Book picks similar to
The Court by William J. Coughlin


fiction
legal
mystery-and-thrillers
80s

Hick Lawyer


Corey Burns - 2018
    Now, he has found a small Nebraska town to hide out in while he muddles his way through life doing simple, court appointed cases. Then Donald Birch is charged with three counts of first degree murder. And when the other lawyers in the county are conflicted out of representing Donald for various reasons, Dexter is appointed to the case. Will Dexter step-up and be the kind of lawyer he used to dream of being, or is he just a half assed hick lawyer in way over his head?

Corridor Man Volumes 1, 2, 3,4 5


Nick James - 2017
     The Dirty Lowdown wrote: "Nick James has nailed it. The all too dark side of our legal industry, and the type of character we're all too afraid to admit exists!" It looks like disbarred attorney Bobby Custer has won the lottery. After serving four years of a seven-year sentence, he gets an offer he can’t refuse – from the feds. They just want him to keep an eye out for shady goings-on at one of the most prestigious law firms in the city. And suddenly he’s out – out of jail, but also totally cast out of his old life: shunned by family and friends, working the hallways and back alleys of the legal game and finding plenty of shady dealings to keep an eye on. He's psychotic, narcissistic, psychopathic, greedy, unprincipled ... and always charming. He did all the right things -- went to law school, got a job in a good law firm -- right up until the conviction for “a minor dalliance with a trust fund”. You could almost feel for the guy – a young man tempted by the high life could make a mistake he regrets and end up losing everything. And a guy who’ll help you hide a body could just be a good friend. But as the bodies start piling up, you have to wonder if there’s something about Bobby that’s just not … right. Chilling and action-packed, Corridor Man exposes a dark, violent undercurrent just beneath the surface of “perfectly legal and above-board”. A combination of Breaking Bad and House of Cards, Corridor Man series are a collection of sinister, disturbing thrillers that are bound to keep you awake at night. Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in the Corridor Man series.

Burden of Truth


Robin James - 2018
     Defense attorney Cass Leary thought she’d escaped her hometown for good. But after leaving her high-paying job in Chicago, she decides to revisit her troubled past. When someone murders the beloved high school basketball coach and Cass steps in to defend the girl accused of the crime, she doesn’t expect the death threats that follow…Confronting the town that shunned her as a child, she unearths secrets that some would kill to keep buried. And after her client confesses to the crime, Cass detects a widespread cover-up. If she doesn’t get to the bottom of it soon, the next fatalities may be the ones she loves… Burden of Truth is the first book in series of high-stakes legal thrillers. If you like blood-pumping action, compelling characters, and twisted crime conspiracies, then you’ll love Robin James’s dark tale. Buy Burden of Truth to enter this spine-chilling murder mystery today!

An Equal Justice


Chad Zunker - 2019
    It’s a personal victory for the rising superstar—a satisfying reversal from his impoverished and despairing childhood. Now he has the life he’s always wanted: an extravagant salary, a high-rise condo, a luxury SUV, and no limit to how far he can go in the eyes of the top partners.But after the shocking suicide of a fellow associate—one who, in his final hours, offered David an ominous warning—he feels the pull of powerful forces behind the corporation’s enviable trappings. The suicide leads unexpectedly to David’s discovery of a secret enclave of the city’s homeless, where he can’t help but feel an affinity to these outcast souls. Nor can he ignore the feeling that they hold the key to the truth behind a dark conspiracy.When one of his new street friends is murdered, David’s clear doubts about his employer start shifting into a dark reality. Now torn between two worlds, David must surrender all that he’s achieved to fight for a larger cause of justice—and become his firm’s most dangerous acquisition.

Someone Knows Something


Christa Weisman - 2019
    It lives in your bones and pulses in your blood, waiting for just the right moment to expose your sins. J.R. Hudson was the golden boy of Timber Falls. Born into privilege as the mayor’s son, he was the envied quarterback on the high school football team with big dreams and aspirations. Along with his teammates and best friends, Ethan Young and Caleb Weston, the trio ruled senior year at Timber Falls High and the small Washington town they lived in. And then one day they vanished. Now the town is in a desperate attempt to solve the mysterious disappearance of these strong, dynamic young men. Searching for answers dredges up dark secrets and haunting revelations, revealing the grim truth—that maybe these boys weren’t as perfect as they seemed. Author note: Set in the mid-1990s, before cellphones and social media was present, this book reminds us that when someone went missing, they left no trace. The boys are high school teens, though due to graphic scenes and mature content, this book is recommended for 18+

In the Shadow of the Law


Kermit Roosevelt III - 2005
    Through the obsessive efforts of its founder's son, Peter Morgan, his father's old-fashioned business has been transformed into a veritable goliath, embracing bankruptcy and merger divisions that Archibald Morgan had deemed ungentlemanly. As Peter reaches the pinnacle of his career, his firm is embroiled in two difficult cases: a pro bono death-penalty case in Virginia, and a class-action lawsuit brought against Hubble Chemical of Texas after an on-site explosion killed dozens of workers. Assigned to these cases is a group of young associates and seasoned partners struggling to make their way in the firm. Mark Clayton, fresh out of law school, is beginning to loathe his dull workload, and to be frightened by the downgrading of his personal life, when he is assigned to the pro bono case. Assisting him is the mercurial Walker Eliot, a brilliant third-year associate whose passion for the law is as great as his skill at unraveling its intricacies. The aggressive, profane, and wildly successful litigator Harold Fineman is leading the Hubble defense, assisted by first-year Katja Phillips, whose twin devotion to productivity and idealism intrigue him, and Ryan Grady, another first-year, whose quest to pick up girls is starting to interfere with his work.In this complex, ambitious, and gripping first novel, Kermit Roosevelt vividly illustrates the subtle and stark effects of the law on the lives not only of a group of lawyers, but also on communities and private citizens. In the Shadow of the Law is a meditation about the life of the law, the organism that is a law firm, and its impact on those who come within its powerful orbit.

The Reform Artists: A Legal Thriller (First Book in The Reform Artists Spy Novel Series)


Jon Reisfeld - 2010
    An enjoyable read!" -- Readers' Favorite"Kramer vs. Kramer" Meets "Mission Impossible" in this Legal Suspense / Spy Thriller about the Perils of Modern-Day Divorce.If You Like Complex, Contemporary Legal Thrillers with Courtroom Drama, Real-World Scenarios, Emotional Insights, and Techno-Thriller Intrigue, You'll Love The Reform Artists.First book in the Reform Artists Legal Thriller / Spy Novel Series.Readers Praise Jon Reisfeld and The Reform Artists:“Grabs you by the collar and sweeps you along on a nightmarish journey through the legal system." -- Jamie Bruno“So well-written, it kept me hooked!” -- Helen Deakin“An exciting and thoroughly suspenseful read! -- Roger Corea“A page turner. Sharply drawn characters. Illuminating, imaginative and enjoyable.” -- Mary (Amazon customer)"A brilliantly-crafted legal thriller full of suspense, wit and a hint of science fiction." -- Amanda HeadleeBook Description:Who are the Reform Artists?That's the question plaguing Martin Silkwood, successful CPA and devoted dad, as his life spirals out of control. Martin has one week in which to prove he's innocent of the domestic violence charges his estranged wife, Katie, has brought against him. If he fails, he could lose everything.Martin can either play by the rules and trust a legal system that presumes he's guilty, or he can accept help from a covert reform group that will go to extremes to achieve its ends. Either way, his life will never be the same.Follow the action as the clock ticks down to the final, courtroom trial -- and stunning conclusion -- to this page-turning, legal thriller / spy novel.

The Last Justice


Anthony Franze - 2012
    Supreme Court when an assassin guns down six justices as they are hearing a case. Solicitor General Jefferson McKenna, the government's top lawyer in the Supreme Court, is appointed to the multiagency commission investigating the murders. As Congress draws battle lines over who will replace the slain justices, the commission follows clue after clue, each one pointing to an unlikely suspect in the conspiracy: McKenna himself.From its explosive first page to its haunting conclusion, The Last Justice explores the politics of law, the bounds of friendship and love, and the frightening price of unbridled ambition.

The Woman America Loves a Latte


Holly Tierney-Bedord - 2018
    Raised by a junkie and orphaned as a teen, she's settled for a life of low expectations. She spends her days sprucing up the shack of a has-been bull rider and washing hair down at the local salon. But when it turns out her fiancé doesn't have her best interests at heart, she's forced to come up with a new plan for herself.An opportunity to be the spokesperson for a coffee chain means a bright future could be hers, if only she can stay ahead of her dark past.

Footprints


Rosen Trevithick - 2010
    However, cracks start to form, causing Jenna to ask some startling questions and she sets off to Cornwall to find answers.At first the people of Bosdower are welcoming and friendly, but Jenna slowly finds herself drawn into a web of unrequited passions, abduction and perhaps, even murder.

The Atcho Conspiracy (Atcho Series Book 1)


Lee Jackson - 2019
    Another man moves in front of the target.Atcho remains steady while in his mind’s eye he re-lives the events that had brought him to this point. Graduation with honors on a military parade field. Abandoned in battle. Seventeen years in the world’s worst dungeons. Separated from his motherless child. Coerced into espionage against the adopted country he loves.He has no way out.He creates one.The target clears. He sights on the birthmark once more. A persistent thought invades his concentration. How fast does World War III start after I take the shot? As he applies pressure to the cold, curved steel against his finger, another thought intrudes. What happens to my daughter if I don’t?Discover the suspense in this thriller that pits an unwilling spy against hidden masters who manipulate his sense of honor against his love of family and country. If you love spy thrillers, don't miss this one because, like Jason Bourne, Atcho stumbles when tripped. He bleeds when cut, but he never compromises or breaks. Get it now.

Wild Justice


Phillip Margolin - 2000
    After five subsequent New York Times bestsellers, Margolin now returns to the haunting terrain of Gone, but Not Forgotten with a mesmerizing tour de force of psychological suspense, an electrifying tale of revenge and retribution that shows a master storyteller at the very peak of his craft.Thursday: Subject is still combative after four days of applied pain, sleep deprivation and minimal food.Vice squad detective Bobby Vasquez, for months on the trail of a slippery underworld figure, receives an anonymous tip that directs him to a mountain cabin. He races through the idyllic Oregon woods, expecting to close the book on a long-standing vendetta. What he finds instead opens a Pandora's box of horror that will haunt him to his dying day.8:10: Subject bound and gaffed and placed in upstairs closet at end of hall. Turned out lights in house, drove off, then parked and doubled back. Watched from woods.Within hours, Vincent Cordoni -- a brilliant surgeon with a history of violence and drug abuse -- is arrested for a heinous crime. Facing a seemingly insurmountable wall of evidence, he turns to Portland's top criminal defense attorney, Frank Jaffe-who, along with his ambitious daughter, Amanda, must put on an inspired defense. Amanda's first taste of criminal defense work is as intoxicating as it is chilling, but it raises moral questions she's loath to address. Is she defending an innocent man? Or is she using her considerable skills to set a monster free? Then Cardoni disappears under bizarre circumstances. Four years later, a second set of murders has begun ....8:55: Subject exits house, naked and barefoot, armed with kitchen knife. Remarkable strength of character. Breaking her will be a challenge.Has Cardoni resurfaced to ply his deadly trade anew? Is there a copycat killer? Or has the real killer been someone else all along? The police will do everything they can to stop Cardoni -- but they have to find him first.Following a twisting trail of clues, including a harrowing diary that clinically records the killer's horrible deeds, Amanda Jaffe and Bobby Vasquez join the hunt-and themselves become targets of the twenty-first century's first genuinely monstrous psychopath.:

Law and Disorder


Mike Papantonio - 2016
    “Deke” may have come from the wrong side of the tracks but he’s built a wonderful life for his close-knit family. His wife, Terry, and two children live in a beautiful house in a seaside community along the Florida Panhandle.But their comfortable life is endangered. In the midst of a highly contentious multimillion dollar lawsuit against a powerful pharmaceutical company, as well as publicly advocating for a liberal Florida State Senate candidate, this time Deke may have riled the wrong powerbrokers. Scheming against him are a local Bible-thumping preacher, an ambitious district attorney, and two malicious brothers running one of the country’s biggest oil corporations. A vile conspiracy is hatched to bring down Deketomis: Setting him up and attempting to convict him on a bogus murder charge would solve many of their problems.Deke’s in the trial of his life, which quickly becomes a media circus. But this good man will not go down without a bruising fight—especially when he finds his family threatened. And just as it seems that his enemies may have him cornered, he finds help from the unlikeliest source.

Prime Target


Ellis Vidler - 2014
    Madeleine Schier heeds her husband's panicked call and runs home, only to witness his brutal murder by a crime boss and become a target herself. Under police security, she vows to testify. But when the police protecting her are killed, the last of her NYC life disintegrates, leaving her no place to hide. She flees, relying on her wits and imagination to survive on a dangerous journey to become someone else. Who can she trust? The helpful widower who advises her on farming? The damaged recluse who's always near? The neighbor who brings cherry pie? With the murderer still searching, one wrong move could be her last.

Behind Closed Doors


Michael Donovan - 2013
    Eddie Flynn in the book that won the 2012 Northern Crime competition. "Eddie Flynn is part Philip Marlowe, part Eddie Gumshoe, a likeable wisecracking guy ... humour ... violent confrontations ... well recommended." - EUROCRIME "... great concise writing style ... fast paced action ... Donovan makes you feel as though you are uncovering the truth ... well worth reading." - NEWBOOKSMAG Family feuds, booze and bad company. Teenager Rebecca Slater's walk on the wild side has taken a downward spiral. And now she's disappeared. But her family don't seem to have noticed. Wealthy, private, dysfunctional, the Slaters deny that their daughter is missing – even as they block all attempts by Rebecca's friends to contact her. So the friends contact a private investigator. Eddie Flynn is good at finding people. And he's good at spotting lies. It doesn't take him long to see through the Slaters' denials. So he digs around, and isn't too surprised when some unpleasant people come scuttling out of the cracks in their perfect world. But for these people the teenager's disappearance is part of a plan. One that's too important to be threatened by an investigator with more persistence than sense. So it's time for the investigator to disappear...