The Defence is the first novel by crime writer Steve Cavanagh, an author named as a ‘Rising Star of 2015’ by Amazon. With a background in Law, Cavanagh seems perfectly poised to pen a successful legal thriller. Publishers Orion Crime released a teaser three chapters of this upcoming novel twenty four hours ago and without knowing what to expect, I dived in.
It’s very rare to find a book that has you hooked from the first sentence, but with one like “Do exactly as I tell you or I’ll put a bullet in your spine”, how can you resist? Now, I am relatively new to the genre of criminal fiction, but I know this will be something special.
Chapter One brings us the necessary details about our protagonist Eddie Flynn, an ex-con artist turned successful lawyer turned alcoholic (an interesting insight from someone involved in the law themselves!). There are several subtle references to a break from law centered around a past case defending stockbroker Ted Berkley, something I assume will be expanded on as the story continues. The first chapter is gripping right from the opening sentence, the plot goes from strength to strength and as little as three pages in you are shocked at the developments.
Through the next two chapters we gain more information of our villain, Olek Volcheck, head of the Russian mob and all round scary man. The dialogue between the characters is very well written and I love the writing technique of a constant inner monologue from Eddie, creating a suspense as we wait to see what he has decided to do next.
Overall, the pre-release of the chapters has worked, I am definitely sold. The book is released tomorrow (12th of March 2015) and I will definitely be heading to my local bookshop and making my purchase.
(Image property of Amazon UK)
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