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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Gripping legal thriller from the very first sentence. I can't wait to read more in this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Gun violence, Murder
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyed every second of it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I have never been disappointed by Steve Cavanagh and *knock on wood* will never be. This series is awesome.
I think the only thing I liked about this novel was the very minor character of Tony G. Everything else, for the most part, was inaccurate, was over-the-top to the point of Michael Bay type action with no story, and was just a torture of a read. A lot of these characters feel like paper dolls. Miriam, the prosecutor, being the one who got so screwed over by the author, I found myself hating him. This is one of the few novels I wouldn't want anyone reading because of how much of a misrepresentation it is.
Let's start with the main character: Mary Sue, I mean Eddie Flynn (how could I have made that mistake). He's a former conman who is kidnapped by the Russian mafia to get their boss off. He's also an alcoholic and the second (and I mean the second) the going gets tough he begins to drink again, no internal conflict whatsoever. The author tried to make this into his one flaw, however, because he immediately broke his own personal rules in trying to become clean, its fault became irrelevant and nonexistent. He breaks his sobriety 4 times. But despite that, I just couldn't find myself liking Eddie Flynn as a character or even rooting for his win. He'd say derogatory statements without there being a single shred of evidence to back him up like this example on page 120: "Scholars say the blindfold is superfluous because the figure is female and therefore must be impartial. They obviously never tried a case in front of Judge Pike." If you go through his first courtroom appearance in front of Judge Pike, you will see no bias against him shown by Judge Pike. Leaps and bounds are made with Eddie's logic, making connections that, frankly, really have no connections. Why would the Russian Mafia not do a background check on Flynn? He's an unknown. They have the resources; they have an FBI agent in their back pocket for hell's sake, yet they choose not to use him.
I'm still trying to figure out how Eddie Flynn managed to put so many items in Kennedy's jacket and steal his phone at the same time from one little bump. I know there are people talented, but I don't think they're THAT talented. Cavanagh kind of just made up what he wanted you to believe when very little of it held any truth. The courtroom scenes were an absolute joke. Miriam doesn't object once during the defense's cross? That is unfathomable. You can't paint Miriam as this straight, tough-shooter and then only always show her as incompetent and bumbling along. In the bio at the back it does mention that Cavanagh is a lawyer in Northern Ireland. I'm not sure he understands the U.S. legal system or the Constitution for that matter. Pleading the fifth where it was pleaded, would do nothing for our little hero Tony G. He broke the contract. He will go to jail. Period. And it won't be for refusing to testify because of the 5th, but rather because of the drug charge he was trying to be immune from.
Eddie's crosses weren't clever. Eddie's crosses weren't relevant and would have been heavily objected and he would have been laughed out of court. Even his origin story for deciding to be a lawyer is ridiculous. No judge would dismiss a case based on the fact that an officer couldn't remember the call before or after the crime he was testifying for. If that were the case, no cop would ever be put on the stand if it's that easy to discredit them. This is completely unrealistic. This is why cops make case notes and study them. The other calls were not relevant to the case at hand.
There's more, oh, so much more. The discrediting of the good Doctor at the beginning wouldn't have worked. Miriam would have been smart enough not to open that door in the first place because opening that door means he can question it. And secondly, she would never have used his own example he presented to her as her argument. Thirdly, Eddie's ridiculous use of the 1st Amendment as an objection is just bad writing. The reasoning doesn't make sense. The equivalent of handwriting analysis being used to theorize the personality of the writer and a Christian Archeologist who believes the earth is only five thousand years old isn't even a good analogy. The better equivalent would be if someone who has a doctorate in Christian religions, but is a Muslim writing scholarly papers on Christianity (as if either of these things are related to studying) and for some reason Eddie Flynn is attacking them for it. In this case, the belief is separate from the science or the study. If Miriam were as smart as the author keeps saying, then she wouldn't have used it, but because she just keeps getting walked on it basically means she never would have been able to be a Prosecutor in the first place. These characters are one-dimensional.
I could keep going, but I won't. My conclusion is simply: don't read this.
Let's start with the main character: Mary Sue, I mean Eddie Flynn (how could I have made that mistake). He's a former conman who is kidnapped by the Russian mafia to get their boss off. He's also an alcoholic and the second (and I mean the second) the going gets tough he begins to drink again, no internal conflict whatsoever. The author tried to make this into his one flaw, however, because he immediately broke his own personal rules in trying to become clean, its fault became irrelevant and nonexistent. He breaks his sobriety 4 times. But despite that, I just couldn't find myself liking Eddie Flynn as a character or even rooting for his win. He'd say derogatory statements without there being a single shred of evidence to back him up like this example on page 120: "Scholars say the blindfold is superfluous because the figure is female and therefore must be impartial. They obviously never tried a case in front of Judge Pike." If you go through his first courtroom appearance in front of Judge Pike, you will see no bias against him shown by Judge Pike. Leaps and bounds are made with Eddie's logic, making connections that, frankly, really have no connections. Why would the Russian Mafia not do a background check on Flynn? He's an unknown. They have the resources; they have an FBI agent in their back pocket for hell's sake, yet they choose not to use him.
I'm still trying to figure out how Eddie Flynn managed to put so many items in Kennedy's jacket and steal his phone at the same time from one little bump. I know there are people talented, but I don't think they're THAT talented. Cavanagh kind of just made up what he wanted you to believe when very little of it held any truth. The courtroom scenes were an absolute joke. Miriam doesn't object once during the defense's cross? That is unfathomable. You can't paint Miriam as this straight, tough-shooter and then only always show her as incompetent and bumbling along. In the bio at the back it does mention that Cavanagh is a lawyer in Northern Ireland. I'm not sure he understands the U.S. legal system or the Constitution for that matter. Pleading the fifth where it was pleaded, would do nothing for our little hero Tony G. He broke the contract. He will go to jail. Period. And it won't be for refusing to testify because of the 5th, but rather because of the drug charge he was trying to be immune from.
Eddie's crosses weren't clever. Eddie's crosses weren't relevant and would have been heavily objected and he would have been laughed out of court. Even his origin story for deciding to be a lawyer is ridiculous. No judge would dismiss a case based on the fact that an officer couldn't remember the call before or after the crime he was testifying for. If that were the case, no cop would ever be put on the stand if it's that easy to discredit them. This is completely unrealistic. This is why cops make case notes and study them. The other calls were not relevant to the case at hand.
There's more, oh, so much more. The discrediting of the good Doctor at the beginning wouldn't have worked. Miriam would have been smart enough not to open that door in the first place because opening that door means he can question it. And secondly, she would never have used his own example he presented to her as her argument. Thirdly, Eddie's ridiculous use of the 1st Amendment as an objection is just bad writing. The reasoning doesn't make sense. The equivalent of handwriting analysis being used to theorize the personality of the writer and a Christian Archeologist who believes the earth is only five thousand years old isn't even a good analogy. The better equivalent would be if someone who has a doctorate in Christian religions, but is a Muslim writing scholarly papers on Christianity (as if either of these things are related to studying) and for some reason Eddie Flynn is attacking them for it. In this case, the belief is separate from the science or the study. If Miriam were as smart as the author keeps saying, then she wouldn't have used it, but because she just keeps getting walked on it basically means she never would have been able to be a Prosecutor in the first place. These characters are one-dimensional.
I could keep going, but I won't. My conclusion is simply: don't read this.
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my first book with this author and this character and I liked it very much. Constantly moving with multiple plot twists and surprises. I am looking forward to reading all the others in the series
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I guessed the twist quite early on but I still LOVED this plot. Steve Cavanagh is a brilliant thriller author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence
Minor: Sexual violence