The Defence: Eddie Flynn Book 1 by Steve Cavanagh Steve Cavanagh (Epub)

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Ebook Info

  • Published: 2015
  • Number of pages:
  • Format: Epub
  • File Size: 0.53 MB
  • Authors: Steve Cavanagh Steve Cavanagh

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User’s Reviews

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Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Pretty good. I came to this book searching blogs of Michael Connelley fans for recommendations of other authors. The Bosch stories are the gold standard in my opinion. I’ve read other recommendations from such blogs previously but Cavanagh is the only one I will read again. Granted, some of the plot requires serious suspension of disbelief, but Eddie Flynn is a well written and interesting and charismatic character. If you like Grisham’s Rogue Lawyer, I think you’d like this. The underworld interactions and relationships are the best part of the book to me. It took a little bit for the story to take off for me, but I read the second half quickly. And Cavanagh surprised me with a couple plot twists I didn’t see coming. Overall, a little fanciful but enjoyable and I will buy more of his books while I wait for the next Michael Connelley. I say give him a chance.

⭐ I have just discovered this author after reading his latest book, Thirteen, which I highly recommend! I didn’t realize that it was part of a series so I am excited about starting over from the beginning. I was nervous about reading his first book because sometimes it’s very noticeable how much an author improves in their later books but this book was great! I love the way it alternates being a legal thriller and a smart con game. Eddie Flynn is a great nuanced character who manages to be noble while being dangerous. He possesses a certain set of skills from his days as a hustler and con artist which he puts to use well. He finds himself in an impossible situation and it’s great fun to read about his way out of it. This is a book that’s very hard to put down! My only complaint is that the backstory of Eddie is unveiled slowly in flashbacks throughout the book that felt out of place to me. I wish the origin story had been done in a different way instead of interspersed throughout the story. The plot is so gripping and full of great characters that I’ve bern recommending this series to everyone. I’m excited to read the next one!

⭐ Not a favorite. This is my first Eddie Flynn book. Too often I was antsy for the chapter to end. Eddie rambles and repeats himself over and over. Take out the repeats and fantastical explanations that interrupt the actual action of the story. There were pages I skimmed through until I got back to the action of that chapter. The stuff I skipped wasn’t missed because it had no purpose in advancing the action. Chapter 51, for example, starts with Eddie explaining why he is wearing the same clothes, and the reader knows why, but we have to read two pages of how many suits he used to wear in court before we actually get to THIS court appearance where he’s wearing the same suit. Dull stuff. But the biggest dull factor for me is that Eddie isn’t likeable. He’s a burned out con man lawyer apparently smart and tricky enough to climb buildings, pick pockets, out smart the sleaziest of Russian AND Italian mobsters AND the toughest of tough prosecutors AND have a top judge in his pocket but he can’t keep a wife and he lets his precious kid get kidnapped. And I still have no feeling for him and have no picture of him in my head. I finished reading the book today and have just about forgotten him already.

⭐ I bought this because I’ve seen lots of positive reviews about this series, and have Thirteen, which is book four of the series, on my NetGalley TBR, and wanted to at least read the first book in the series before I start it. Confusingly, my NG gives a publication date of August but according to GR, Thirteen came out last year. On the strength of this I will be reading the next two first as I sense there will be recurring characters whose storylines I don’t want to miss out on.Eddie Flynn, con-man turned defence lawyer turned recovering alcoholic, is forced by the head of the Bratva (the Russian mob) in New York, to defend him on a murder charge. To ensure his compliance they have taken his ten year old daughter and rigged him with explosives, their aim being to take out the key witness, but Eddie realises his only chance to save them both is to use all his tricks and mount a near impossible defence.This was a perfectly plotted fast paced legal thriller with a flawed but likeable protagonist telling his tale in highly readable prose, happily first person past.Just the right number of little clues are dropped in, so that each twist makes total sense but still manages to surprise us. Eddie is a master manipulator but utterly vulnerable when it comes to his beloved daughter, and the baddies so horribly evil that you can’t wait for them to get taken down.It reminded me of Michael Connelly’s Mickey Haller series, but with more action and sleight of hand. I was surprised to discover that the author is from Belfast as I found the American setting completely convincing. It was my first of his books but I will be eagerly buying the rest very soon.

⭐ My Review 3.5 STARSI read this author’s popular fourth installment of his Eddie Flynn series earlier this year. I am talking about THIRTEEN which was published in 2018 and made quite an impression on popular authors, critics, and readers alike. Personally, I just loved it. Naturally when Cavanagh’s debut novel was featured in a promotional email at a reduced price, I hit the Purchase Button right away. I had been so impressed by the runaway bestseller THIRTEEN that I had intended to read more from this talented new-to-me author.By 25% into the book Eddie has been threatened by a Russian Mobster to murder the star witness for the prosecution in his trial for First Degree Murder, and the mobsters have kidnapped his 10-yr old daughter to ensure his cooperation. Great start to a novel—even if he murders the witness he realizes that he will be signing both his and his daughter’s death warrant. Can a master con man save himself and his little girl using the tool’s of a huckster’s trade? The novel had an intriguing premise and it held my interest as the story line unfolded.However, by the time I had read to the 39% mark, the momentum had slowed and although the narrative remained at least interesting, it was somewhat dull but for Eddie’s anecdotes about his days as a grifter and his successful exploits with insurance fraud. This observation remained pretty much the tale of the take until around the 75% mark, or final one fourth of the novel.That said, the action does pick up with a host of criminal elements, i.e., the Russian mob, the Italian crime family in New York, assorted other mobsters and the cartels. The core of the plot (Eddie’s 10 yr. old daughter’s abduction by the Russian mafia to be used as leverage for Eddie to act as the crime boss’s attorney, and to blow up the star witness for the prosecution) ultimately evolves into a more complex story line. Eddie is a tough street fighter and gifted grifter and con man (former that is) and the book picks up momentum when Flynn starts outwitting the bad guys and the narrative reveals the grand scope of the web within which Eddie has found himself trapped.Finally, this debut novel is better than many I’ve read. The few scenes in the courtroom were especially good. Eddie Flynn is a likable scoundrel who was a talented and successful con artist by trade before his mother’s death guilted him into changing careers. Eddie went to law school and plied his previously well honed hustler skills to the attorney trade. The author gives Eddie a guilty conscience over a past professional mistake, makes him a haunted recovering alcoholic with a failed marriage and a young daughter who gets caught up in the train wreck he made of his legal career. He’s flawed but charismatic enough to make you like him anyway. Mafia, mobsters, and organized crime aren’t my cup of tea but Cavanagh spins an ambitious action packed yarn that pits Eddie against some heavy odds stacked against him. He has only his wits and a con man’s instincts and talents to carry the day. The narrative dragged at times and I felt impatient for the tale to end.There is also one jarring scene toward the end of the book that I felt was completely unnecessary, but beyond that, totally unbelievable and a giant turn off as a reader. I am talking about Eddie physically assaulting the head of the Russian Mafia when the crime boss had just seconds earlier told Eddie that he would not harm him or his family. A mature man, a smart man, or a man who is portrayed as a cunning strategist slugs the mob boss and his bodyguard just for the hell of it.Loved THIRTEEN so would likely have read the next book featuring the exploits of the Eddie Flynn. The ridiculous action taken by Eddie at the end makes me feel like he is not a “thinking man” at all.

⭐ Book one of the *Eddie Flynn* series was not a disappointment! I am giving it *4 well deserved Stars*.*SUMMARY*I am reading this series out of order. I didn’t discover this series until the third book was published, so I started there. I really couldn’t help myself and I HAD to skip back and read the rest of the series.This book wasted no time slowly easing into the plot. In the first chapter Eddie is kidnapped from his favorite diner, shoved into giant limo and told he must represent the head of the Russian mob, who is acused of murder. When Eddie refuses, they tell him they have daughter and will only release her if he agrees to their terms. Of course Eddie knows his client is guilty and of course there is way more to this particular assignment than Eddie’s conscience allows. But he has no choice. They have his little girl, what else could he do?In addition to the court room drama, this book gives the reader some insight into Eddie. It explains a little more about his past, how he went from a con artist to an attorney and why, although he seems to adore his ex-wife, they are no longer together.*WHAT I LOVED*I really like Eddie. He’s an interesting character; very smart and *crafty*. He was actually a con artist before becoming a lawyer and always sees an angle most people do not.I love fast paced, twisty plots and this book delivers! Although there were a couple twists I saw coming, most of the story was nothing I could have imagined or predicted.I did the immersion reading with both the Kindle version and Audible. The narrator was spot on! I highly recommend this combo. The narrator captured exactly what I imagine Eddie sounds like, with a slightly rough NYC accent. It’s not quite as heavy as some of the stereotypes but you could imagine him representing a wide range of clients in his criminal defense practice and fitting right in. He’s a bit of an enigma; a tough guy ex-con man who is now an educated, mostly, law abiding citizen.*WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE*The whole premise of the book is pretty darn unlikely. I know a lot of this type book tends to be based on unlikely premises so it’s not surprising, but still kind of annoying.*OVERALL*I thoroughly enjoyed Eddie! I will definitely read book 2. In fact, downloading it right now.

⭐ Book Review: The Defense by Steve Cavanagh

⭐️Why do I keep finding all these series that I like?! It’s making my TBR pile just continue to get bigger and bigger!! This was a great book! Another different type of thriller and I am liking these different types of reads! I heard about this series from a #barnesandnoble email about a book named Thirteen, but that was the 4th book in the series. So now I need to find more time to read so I can read all these great series!!!#bookreview #bookaddict #bookrecommendation #bookrecommendations #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #readersofinstagram #bookishbounds #thedefense #stevecavanagh #thriller #crime #murder #thrillerbooks #thrillerbooksaddict #bookreader #booklover #booknerd #bookreviewer #currentlyreading #readingtime #readersofinsta #goodreads #goodreadschallenge2021 #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #bibliophile #bookstagramcommunity @sscav

⭐ A friend pointed me n the direction of this author, but towards a book later in the series. Back to the first, I said to myself, my usual approach. Suspending huge amounts of disbelief, I somehow managed to enjoy it. I’m not sure why. SO much going on! SO much distraction! Like…could that really happen? Would a person really do that? How on earth….? And yet, within the perplexing and unfolding story, a riveting drama unfolded. Sufficiently so, to allow me to at least consider reading the next in the series. As legal dramas go, quite unconventional…my polite way of putting it… but still providing a need to see it out. Bruised and battered, much like some of the characters. Three stars certainly, but maybe more for some. Just don’t think too deeply. Be carried along. It’s a rough and tumble journey.

⭐ More fantastic, thus less enjoyable than his second in this series, “The Plea.” Still, this was a good, testosterone-fueled read. Eddie had only a day to do two things, the one he didn’t want to do – successfully defend the Russian mobster in court – and the one he had to do – save his daughter whom the Russian mob had kidnapped. And he knew that even if he did the first, the Russians would doubtless kill both him and his daughter anyway. And he knew nothing of the case, the accusations, the true facts, the motivations of all the players. He had only his wits to depend on. Good characters, writing, narrative, plot (outrageous) dialog, pacing. Don’t start it if you don’t have time to finish it.

⭐ I don’t know any grifters so his fantastical slight-of-hand tricks may or may not be far-fetched. However, They made for interesting reading. But when he climbs out a 19 th floor window in the rain and hurls himself out a 14 th floor window with bullets flying at him while building itself blows up — well, my eyes were rolling so hard I gave myself a headache. I like action. And I’m willing to stretch incredulousness to the maximum —. But come on ! I read the novel 13 out of order and had to go back and start at the beginning of the series. I’m going to chalk up the ludicrousness of this novel as a first time novelist’s over zealousness. I liked the story. But like another reviewer, i can’t get a picture of Eddie in my head. I’m not sure I like him. I’m going to read the next one and re-evaluate.

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