Breakaway Books

Authored by Steve Cavanagh; Published 2016; Thriller

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

When I was a teenager, I loved the show 24. The Defense had the same vibe: The whole plot was on a clock, and it practically vibrated with suspense.

The Defense follows Eddie Flynn, con man turned lawyer, as he is forced by the Russian mafia to represent their head mobster in a trial for murder. The life of Eddie’s daughter hangs in the balance as Eddie works to figure out what their endgame is and how to prevent the Russians from killing the star witness. It’s a classic thriller, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The way this book was written made me feel like I was standing right there with Eddie the whole time, trying to understand what exactly was going on around him. There were layers after layers of complexity to the Russians’ plan, but Eddie pulls out a gamut of innovative and slightly less-than-legal tricks to foil them at every turn. I kept thinking: how is he going to get out of this one? And somehow, he kept managing to surprise me.

For a con man turned lawyer, Eddie came off as surprisingly sympathetic for me as did his allies, both in organized crime and in the judicial system. The author skillfully weaved snippets of his background and his transition into the law throughout the plot, making it feel natural. Unquestionably, the novel stretched the bounds of what a reasonable trial would look like, but, is a realistic trial really what you’re looking for in a thriller? Equally, I wondered how Eddie could possibly get as many tasks done as he supposedly did within a tight deadline. But again, strict accuracy is not the goal here.

If you’re looking for a thriller to make the hours fly by, pick up The Defense.