The Defence
To save his daughter...he must help a killer walk free.
Published on 2. January 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-0354-1490-1 (ISBN)
Description
'Everything a great thriller should be ' MARK BILLINGHAM
'Steve Cavanagh's twists hit you between the eyes. You never see them coming' ANTHONY HOROWITZ
HE HAS JUST 48 HOURS TO SAVE HIS DAUGHTER...
Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different.
It's been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn't have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter, Amy. Eddie only has forty-eight hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial - and win - if he wants to save his daughter.
Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his 'client' and ensure Amy's safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible?
Praise for the award-winning, Sunday Times bestseller Steve Cavanagh:
'A gripping, twisty thriller' IAN RANKIN
'This guy is the real deal. Trust me' LEE CHILD
'Steve Cavanagh writes the best hooks in the business' MICK HERRON
'The real magic is in Steve Cavanagh's hypnotic storytelling power' SUNDAY EXPRESS
'Cavanagh is a genius' EVENING STANDARD
'A great author' MARTINA COLE
'Steve Cavanagh's twists hit you between the eyes. You never see them coming' ANTHONY HOROWITZ
HE HAS JUST 48 HOURS TO SAVE HIS DAUGHTER...
Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different.
It's been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn't have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter, Amy. Eddie only has forty-eight hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial - and win - if he wants to save his daughter.
Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his 'client' and ensure Amy's safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible?
Praise for the award-winning, Sunday Times bestseller Steve Cavanagh:
'A gripping, twisty thriller' IAN RANKIN
'This guy is the real deal. Trust me' LEE CHILD
'Steve Cavanagh writes the best hooks in the business' MICK HERRON
'The real magic is in Steve Cavanagh's hypnotic storytelling power' SUNDAY EXPRESS
'Cavanagh is a genius' EVENING STANDARD
'A great author' MARTINA COLE
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER STEVE CAVANAGH: The very definition of a page-turner! -- IAN RANKIN Steve Cavanagh's twists hit you between the eyes. You never see them coming. -- ANTHONY HOROWITZ This guy is the real deal. Trust me -- LEE CHILD Steve Cavanagh writes the best hooks in the business -- MICK HERRON An absolute page turner -- SHARI LAPENA Unputdownable -- ALEX MICHAELIDES The ultimate treat for crime fiction fans -- JANICE HALLETT Books this ingenious don't come along very often -- MICHAEL CONNELLY A great author -- MARTINA COLE An absolute humdinger of a thriller - fiendishly clever and totally compelling -- TM LOGAN THE DEFENCE is everything a great thriller should be and I can't wait to see more of Eddie Flynn -- Mark Billingham Part classic courtroom drama in the John Grisham tradition and part Bruce Willis-like action hero fiction straight out of the Die Hard franchise, this is a rip-roaring action-packed and highly entertaining debut -- Irish Independent [It] reads a lot like a courtroom drama that Lee Child might write about Jack Reacher's younger, hotter-headed brother . . . This is afoot-to-the-floor thriller that pulls out with tyres smoking and takes no prisoners until it judders to a halt 400 pages later -- Irish Times Puts the "thrill" back in "legal thriller". Non-stop action, unexpected and totally cool plot twists, a sympathetic genius of a con-man/attorney, and a clock that never ever ever stops ticking -- this isn't narrative drive, it's rocket-like narrative propulsion! Hop aboard and enjoy the ride! -- John Lescroart, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Imagine THE VERDICT's Frank Galvin crossed with THE FIRM's Mitch McDeere and you'd get something like Eddie Flynn, the quick thinking, troubled, kinetic lead of Steve Cavanagh's debut thriller . . . A deliriously fast and enjoyable ride from the next big Irish crime fiction star. Highly recommended -- Adrian McKinty, author of the Sean Duffy series Get ready for a legal thriller that'll grab you by the throat . . . Eddie Flynn makes his explosive debut -- Gerard Brennan Cavanagh's stellar debut provides everything a reader could ask for in a thriller - nail-biting suspense, a Russian nesting doll of a plot, and an original and compelling lead -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY A full-on thrill-ride that hits the gas on page one and doesn't let up until the end. Steve blends a taut legal thriller with a ticking-clock suspense plot and throws in a great protagonist in the form of Eddie Flynn that readers will want to see again and again. A terrific debut -- Stuart Neville Like Mickey Haller and Mitch McDeere before him, readers will love lawyer Eddie Flynn, the star of this high-octane, hugely entertaining legal thriller. On the evidence of this blistering debut, we'll be hearing much more of Steve Cavanagh -- Brian McGilloway, author of LITTLE GIRL LOST and HURT Steve Cavanagh manages to pull off not only a terrific courtroom drama, but also a bit of an edge of the seat thriller, some witty and darkly humorous moments and a character you will fall in love with -- LIZ LOVES BOOKSMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
226 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0354-1490-1 (9781035414901)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2015
Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
€5.49
Available for download
Person
Steve Cavanagh has sold over a million copies of his novels in the UK alone and over four million worldwide. His third novel, The Liar, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year 2018. Thirteen won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2019. Twisted, Fifty-Fifty, The Devil's Advocate and The Accomplice were all Sunday Times Top 10 bestsellers and his three most recent books - Kill For Me Kill For You, Witness 8 and Two Kinds of Stranger - were all Sunday Times Top 5 bestsellers.