends on some big moments, and while I was hooked all the way there, the compelling conclusion to the first part of the story ensured that I had to keep going with The No.1 Lawyer.

After the death of the protagonist’s wife, the story goes in some fantastic and personal directions as Stafford Lee ends up spiralling and very much losing his way.  This is easily the most emotionally charged part of The No.1 Lawyer, and you really come to appreciate the author’s character work and how they cover grief and loss.  A good chunk of the middle of the book is dedicated the protagonist rebuilding his life one brick at a time, while he also finds his way back into the legal profession, albeit at a much lower level than before.  These various scenes are really heartfelt, and the authors also use them to further set up additional plot points for the rest of the book.

The final third of The No.1 Lawyer is where all the action unfolds, and Patterson and Allen don’t hold back, with additional murders, frame jobs and a new trial where the protagonist must defend himself for murder.  I really enjoyed how bleak things got for the protagonist here, especially after seeing him get back on his feet in the previous part of the book, and it was great to see him once again get into top legal form to defend himself.  The big trial here was very fun, as Stafford Lee stopped caring about decorum and decided to go for a very aggressive defence, and the resulting scenes were pretty damn fun.  There was also a compelling murder investigation in the sidelines, which melded well with the legal thriller parts of the book.  The big reveal of who was behind the killings was very interesting, if not too surprising, and while I liked how it turned out, especially the violent confrontation, I would have preferred a fun court sequence to reveal the truth.  Still, Patterson and Allen more than make up for this with the final big twist, which I thought was extremely clever, and which will blow more than a few people away.  I had such a great time with this amazing and epic story, and this was easily one of the most entertaining narratives of 2024 so far.

I am a big fan of legal thrillers, and Patterson’s writing style combined well with the knowledge of Allen to create a very good example of the genre.  The various court scenes and accompanying legal work are well showcased, and you really get drawn into the outrageous and captivating court sequences as a result.  The cases being discussed also prove to be quite complex, and I enjoyed seeing the various secrets and lies that the authors hide within the details.  I also had a good chuckle at Patterson and Allen producing a fun homage to John Grisham here with The No.1 Lawyer, especially as they featured a legal thriller down in Biloxi.  The two provide their own excellent take on this infamous city, and I liked the small town feel you often got with everyone knowing each other, especially as that led to some intriguing legal complications.  Everything is kept very sharp and fast paced, and the multiple quickfire chapters that are so typical of a Patterson book help to keep readers extremely engaged with the plot.

While there is obviously a lot of focus on murder and legal proceedings in The No.1 Lawyer, I felt that human elements of the story helped to make this book particularly good.  Nearly all the main characters in The No.1 Lawyer are deeply flawed in ways that only humans can be, and the authors do a wonderful job showcasing this as the plot continues.  This is particularly true for protagonist Stafford Lee Penney, the young hotshot lawyer whose obsession with his career has cost him his marriage and a normal homelife.  We follow Stafford Lee through the many highs and dramatic lows of his life, which presents a rollercoaster of emotions to the reader which are so damn compelling.  The many scenes where Stafford Lee loses everything and finds himself in a drunken depression were very moving, and the authors did an amazing job of capturing his grief and despair.  Watching him rebuild himself with the help of his friends was an excellent part of the book, and you really grow attached to him as a result, which makes the trials that follow even more intense.  I also appreciated how the way in which the book captures the many pressures associated with being a top-notch lawyer, especially as it shows that no matter how hard it gets, the protagonist loves his profession and the thrills that comes with it.

The No.1 Lawyer also features a fantastic supporting cast that move the story along in some interesting directions.  Stafford Lee’s two close friends, Mason Burnett and Jenny Glaser prove to be his emotional rock for much of the book, and the various scenes where they support Stafford Lee at this worst are some of the strongest in the entire novel.  Jenny’s concurrent investigation into the various killings around Biloxi also prove to be an interesting part of the book, especially as it often clashes with Stafford Lee’s wishes, and she proved to be a fantastic female lead.  However, I did think the inevitable romantic arc between Stafford Lee and Jenny was a little forced at times, and the book might have been fine without it.  Other key characters include Stafford Lee’s original client, who proves to be a fun key suspect, a notorious Biloxi gangster, and the various members of the state’s court system, all of whom prove quite invested in Stafford Lee’s various cases.  The opposing prosecution for Stafford Lee’s main trials is of particular note, especially as the cases get quite personal for them.  All these characters, and more, prove to be excellent additions to the plot and I really enjoyed the fun directions the authors took them in.

Overall, I had an amazing time with The No.1 Lawyer, and it proved to be a very epic and entertaining book that I really got invested in.  The brilliant team of James Patterson and Nancy Allen created an excellent legal thriller, and I really appreciated how compelling and exciting the story got at times.  Slick, entertaining, and loaded with substantial emotional charge, The No.1 Lawyer was a fantastic novel that is really worth checking out.

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