The Defence – Steve Cavanagh

Crime Fiction
4*’s

Meet Eddie Flynn a con-man, turned lawyer so already we know that this is a man who is prepared to play dirty to win. The setting is New York, the opposition, why only the Russia Mafia, what else would you expect? The stakes, well that would be Eddie’s young daughter who has been kidnapped by aforesaid gang and if Eddie doesn’t buy enough time for the head honcho, Olek Volchek, to escape then young Amy and Eddie himself will be toast.

The story gets right into the action immediately with the reader getting to know the chief protagonist via his present story interspersed with his background which explains his journey from hustler to lawyer, two jobs Eddie is at pains to explain are closer in skill-set than you might imagine. With a group of convincingly clichéd Russians to snarl, threaten and menace at every given opportunity we could forgive Eddie for feeling more than a little anxious, not least because he has a bomb strapped to his back and the detonator is in the hands of Volchek’s right-hand man, but valiant Eddie sits down with a suitcase full of case files and prepares for the courtroom fight of his life.

I enjoyed the courtroom action although I had a sneaky suspicion that Eddie’s inspired cross-examinations were perhaps assisted by the fact that the prosecution seemed slightly less brilliant than we were led to believe, I decided to go with the flow and suspend my belief as Eddie went from courting danger in and out of the courtroom in his desperation to save his daughter’s life. Eddie is forced to ask for favours to help him out and who should he ask? Why his friends of course, who just happen to be a gang leader from another gang and a senior judge, what luck!

This is a fast-paced story with plenty of action but along with that there is a touch of humour, a book that knows its place and is all the more appealing because of that. A book to read for pure entertainment to get into the moment and roll with the punches, gasp at the twists and to hold your breath when everything gets all too much! This would be ideal reading for a long journey, not too complex but fun but don’t choose one with too many changes or you might just end up at the wrong destination.

I have to admit I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did, I’m not a big fan of crime fiction featuring gangs as they are often violent, there is the ever-present suggestion of violence in Steve Cavangh’s book but most of the action takes place off-page, and the mobsters abide by rules that aren’t understandable to any sane human being but although I wouldn’t go as far to say I warmed to Volchek and his side-kicks I didn’t feel the contempt you might expect.

I am sure this won’t be the last we hear of Eddie Flynn and I will be first in the queue to pick up the next instalment having been won over by this likeable if flawed character.

The Defence is due to be published on 12 March 2015 by Orion books but if you want more of a preview I suggest you visit The Official Website of Steve Cavangh & Eddie Flynn. I received my copy from Amazon Vine in return for this honest review.