The Defense

Product Information

Well, it starts with a jaw thunker at several other points my jaw gets bruised! It’s a good fast paced thriller, fraught with tension and danger as Eddie finds he is at the centre of a very dangerous game for which he doesn’t know the rules so has to use his ingenuity and create his own. He is brave, gutsy instinctive, intuitive and clever (a bit too clever???) and I definitely don’t envy those that he comes up against. The ups and downs of the case are very good and it gets very murky, if a bit of a head spinner. The court room scenes are the stand out feature of the book. Towards the end the game comes on of persuasion and audacity as it builds to a high octane finale. Well, Eddie is a very resourceful guy and he would do anything to save his daughter but even he can not see a way out of this one. How can he win an unwinnable case with no preparation and no resources, constantly watched by the mob? Oh, and the FBI suspects him of, well, something!

Another reason for the US setting was that Steve loves writing fast-paced legal thrillers. The British way is much slower, so the books can’t take place there, especially since there is the dual system of representation (solicitor and barristers) which doesn’t exist in the US, which would have needed the addition of a second main character that the author didn’t want to introduce into the story. The writing was fabulous, I really enjoyed the way he describes complex legal mumbo jumbo easily so that anyone can understand what is happening, and it was just so darn clever with those twists and turns. Eddie is having a REALLY bad day. First thing he is eating breakfast, the next he is in court – where he swore he would never be again, defending a mob boss with a bomb around him about to go off at any minute. And they have his 10-year-old daughter and are going to kill her if he doesn't win this case...

Diaries & Calendars

If you're a fan of John Grisham, Scott Turow, and Brad Meltzer, then you will be a fan of Steve Cavanagh's The Defense. Cavanagh's debut novel introduces a wonderfully flawed hero, Eddie Flynn, one-time con man, now turned lawyer, who will hold you spellbound. This is a hell of a genre-bending book. I hope Cavanagh's working on the sequel." - Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Radiant Angel I wanted a slight separation from my professional life as lawyer,” he says of the pseudonym. “I started writing the book after my Mum passed away, and in many ways my pen name is a tribute to her, as Cavanagh was her maiden name. It’s also handy to have a name that appears fairly early in the alphabet – it helps with book browsing.” As for literary influences, Steve cites a rattlebag of names and styles that includes Michael Connelly, Lee Child, John Mortimer and John Grisham, as you might expect, but also Brendan Behan, Thomas Harris and Spike Milligan.

At that time I didn’t believe I had the skill as a writer to create two compelling lead characters, and that splitting the action between the two of them would unbalance the book. Michael Connelly springs to mind. But I felt I could add my own influence to that. Eddie takes the reader by the hand and shows them what’s really going on when a cross-examination is taking place. Eddie explains the verbal warfare and I love that. urn:lcp:defense0000cava_a1h2:epub:0fe4d58e-f107-4049-b327-de9abedc9837 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier defense0000cava_a1h2 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t66528m62 Invoice 1652 Isbn 9781250082251 Legal thrillers are my blind spot, but I’ll always make an exception for Steve Cavanagh. (John Connolly)The Defense” introduces us to Eddie Flynn -a con artist turned lawyer. He used to hustle insurance companies, which it turns out, isn’t much different from hustling juries. These days, as I’m still a lawyer, some aspects of my work are bound up in the Troubles and the problems that we continue to have in Northern Ireland. Writing is an escape for me. I didn’t want to spend my day dealing with all the crime and social problems that Northern Ireland has and then come home and write about it.” A couple of years ago, I requested “Thirteen”, not realizing that it was book 4 in the Eddie Flynn series! (legal thrillers)

I wanted to write a legal thriller and I had the idea for the character of Eddie Flynn, a former con artist who became a lawyer, and I wanted part of the book to explore similarities between the two professions. A compulsive read that had everything; intelligent plot building, unexpected twists, deliciously evil characters, the flawed but omniscient lawyer, and story telling that was remarkably visual. However, the standout was the way in which the lawyer out manoeuvred and manipulated the evidence, the witnesses, the prosecution team, and even the Russian mob. Intelligent and cryptically divine. Now added to one of my favourite crime / thrillers ever. Currently, Eddie Flynn is well and truly down on his uppers when he is held at gunpoint in the bathroom and if that’s not bad enough he’ll find it gets worse by the minute.Russian mob leader Volchek wants Eddie to represent him in a murder case even though he is no longer practising law but obviously it’s way more twisted and that as the threat levels escalate. The old Eddie, the con artist, is reborn and he has 31 hours to not only save himself but also his beloved daughter. Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different. Kudos, Mr. Cavanagh, for a great start to the series. You have a great handle on the legal thriller genre and I will certainly continue with this series.Me gustó que Flynn, el protagonista, no sea sólo un abogado sino tenga un pasado controversial y digamos... Un tanto turbio. Hay cierta dicotomía en su accionar y puede ser definido como moralmente gris.

I love Eddie Flynn, he is charismatic and street smart! I loved the scenes where he had to find his inner con artist again because they were clever and exciting. There’s a theory that claims Northern Ireland crime writers are engaged in a kind of cathartic exploration of the Troubles. Despite the New York setting, can we read The Defence along those lines? In 2018, Steve Cavanagh won the Golden Dagger Best Book Awards, The Liar. The award is given by the Crime Writer’s Association to the best crime novel of the year. Praise for Steve Cavanagh This first book in the series introduces us to Eddie Flynn, a former con man turned lawyer, who has given up his career after a horrible ordeal that left him broken, and suffering from a deep crisis of conscience.

Summary

Legal thrillers are my blind spot, but I'll always make an exception for Steve Cavanagh. Quite simply, THE PLEA is one of the most purely entertaining books you'll read this year. It's a blast.' John Connolly, bestselling author of the Charlie Parker series While it was quite fun, sadly this is a forgettable read. I realise I’m not that interested in mafia plots or gang plots. Some writers are focussed on gritty realism, and I enjoy those kind of books as a reader, but personally, I’ve always been more interested in the spectacular because that’s entertaining and that’s what gets the reader’s blood pumping.” After moving to the field of civil rights, in 2010 he took on a racial abuse case representing a factory worker. This case resulted in a landmark damages ruling, and it made Steve Cavanagh quite famous all over again.