The Plea – Eddie Flynn is the Lawyer

Eddie Flynn in The Plea once again proves that he has more lives than the average cat, just as cunning and one hell of a survivor. You can creep and go like a lawyer going to heaven, but someone upstairs is looking down on Eddie Flynn and turning him in to the ultimate survivor, even better than Mick Haller.

Steve Cavanagh is going from strength to strength with his creation of Eddie Flynn, he has once again created a legal thriller that gets better on every outing. The Plea builds on Flynn and gives him yet more depth but also just as many faults making you wonder how he is married and is able to be a criminal lawyer at the New York Bar.

The Plea is every bit as good as The Defence where we are introduced to Eddie Flynn and his interesting set of friends and colleagues. Eddie is a recovering alcoholic married to Christine with a young daughter called Amy, he will do whatever is necessary to protect them. Many know of his previous life before law school when he was a grifter a con artist of the highest order, someone who was a hustler on New York’s mean streets.

When he is instructed to defend an internet billionaire, David Childs for murder in a slam dunk case for the District Attorney he is not aware of the full picture of what is about to unfold in and out of the court room. Under pressure to make sure Childs takes a plea bargain from the Feds and that Childs pleads guilty from the DA, the future does not look bright for Flynn or Childs.

The Plea is every bit as good as The Defence, from its shock opening of Eddie Flynn being shot and the story of how he ended up in that position is second to none. One thing that does come across in the story is that you should never hustle a hustler and Flynn is the best in the business in and out of court.

This is a fantastic read, that like the cliché is a page turner keeps you on edge and with a few twists thrown in so the story is not predictable. Steve Cavanagh has created an excellent character that grows on you he might be a defective defence attorney but he is not one you would want to play poker against. Great story, great characters, do I really have to wait until the next book?

What a roller coaster of a book!! Steve Cavanagh has taken a fallible lawyer (Eddie) and added a lot of intrigue, murder and a threat to Eddie's wife to create an absorbing tale. You are drawn in from the outset with a burst of gunfire... From then on, the story gently wraps itself around you and you are drawn in til you just have to keep on reading til the very end. utterly fabulous, twisty-turny - a real thriller! Not my usual kind of read -- but so glad I picked it up, drawn in by the Blurb!! Will recommend to my husband too (who only reads one book a year!!) Highly recommended!

My sincere thanks to NetGalley, Orion and Steve Kavanagh for providing an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fraud. Blackmail. Murder. It's all in a day's work for Eddie Flynn.
For years, major New York law firm Harland & Sinton has operated a massive global fraud. The FBI are on to them, but they need witnesses to secure their case. When a major client of the firm, David Child, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm.
Eddie's not a man to be forced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie's wife, Christine, and if Eddie won't play ball, she'll pay the price.
When Eddie meets David Child he knows Child is innocent, despite the overwhelming evidence against him. With the FBI putting pressure on him to secure the plea, Eddie must find a way to prove Child's innocence while keeping his wife out of danger - not just from the FBI, but from the firm itself.

This book is nothing short of fantastic. I'll admit that prior to starting it, I was a little worried that this would be a legal thriller full of cumbersome court scenes which can sometimes be difficult for the layman to follow. I needn't have worried - this was a fast paced thriller that had me turning the pages and at times, I needed to remind myself to take a breath.

Conman-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn is a wonderful character. He's smart, he's sharp, and having once been a hustler, it's really hard to get anything past him. He's not without his faults though. By his own admission he struggles to keep his family together, he's battled alcohol addiction in the past and he has some downright shady characters on speed dial whenever he needs help with tricky situations. However these flaws only add to his abundant charm. He's warm, he's compassionate and although his methods may at times be less than orthodox, he trusts his gut instinct and is generally never wrong.

The plot was fantastic and very cleverly done. I didn't get too caught up in trying to work out the how's and whys - oh ok, I did, just a little - as I was too busy turning those pages to get more, more, MORE! Short chapters that pack a hell of a punch and invariably ended with a cliffhanger made this an exceptionally enjoyable read. There is absolutely nothing that this book can be faulted upon, except perhaps the fact that it ended far too soon for my liking. I shall try and curb my newly developed Eddie Flynn crush and fervently pray that Steve Cavanagh is holed up somewhere as we speak, penning his next book.

I would recommend this book to everyone. Legal thrillers aren't particularly my thing but I gave 'The Plea' a chance and I'm so glad I did. I shall not be as quick to judge a genre in future, pun intended. So whether it's legal thrillers you like, other types of thrillers or you just enjoy and appreciate a cleverly written action packed book full of twists and turns, then this book is for you.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. It met all my expectations and more and now when people ask me the question I always dread being asked - "have you got a favourite book?" - I'll be able to tell them that yes, I have, instead of giving my usual bewildered look. A big huge sparkly 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.

Well written and well developed characters. This was an exciting and clever variation on a court room murder mystery. There were plenty of twists and the plot came together brilliantly. Highly recommend, I would like to read more books written by the author.

This novel opened with a bang literally; the hero Eddie Flynn is on the floor of a lawyer's office and is about to die from a gun shot. The story then covers the two days leading up to this event and boy what an action packed thrill ride it is!
Eddie is a fabulous character, a con-man turned defence attorney and he is persuaded to take on a case defending computer millionaire, David Child, who has been accused of murdering his girl friend. The CIA in the guise of the mysterious Dell have a plan to get information from David and need Eddie to persuade him to plead guilty to murder. They need to know something about the computer system at Harland & Sinton Law Firm and only David can help them.. Eddie's wife works there and Dell uses information they have about her to blackmail Eddie into taking the case.
Eddie is forced to use all his legal knowledge as well as his skill as a conman or grifter to rescue both himself, his family and David from the situation they find themselves. Both David and Christine, Eddie's wife, could end up in prison for a very long time.
I loved the "con " insights that are scattered throughout the book, handed down to Eddie by his father who was also a great conman- e.g. "the heart of the con lies in the eyes."
Eddie is an intelligent but flawed hero. He turned to drink after a case went badly and has ended up living alone in his office, separated from his wife. He loves his family and has a strong moral code. He cannot condemn someone to prison if he feels they are innocent. I really loved this character and kept hoping he could manage to find his way out of what was happening to him.
This thriller is cleverly plotted with excellent courtroom scenes. Tension is racked up as the novel moves quickly along to its startling conclusion and we find out what really happened in the Harlen and Sinton offices at the beginning. The ending when it comes is totally unexpected.
After I finished I found out that this is the second book in a series and I will now be rushing to read the first one. This legal thriller with the added dimension of the "con" would certainly appeal to John Grisham fans and I for one will be avidly awaiting the next in the Eddie Flynn series.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for my arc copy in exchange for an honest review.