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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?
Lose this case and he loses everything.
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?
Lose this case and he loses everything.
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Reviews
Cavanagh's stellar debut provides everything a reader could ask for in a thriller - nail-biting suspense, a Russian nesting doll of a plot, and an original and compelling lead
'Puts the "thrill" back in "legal thriller". Non-stop action, unexpected and totally cool plot twists, a sympathetic genius of a con-man/attorney, and a clock that never ever ever stops ticking -- this isn't narrative drive, it's rocket-like narrative propulsion! Hop aboard and enjoy the ride!'
'If anything the reviews were giving faint praise - this is a really really impressive debut novel.'
Thriller readers, Michael Connelly readers, book readers, pick up THE DEFENCE, I almost guarantee you won't regret it. An addictive read from start to finish and one that I have no hesitation in recommending
A full-on thrill-ride that hits the gas on page one and doesn't let up until the end. Steve blends a taut legal thriller with a ticking-clock suspense plot and throws in a great protagonist in the form of Eddie Flynn that readers will want to see again and again. A terrific debut
'From the first paragraph to the last, this is a legal thriller you will not want to put down.'
Get ready for a legal thriller that'll grab you by the throat . . . Eddie Flynn makes his explosive debut
Steve Cavanagh manages to pull off not only a terrific courtroom drama, but also a bit of an edge of the seat thriller, some witty and darkly humorous moments and a character you will fall in love with
'Imagine THE VERDICT's Frank Galvin crossed with THE FIRM's Mitch McDeere and you'd get something like Eddie Flynn, the quick thinking, troubled, kinetic lead of Steve Cavanagh's debut thriller . . . A deliriously fast and enjoyable ride from the next big Irish crime fiction star. Highly recommended'
I was entertained from the turn of the first page until its frenetic ending. It was never a case of will he or won't he succeed it was how. It's the strength of this how that makes the book so engaging and clever . . . a fast paced courtroom thriller that is so much more than a prosecutor, a defence lawyer and a ruthless defendant. This is one book I'd love to see made into a film
It's sharp, clever and a brilliantly executed thriller. And it's not often I write those words. THE DEFENCE is a great debut, and here's hoping there's more of Eddie Flynn to come
[It] reads a lot like a courtroom drama that Lee Child might write about Jack Reacher's younger, hotter-headed brother . . . This is afoot-to-the-floor thriller that pulls out with tyres smoking and takes no prisoners until it judders to a halt 400 pages later
It's a book you're not going to want to miss. I finished this last night and ended up dreaming of kidnapped children. That's how good this book is
Like Mickey Haller and Mitch McDeere before him, readers will love lawyer Eddie Flynn, the star of this high-octane, hugely entertaining legal thriller. On the evidence of this blistering debut, we'll be hearing much more of Steve Cavanagh
A fantastic summer-read, hours lost as the pages turned freely. Steve Cavanagh and Eddie Flynn are names to keep an eye out for. I'll be around for the next one. Guaranteed.
THE DEFENCE is everything a great thriller should be and I can't wait to see more of Eddie Flynn
Part classic courtroom drama in the John Grisham tradition and part Bruce Willis-like action hero fiction straight out of the Die Hard franchise, this is a rip-roaring action-packed and highly entertaining debut