The follow up to THIRTEEN and FIFTY FIFTY: The Devil's Advocate (Eddie Flynn Series)

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Skylar Edwards, a promising young woman, has been brutally murdered and her co-worker Andy Dubois is accused of the crime. It doesn't seem to matter that his confession was coerced or that there are questionable witnesses. The evidence against Andy seems a bit too convenient but is tough to overcome. DA Randal Korn feels he has another death row sentence all sown up. How can Andy get a fair trial when everyone is convinced that he's guilty?

In fact, one out of every twenty of the death row occupants, in the U.S. was put there by Korn-as he has NEVER prosecuted a murder without calling for the death penalty, he has never been successfully appealed and he’s never lost a case. After securing himself as defence counsel, Flynn attempts to piece together a courtroom plan, but is stymied at every turn. Others turn up dead, their bodies strewn about and possibly murdered, though suicide cannot be discounted. Korn pushes to ensure Flynn cannot do his job, pulling strings in a way that his fingerprints will not be found. I can honestly say I don't have a clue how Steve Cavanagh can pull these brilliant books out the bag! I mean the man is clearly a genius!! I am loving the team of Eddie, Harry, Kate and Bloch!!

Customer reviews

Also, the PROLOGUE can be skipped if you want to avoid reading the graphic description of the NINE excruciating minutes it took for one of Korn’s Victims to die by electric chair. An innocent man, Andy Dubois, faces the death penalty for the murder of young girl. Korn has already fixed things to make sure he wins a fast conviction. The Devil’s Advocate delves into many societal and political themes with strong characterisation throughout. A very intense and tense read, The Devil’s Advocate is an addictive, complex and deft read from a master writer. Breath-taking stuff! Eddie only has 48 hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial—and win—if he wants to save his daughter.

When Eddie meets Child he's convinced the man is innocent, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. 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. Skylar Edwards is found murdered and Andy Dubois is arrested for her murder. The DA for the County has the highest death penalty convictions in America.....because he gets a thrill from watching people be executed. He doesn't care if they are innocent, infact he will bribe everyone and anyone to lie and tamper with evidence to make sure he gets a guilty verdict!! Can Eddie and his team save Andy Dubois? Flynn feels that with the corrupt, malignant atmosphere surrounding the trial, his onerous duty is to win the case, free Andy, and find the real killer. Now he knows he must also destroy Korn, even if he must resort to skills he learned as a con artist. Taking Eddie out of the city adds a new dimension to the story. The setting of Alabama adds a level of tension that’s hard to explain – a god fearing, gun loving, historically, very racially divided state. I’m not sure there could have been a better place to set the story. That is not to say that all of the locals have been painted in a negative light and there are many who are willing to step up and be counted when they see corruption in pay, no matter which side of the racial divide they stand on. But it is a kind of tinderbox situation, that small town vibe, the suspicion of big city outsiders, and that undercurrent of extremism that feeds throughout the story which stems from a point of some very thorough research and total authenticity. Alexandra Avellino has just found her father's mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife.Randall Korn , also called as “ King of Death Row” is Eddie’s biggest challenge till now in his whole career. The guy has a weird fascination with death penalties and the fact that he has never lost a case and has sent more people to death row than any other district attorney in history (115 convictions in 17 years) is really insane and intimidating. Then usual wonderful Eddie Flynn characters and lot twists are there, for sure. But it’s all overshadowed by everything else. Now the difficulty in writing this review is, I am scared I give anything away but what I will say is, this book is a bloody rollercoaster! There was a point when I literally cried out 'noooo', i had my head in my hands thinking it was all over then there was a twist and a turn. I have no nails left!! I am actually exhausted after reading this!! In just a few meaty chapters, Cavanagh has set the scene for an intriguing, and utterly engrossing, narrative – and it just gets better and better. As the drama develops, so the tension ratchets up too. Don’t expect to see much of your bed until you’ve reached the final full stop of this one.

You see, the overly zealous D.A. enjoys watching executions and never misses an opportunity to witness the gruesome act in person, even if the men weren’t guilty. Take a sadistic District Attorney and picture him in a small county in Alabama. He is a master at obtaining death sentences in every one of his murder cases. Until he meets Eddie Flynn. But great as he is, Eddie doesn’t work alone and the whole team join him on his excursion. Whilst Harry and Kate are great characters who really hold their own in very testing circumstances, for me Bloch was a bit of a revelation in this book. She might be quiet but she’s still commands attention and her stillness is almost unnerving. It’s nice to see a really strong, but still slightly emotional, female character portrayed so well, and her no-nonsense nature adds a layer of quiet strength to the team. Definitely someone you want on your side. Meanwhile Eddie’s predecessor, the local defense attorney, has disappeared and Eddie has to dig deep to keep himself and his team safe from the constant threat of menace that lingers everywhere.Wow! Author Steve Cavanagh writes excellent legal/crime thrillers and has surpassed himself with this terrific, edge-of-your-seat, powerful, pulse-pounding novel. The fast-paced plot kept me riveted, but it was necessary to take short breaks to catch my breath and find that my heart was pounding. The suspense and tension kept rising at a rapid pace within a malevolent setting.

Shooting or stabbing someone wasn’t the same for Korn. Too animalistic. Korn killed using the power of his office, and his mind, and his skill. And that gave him more pleasure than he could ever have imagined’ But as usual Eddie never gives up, the court scenes are fantastic, and amongst all these thrills and jaw dropping events we also have humour. I love the characters and in this one Kate, Harry and Bloch are much more evident, there’s less Eddie in the courtroom and although it’s great they have a larger role it’s the courtroom and Eddies performances I enjoy. If I’m honest as it builds to the end it feels as if it falls way too easily almost toppling like a row of dominoes. I do enjoy it but not as much as the last two which were five star reads. Korn knew it. And he didn’t care. He didn’t become a prosecutor in a death-penalty state to concern himself with guilt or innocence. It was the system that appealed to him. Justice was simply a cloak he wore to disguise his true nature.” Yet the unflinching and unorthodox Eddie Flynn doesn’t just take on a seemingly unwinnable case but also chooses to take on the omnipotent power of the DA, the King of Death Row, who has sent more people to the chair than any other DA in America. Because he can. Yes, the devil enjoys it but is he the killer?Faced with physical evidence that’s almost impossible to overcome and a DA who is intent on increasing the number of death penalty cases he’s won, Eddie Flynn has the most difficult case of his career in front of him. The visitor to Eddie’s New York office is Alexander Berlin, someone we met before in The Liar, where he was working as a clandestine fixer for the State Department. Now Berlin is doing more classified work, moving around government departments, solving problems, and he has a proposition for Eddie. Although the lawyer is adamant that he doesn’t want to listen, soon he is fully on board. I kid you not, I literally jumped for joy when I was chosen as one of the hundred to receive a netgalley arc for this book! So thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher and Steve Cavanagh! If you want great Southern books by those who are seeking to bring honest looks, yet real characters, all the layers needed, I suggest S.A. Cosby & his recs (I reached out to him to ask)-David Joy, Brian Panowich, Laura Hightower, Alice Walker, Ernest J. Gaines and Deesha Philyaw. Y'all, we have to be brave readers & admit when we want to take a path of least resistance. On tough topics, we need to choose otherwise. I devoured this book in a couple of sittings, determined to savour each clever twist and turn. It’s one of those special reads where you desperately want to get to the end but also want to make it last as long as possible. I take my hat off to you Mr Cavanagh, The Devil’s Advocate is your best Eddie Flynn book yet!