The Guilty Die Twice: A Legal Thriller


Don Hartshorn - 2020
    

The Partnership Track


Michael Ridpath - 2016
    Six ambitious vice presidents of Labouchere Associates are gathered together at an isolated mountain lodge in New Hampshire’s White Mountains for a weekend of corporate mind games. By Monday, one of them will become a Partner and earn at least a million a year. And one of them will be dead. The Partnership Track is a novella of about 20,000 words or 70 pages, with a fiendish twist. It will take less than two hours to read.

Savannah Law


William Eleazer - 2009
    The intense drama—both inside and outside the courtroom—builds to an unexpected climax in an unforgettable final chapter. Savannah Law is filled with colorful but believable characters, including a few cantankerous law professors, who demonstrate their vanity and eccentricities at the weekly faculty meetings. The novel will appeal to anyone who enjoys a legal thriller or Southern novel.

Unsympathetic Victims: A Legal Thriller (Ashley Montgomery Book 1)


Laura Snider - 2021
    Following the verdict, a protest breaks out — and the hated defense attorney quickly finds her life in danger.But little does Ashley know, things are about to get worse — much worse. One of her clients turns up dead, and Ashley is arrested for his murder. As local investigators Katie Mickey and George Thomanson dive into the case, they start to suspect that Ashely is being framed — but by whom?With Ashley’s freedom at stake, Katie and George are desperate to find out the truth. And soon, they uncover a sinister plot born of corruption, greed, and misplaced loyalty that will leave the whole town reeling — and questioning their faith in the people they trusted most.

By Reason of Insanity


Randy Singer - 2008
    In an effort to aid the investigation, she shares them with her confidential source—a detective working on the case. Catherine's intimate knowledge of the crimes immediately makes her a prime suspect. When scientific evidence corroborates her guilt, she's arrested and charged with murder. As she begins to doubt her own innocence, Catherine turns to Las Vegas lawyer Quinn Newberg, a high-priced specialist in the insanity defense. Quinn believes in justice, Vegas-style. But he doesn't believe in the supernatural, or that Catherine's dreams are anything other than the result of a fractured personality disorder. "Who can understand the human mind?" Quinn knows that insanity cases are unpredictable, but nothing had prepared him for "this!" To win, or even survive, Quinn will need more than his famed legal maneuvering and biting skepticism. On this case, he needs a miracle.

The Partnership


Steven J. Harper - 2010
    A twenty-first-century legal thriller with a twist, "The Partnership" reveals what happens to rich and powerful insiders as the business school mentality extends its tentacles across a once-noble profession. The themes resonate; "The Bonfire of the Vanities" still burns.Albert Knight has reached the pinnacle of power as one of the “magnificent seven”— leaders of the international legal powerhouse Michelman & Samson. Only one step remains: Knight and his archenemy Ronald Ratkin are front-runners to replace the Executive Committee’s retiring chairman.Knight and Ratkin were once best friends, but that was long ago. Despite their twenty-year animosity, each has embraced the firm’s transformation to a bottom-line business and the stunning wealth it produces. As the price of success, they endure and inflict profound personal damage along the way.When gifted trial lawyer Ronald Ratkin’s $100 million client defies protocol by interrupting the sacrosanct Executive Committee meeting, all seven attorneys are suspicious. The news, Ratkin suspects, could upset his ongoing billion-dollar trial, send stocks plummeting, and destroy his client, his law firm, and his personal wealth. But the wily Ratkin has a foolproof plan. Or will his own greed and that of his fellow partners undo him?***Praise for "Crossing Hoffa" One of the "BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR" -- Chicago Tribune "Gripping, tender, and intriguing" -- Scott Turow "A tale of mystery and intrigue" -- Booklist "Tightly woven and gritty" -- American Lawyer "Fascinating and moving" -- Bloomberg News "Riveting eyewitness history...Bravo!" -- Charles Brandt***About the AuthorSteven J. Harper is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and the author of two non-fiction books: true-crime award winner "Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster’s Story" and "Straddling Worlds: The Jewish-American Journey of Professor Richard W. Leopold."He is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. For thirty years, he was a litigation attorney in a large law firm that he joined upon graduation from Harvard Law School. He received combined B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from Northwestern.He and his wife have three adult children and live in suburban Chicago.Visit his website at: www.stevenjharper.com

The Alternate


John Martel - 1999
    . . starts with a bang and never lets up.

Frat Party


John Ellsworth - 2015
    That is until a case lands on her desk that isn’t like the others. Photos are circulating online of a young woman who has been abused at a local frat party. Through certain events in her professional life, Susmann is asked to take on the case. By doing so, she unwittingly triggers a series of events that will change her life forever and heal the young woman's shame. The perpetrators will do anything to avoid jail time. And while fighting a foreign war is hard, seeing one’s family at risk can paralyze even the toughest soldier. Christine has the law on her side, but she may need to take justice into her own hands. Will she see the hidden enemy and react in time to save the new world she creates for her young client? Fans of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club will love the Sisters in Law series, a legal thriller spinoff from the popular Thaddeus Murfee books by John Ellsworth.

The Dark of Day


Barbara Parker - 2008
    Dunn.C.J. is an expert at spinning her clients’ image in the media—the perfect lawyer to deflect suspicion from Rick Slater, head of security for an influential U.S. congressman. A beautiful model has vanished from a party on Miami Beach, and Slater was the last person seen with her. C.J. has reasons to dislike the congressman, but if she takes this case he can arrange a host position for her on a major news outlet. For a woman who grew up dirt-poor, with a past she would rather forget, the celebrity life has its appeal.The story of Alana Martin’s disappearance soon sets off a media frenzy. Reporters and paparazzi hound everyone connected to the case, and C.J. must work fast before they uncover her own secrets, too.When Rick Slater tells her that a friend of Alana’s could be his alibi witness, C.J. realizes the girl is someone she knows: Kylie Willis, a seventeen-year-old runaway from the same north Florida town where C.J. was born. The problem is, Kylie won’t talk. As C.J. digs into the case, she finds connections between Alana and a group of investors in a project on environmentally sensitive land. One of them is the elusive architect Milo Cahill, one of C.J.’s own VIP clients, who may be bribing the congressman. Another is C.J.’s lover, Miami Beach socialite Billy Medina. But when C.J. asks Billy for information, he brushes her off. She wonders if she’s been foolish about Billy. Or is the problem just her growing attraction to her client Rick?Then Alana Martin is found—dead. Her body washes up on a beach late one night, and the coroner says it was murder. The police have evidence against Slater. C.J. is slammed between the media and the need to defend a client she doesn’t trust. She must find Kylie Willis. The girl could save Rick Slater—but she might also reveal a devastating secret, one that could destroy C.J.’s career, and even, her life.

Power and Justice


Peter O'Mahoney - 2019
    His enemies want blood.And criminal defense attorney Tex Hunter is the only hope he has left.Robert Sulzberger appeared to have a perfect life—a respected position in the City Council, a lovely family, a house with all the trimmings—but behind the façade, his life was crumbling. Drawn into a world of crime and corruption, Sulzberger couldn’t find a way out. He couldn’t escape. And when he tried to walk away, he found himself behind bars.The trial captures the media’s attention and the dark forces of politics are thrown into the limelight. As the son of a convicted serial killer, Tex Hunter knows just how dangerous those forces can be.In the first instalment of the Tex Hunter novel series, Hunter battles against deception, fraud, and cover-ups; risking everything in the most difficult case of his career.Can justice triumph against corruption?Or will the dark side of politics bury the truth forever?This thrilling story will take you for a ride through the courtroom, and end with a twist that you didn’t see coming.

Splitsville


William Bernhardt - 2021
    A bitter custody battle. A deadly fire. This case could cost Kenzi her career—and her life.Kenzi Rivera is furious. Passed over for promotion at her own father’s firm, the talented divorce lawyer is tired of fighting chauvinism every single day. When a desperate scientist begs for help getting her daughter back, Kenzi can’t resist…even though this client is involved in Hexitel, a group she calls her religion but others call a cult.Kenzi uncovers evidence of disturbing practices at Hexitel involving large sums of money, servitude, and sex. She also learns her client’s lab has been plagued by death threats and cutthroat competition. After the workplace burns to the ground and her client is charged with murder, the ambitious attorney knows there is much more at stake than a simple custody dispute.Can Kenzi find a path to the truth before she’s trapped in a maze of death?Splitsville is the dramatic first book in the Splitsville Legal Thriller series. If you like gutsy heroines, diverse characters, and page-turning suspense, then you’ll love William Bernhardt’s twisty tale.

The Color of Law


Mark Gimenez - 2005
    Former college football star Scott Fenney has worked his way to the top of the heap at the Dallas firm of Ford Stevens. But when Clark McCall, wayward son of a Texas politician, gets himself murdered after a night of booze, drugs, and rough sex, Scott is assigned to defend the prime suspect, a heroin-addicted hooker named Shawanda Jones. The powers that be want her convicted—and Scott’s future at the firm may depend on it. But unfortunately for Scott, Shwanada claims she’s innocent, and he believes her.

Dead Peasants


Larry D. Thompson - 2012
    Thompson has decades of courtroom experience in his home state of Texas on controversial and important trials. Now, in Dead Peasants, Thompson has delivered a fast-moving and suspenseful legal thriller featuring a retired lawyer whose life gets turned upside down when a stranger asks for help.Jack Bryant, exhausted after a high-profile career as a lawyer, takes an early retirement in Fort Worth, Texas, where he plans to kick back, relax, and watch his son play football at TCU. But then an elderly widow shows up with a check for life insurance benefits and that is suspiciously made payable to her dead husband's employer, Jack can't turn down her pleas for help and files a civil suit to collect the benefits rightfully due the widow. A chain of events that can't be stopped thrusts Jack into a vortex of killings, and he and his new love interest find themselves targets of a murderer.Gripping, engaging, and written with the authority that only a seasoned lawyer could possess, Dead Peasants is a legal thriller that will stun and surprise you.

Perilous Judgment: A Real Justice Thriller


Dennis Ricci - 2016
    Nine months into his tenure, he’s received two death threats and is under the protection of US Marshals. But when he receives a plea for help from a woman with whom he had a brief romance twenty-five years earlier, he must face a peril of a different sort, one that involves his long-lost son, Carlos.While working for a bank in his native Mexico, Carlos discovers an international money-laundering scheme. Now he’s on the run from those who want him dead. To get the young man asylum in the United States, Lamport appeals to his highest connections in Washington, only to find puzzling dead ends at every turn. Caught between law and love, he’s forced to take the matter into his own hands. With only his faith in God to guide him, how far is he willing to venture into the dark recesses of political corruption to save his son?

Exile


Richard North Patterson - 2007
    But when the phone rings and he hears the voice of Hana Arif—the Palestinian woman with whom he had a secret affair in law school—he begins a completely unexpected journey.The next day, the prime minister of Israel is assassinated by a suicide bomber while visiting San Francisco. Soon, Hana is accused of being the mastermind behind the murder. Now David faces an agonizing choice: Will he, a Jew, represent her?The most challenging case of David’s career requires that he delve deep into the lives of Hana and her militant Palestinian husband, all the way back to Israel and the West Bank. There he uncovers the couple’s dangerous connections…culminating in an explosive trial where the stakes are Hana’s life—and the future of two peoples.