One piece of blurb on the cover of this states that "This book will knock your socks off."

Well, I had no problem keeping my socks on as I read this, but it's a satisfactory detective story and courtroom drama. The writing is fine and I liked most of the main characters.

There's a kind of double twist to the plot at the end. I liked the first element of this, but, somehow, the second one didn't quite work for me, though it gives the book a pleasing open ending.

I don't know that I'll be dashing to read another one by Steve Cavanagh. But I wouldn't rule it out... ( )

4.5⭐

“The courtroom had no natural light. A concrete box filled with loss, hate, betrayal, murder, corruption and lies. It was the great theatre of human weakness.”

Carrie Miller, the wife of a serial killer who goes by the name of The Sandman, is our conman turned lawyer Eddie Flynn’s latest client. When her husband, hedge fund manager Daniel Miller, absconds, Carrie is charged with being his accomplice to his seventeen murders based on evidence found in their home. Eddie Flynn and his team are convinced of her innocence after meeting her at the insistence of her lawyer Otto Peltier, who cited his own lack of trial experience and requests Eddie Flynn to take the case. Aiding them is ex-FBI agent Lake who has a personal stake in finding the killer. Eddie’s friends from his conman days also make their appearance, providing help as and when Eddie needs it. The Sandman also wants Carrie acquitted and will go to any length to ensure the same. The Sandman’s killing spree isn’t over and Eddie is in a race against time to win his case not only to prove Carrie’s innocence but also to save one of his team from becoming The Sandman’s next victim.

Fast–paced, suspenseful, with loads of thrills inside and out of the courtroom, the seventh book in Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series does not disappoint! The narrative is shared through multiple perspectives including The Sandman, which dials the tension up a notch and keeps you hooked till the very last page. Some of the best features of Cavanagh’s novels are his short chapters and crisp writing with no excesses and his treatment of the characters. I enjoyed Eddie Flynn’s dynamic with his team and loved that each of his team members has a role to play. I won’t say that the final reveal is completely hard to predict (I did guess some parts), but I did enjoy the ride and the ending.

Overall, The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh is a cleverly-plotted, riveting read! I can’t wait for the next installment in this series. ( )

Steve Cavanagh does it again - another twisted tale from the author of "Twisted". This one is from a favorite series of mine, the Eddie Flynn series. I really like the characters in this series; my favorite might be Bloch, his investigator, a woman of few words and no fear. She'll go up against any size man or beast, and everyone who knows her seems to admire her abilities - and if not her abilities, then her weapon, Maggie, a Magnum 500 cannon that only holds five rounds, but only needs one.

Eddie used to be a con artist, and still knows some interesting people from those days. He sometimes uses a few of them, including one named "Tony Two Fucks", whose name came from the fact that he always uses the word "fuck" twice in every sentence, no matter how short. He always seems to use at least one con artist trick in every case. In this book, it seems like the whole book is like a long con. It moves along through the setup a bit slowly, begins building in the second half, and comes together at the end. But with Steve Cavanagh in control, the end is not the end, there is always a twist or two, and this one was a doozy. Enjoy the happy ending while you can, but don't get too attached.
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