Book info

• Title The Defence
• Author Steve Cavanagh
• Year 2015
• Genres Thriller, Mystery

Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different. It's been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn't have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter, Amy. Eddie only has forty-eight hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial - and win - if he wants to save his daughter. Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his 'client' and ensure Amy's safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible?

Thoughts

This is a really great thriller, non-stop action from start to finish, and the type of book where I can imagine the movie adaptation as I’m reading through. It was a little bit exposition heavy in places, mostly where we were learning about our protagonist Flynn’s back-story. He has quite a lot of history to fill in so it makes sense, and he’s an interesting character. You often get lawyers with a past but this is one I hadn’t heard of before.

Some of the twists and turns were a bit out there, you’ve got to suspend your disbelief a little bit, but still, you can do that when you’re in the middle of a really good thriller. I hadn’t realised this was part of a series so I’m intrigued where the story can go next. This guy and his family have already been through quite enough!

Rating: 4 / 5