Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Defense by Steve Cavanagh

6 reviews

bookthief's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book follows Eddie Flynn getting back into court after coming out of a depressive episode. Unfortunately the circumstances are not what he imagined. This book was good but slow. The following books are more intense and better put together than the defence.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse

charskindle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Torture, and Trafficking

vjlp22_reader's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, and Murder

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

Having read Thirteen, I was keen to start the Eddie Flynn series from the beginning. But it felt strangely like The Defence wasn't the first in the series because Flynn has so much history already when the story begins. The real-time plot is not very long, and is interspersed with recollections that slowly flesh out Eddie's backstory as a hustler and lawyer. And it works quite well; it generates an emotional investment in the case while cementing Eddie as a likeable but complex series protagonist.

What I found really clever (if a little hard to believe) is how Eddie uses his con days to come up with interesting ways to manipulate his situation and plot his defence strategy. And as a reader you're rooting for him but it's hard to watch him try to win a case for a known murderer, which makes for compelling reading.

As I got further into the book, the many different gang characters and allegiances got a bit hard to follow. But it also becomes an absolute adrenaline rush of action that ramps up to insane proportions by the end, which was great fun if a little too full on. The character set up and cliffhanger ending make it an intriguing opener for the series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Alcoholism, and Murder

annikareads_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Death of parent and Terminal illness

kennanicole's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Violence

Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, and Rape