The Devil's Advocate (Eddie Flynn #6) - Steve Cavanagh

A DEADLY PROSECUTOR

They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn't seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE

Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A FORMER CON-ARTIST

Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next? 

What did I think?

This is only the second Eddie Flynn book that I have read but I was so excited to receive a copy that it didn't linger very long on my TBR.  That's the beauty of Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn books: you can jump into any of them mid-series and they are still AWESOME!

I love New York lawyer Eddie Flynn and the way that he and his team work.  It seems like they are really up against it this time when they are called to Alabama to defend a young man against a district attorney who has a 100% death penalty conviction record.  DA Randal Korn is evil personified and Andy Dubois is his latest target; he doesn't care whether Andy is guilty or not, he just wants to watch another man die and know that he had the power to put him in the chair. 

Eddie Flynn believes that Andy is innocent but with corruption in the local sheriff's department and the whole town baying for Andy's blood he really has his work cut out to prove it.  Enter Flynn's new partner Kate Brooks, investigator Bloch (armed with her impressive gun named Maggie) and not forgetting old pal Harry and the dream team is ready to fight evil in Alabama.

Korn is so creepy he really made my skin crawl and if I thought he was evil then I was completely unprepared for 'The Pastor'.  I don't want to give away any plot spoilers but wow this is a powerful storyline.  The Pastor is the puppet master pulling the strings of the whole town to play out a shocking plan.  It's frightening to see how easily people can be manipulated and this is wonderfully portrayed by Steve Cavanagh in his breathtaking plot.

The Devil's Advocate is FANTASTIC!  I raced through it, only pausing to tell people how brilliant it is.  I may have only read two of them but Eddie Flynn is fast becoming one of my favourite series.  With vivid courtroom scenes and an incredibly sharp plot, The Devil's Advocate is crime writing at its finest.  It's so very highly recommended and don't worry if you haven't read any of the earlier books, it's exceptional as a standalone.

I received an ARC from the publisher and boy did I choose to read it - just try and stop me!  All opinions are my own.

My rating:

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All The Wicked Girls - Chris Whitaker

'Raine sometimes complains that nothing exciting is ever gonna happen in Grace again. Daddy told her careful what you wish for.'

Everyone loves Summer Ryan. A model student and musical prodigy, she's a ray of light in the struggling small town of Grace, Alabama - especially compared to her troubled sister, Raine. Then Summer goes missing.

Grace is already simmering, and with this new tragedy the police have their hands full keeping the peace. Only Raine throws herself into the search, supported by a most unlikely ally.

But perhaps there was always more to Summer than met the eye . . .

What did I think?

I am a huge fan of Chris Whitaker's debut novel, Tall Oaks, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard that he was bringing a new book out.  Where Tall Oaks was filled with humour and Twin Peaks style weirdness, All The Wicked Girls is so completely different and so very very dark.  With two very different style novels, Chris Whitaker has certainly shown that he is a natural writer and can turn his hand to absolutely anything, or anythin' as they'd say in Grace.

The god-fearing townspeople of Grace, Alabama are shocked when one of their girls go missing...and she's not the first missing girl in the area.  Summer Ryan is a talented young musician, the light to her twin sister's dark.  Her twin, Raine, doesn't believe that Summer has run away so she gathers together her friends to look for Summer.  They are a bit like the scooby gang with Noah, who wants to follow in his Dad's footsteps and join the police, and Noah's friend, hilariously named Purv.

Every other chapter is told from Summer's perspective and we find out that she is not as pure and unblemished as we thought.  It's odd when you read a chapter from a character's perspective as you think of them as alive when you know the chances of a happy ending are slim.  The whole book is so vivid, but I felt as if Summer's chapters were almost talking to me.  She really got under my skin as I got into her head and I could hear her thoughts and words along with the smooth, mournful tone of her cello.  Summer also has a fabulous first chapter that really could only have been created by the ingenious and wacky mind of Chris Whitaker...let's just say that they don't just catch fish in the river in Grace.

With a cast of such eclectic characters, absolutely anything could happen so prepare for a mystery with shocks and surprises.  I found my mind racing over the words as I discovered deeply buried secrets and I thought nothing was quite what it seemed.  It took me a little while to get into the southern dialect, which was great as it added so much authenticity to the book, but once the book started to speak to me it became second nature.

All The Wicked Girls didn't quite topple Tall Oaks off the pedestal I'd put it on, but that's not to say it isn't a fantastic book in its own right. It's certainly a book to immerse yourself in and I was surprised how moved I was by the whole dang thing.  With his unique writing style and quirky stories, Chris Whitaker is definitely an author to watch out for.  

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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