When David Child, a major client of a corrupt New York law firm, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to persuade him to testify against the firm.

Eddie is not someone who is easily coerced, but when the FBI reveal that they have incriminating files on his wife, he knows he has no choice.

But Eddie is convinced the man is innocent, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. With the FBI putting pressure on him to secure the deal, Eddie must find a way to prove his client’s innocence.

But the stakes are high – his wife is in danger. And not just from the FBI . . .

Paperback | 400 pages

Publisher: Orion (6th April, 2017)

If you’ve been reading my blog for long, then you know I’m always hesitant with the second book in a series. I usually get consumed by a series, and read quickly and intensely but I have been enjoying this book at a slower rate. I really connected to Eddie Flynn in the first book and couldn’t wait to read about his ‘adventures’ in this second installment. I had thought it wouldn’t be as explosive as the first, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this book as action packed and explosive as the first. Cavanagh writes in a way that draws you in, allows you to understand the law terminology without making the reader feel bogged down in complicated words or info drops.

This was easy to read. I read it over the course of a week and a half, slowly devouring what the book had to offer and making sure that I understood everything that was going on. Even though I was reading at a slower pace, the intensity and the fast pace the book charged with, was still able to come across and gripped me as I snuggled in bed reading. I actually ended up going to bed at 11:30pm on the night I finished this because I didn’t want to put it down!

I view Eddie as a magician who has many sides, for as soon as I think I have a grasp on his character, he surprises me in some way. It’s great to have a character that keeps changing and has so much to offer. It keeps me on my toes as I read. Cavanagh did a great job of making Dell into a character that I came to hate on site. It got to the point where, regardless of Eddie’s opinion of Dell, I came to think of the latter as the evil villain of the book and Dell became a character I was unconcerned with and a character I brushed to the side and had labeled unimportant.

Christine…I’m not sure what I feel about her yet. I found her rather annoying in this book. I understand that there is much of the relationship between Christine and Eddie, that has happened before this book series started, but I found her to be irritating, judgmental, and selfish in this book. The scenarios she found herself in were regrettable, but I disliked the way she handled things and how she continually passed the blame onto Eddie. I found her actions in the conclusion of the book to be rather selfish and didn’t – for me – diminish her actions from the rest of the book.

I did feel for Amy, having read about her experiences in the first book, I didn’t feel like she deserved to be dragged into things again.

I was surprised to see Kennedy again, I had assumed he was a character important to the first book but not someone I’d see again. I liked the way his character evolved during this book and I felt it exposed more of his character and pushed him in a direction I approved of.

David Child’s, the man Eddie has to represent in this book was a confusing conundrum for me for quite a while. I just couldn’t put my finger on what I thought about him. It took me a good third of the book to cement what I thought of his character and to understand Eddie’s POV of him. I found him to be an interesting character and his obvious OCD made me smile because I too suffer from OCD. It was nice to see that representation. I did find myself getting swept along with Eddie’s opinions, rather than forming my own. I was happy to allow Eddie’s opinions become my own but I was still able to theorise as I read.

I built up the courtroom scene quite significantly during my read of ‘The Defense’, so I was able to recreate that image to suit this book. I found it very easy to visualise and to imagine in my own mind what was happening and what people looked like. Eddie grew in clarity and vividness over reading this book, and it will be easier to recall him from now on.

This arced in a way I wasn’t expecting but in a way I was totally open for. Only one of my theories was true, it was a theory I had halfway through reading, and during the penultimate chapters, it was proved correct. I was actually quite giddy to have guessed something so correctly, because I got everything else so wrong. I enjoy the way this book kept me guessing, it allowed me to step out of the role of reader and into the role of ameture sleuth. It was fun.

I’m going to take a break before I read the third in the series, just to give my brain a break from the high charged plot lines. (I’ve got a good children’s book lined up to read.)

This gripped me in ways I wasn’t expecting. I wasn’t expecting to get stuck into David Child’s life so much. I wasn’t expecting to see another side of Eddie in the courtroom. I wasn’t expecting to see Christine and Amy dragged into the story so much. It was exciting to have so many unexpected scenarios thrown into the book because it kept me guessing and made me focus on other things – while the real culprit was carefully hidden.

It’s been raining solidly in the UK for four days now, making everyone feel miserable. The air pressure has been very low, which has gifted me with many migraines and level ten headaches. (I gauge my headaches in 4 categories; level one, level five, level ten, & migraine. I also have anxiety migraines, panic attack migraines, & iron attack migraines.) This book has been a great distraction away from the pain.

I’m happy with the direction the book has taken and look forward to reading the third book in the series.