Pardon the Ravens

Alec Brno #1

by Alan Hruska

Pardon the Ravens is a fast-paced legal thriller from the author of Wrong Man Running  and the writer and director of films, Nola, The Warrior Class, Reunion, and The Man on Her Mind.   Alan Hruska tells the gripping story of what happens when a man lets his heart get in the way of his business affairs--and the consequences of crossing the man who controls organized crime in New York City during the Mad Men  era.

Gifted young lawyer Alec Brno is given the chance of a lifetime to try a huge fraud case making international headlines--a case that might make him partner in a prestigious law firm.  But he risks it all when he falls for an alluring young woman whose enraged husband is a sadistic Mafia don--and the criminal mastermind behind Alec's case.

Suddenly, Alec finds himself caught between saving the woman he's fallen for, pleasing the partners of his firm--and trying not to get killed in the process.   This riveting ride blasts through Wall Street, the city's most dangerous neighborhoods and worlds where sex, drugs and unsolved murders hide behind every facade.  PARDON THE RAVENS will grab you and not let go until the last page.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 19, 2015

About the author

Alan Hruska is the author of the novels Wrong Man Running, Pardon the Ravens, and It Happened at Two in the Morning, the writer of several plays produced in New York and London, and the writer and director of the films Reunion, The Warrior Class, and, most recently, The Man on Her Mind. A New York native and a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School, he is a former trial lawyer who was involved in the some of the most significant litigation of the last half of the twentieth century. The Inglorious Arts is his fifth novel.

Reviews

[Tulay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to read.

Started with wife beating, drugs, alcohol addiction. Mobsters. Racketeering trial, killings. It was very hard to keep up with all the characters, confusing and hard to follow who was who. Pardon me Mr. Hruska.

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Libby for www.AuthorExposure.com
Director-screenwriter Alan Hruska, known for his work on several films, including Reunion (2009) and The Man on Her Mind (2014), is also the author of two legal thrillers. He brings his cinematic imagination to his most recent release, Pardon the Ravens (February 2015), a dramatic, edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Hruska’s second novel begins in the fall of 1961 and tells the story of an up-and-coming young lawyer named Alec Brno. Alec, a poor boy who grew up in Queens, is just a couple years out of law school and working for a prestigious law firm. Early in the novel Alec is thrown into a case that doesn't go according to plan and he shines! Using some well-known tricks of the trade, he turns the jury in his favor. This win leads him to taking on the biggest trial of his career—a case of fraud involving the well-known Angiapello mafia family and a New Jersey oil storage facility. Alec and his family get mixed up both romantically and professionally with the crime family that controls a broad area including Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island in this roller coaster ride of a novel.

New to Hruska’s writing, I found his style to be unique and refreshing. At the beginning of some chapters he sets up the scene as though it was written for a screenplay—describing the characters as well as stating their location and place in time. I really liked this cinematic writing approach. It made me feel even more connected to the characters and setting.

I especially enjoyed seeing Hruska’s characters grow and develop over the course of the novel. For example, Phil, the sadistic crime boss, is smarter than you think. When his drug addicted wife runs off with another man and Phil doesn't seem to do much about it, I couldn't help but wonder about his judgment and position as a head mobster. But, with the pacing of a pro, the author takes his time to slowly reveal Phil’s true nature: he is informed, he is ruthless, and he is a force to be reckoned with.

Except for some seemingly unrealistic parts of the plot, Pardon the Ravens is a great book. I highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy legal thrillers, especially those involving mafia crimes. Fans of Scott Turow and John Grisham will certainly enjoy this author’s fresh approach. I look forward to reading Hruska’s debut and following his career going forward.This review was originally posted on Author Exposure

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

GoodReads First Reads Review - Advanced Reading Copy

This book just never took off for me. Labeled as a Legal Thriller, I had high hopes. So, what went wrong for me in reading this book?

1. Poor character development. And this may be the biggest letdown. The characters are a bunch of talking heads with zero expression. With characters like mobster Phil Anwar and rookie lawyer Alec Brno there was real opportunity to create some memorable and well rounded characters. It never happened.
2. Multiple storylines. Now, I have no problem with multiple storylines as they can make a book great. In this case, the stories walked along side by side until they bumped into each other at the end with a mere "excuse me" moment.
3. Where's the thrill? There is zero thrill in this thriller. I love a good thriller and especially a dark one with some really shady characters. There are some awesome characters in the Godfather or Donnie Brasco (based on a true story) that personify shady. What a great hang on to your seat storyline this could have been with the mob, the lawyer and the mob wife/lover tangled up together because of a lawsuit. It never materialized.
4. Too much talk and too little action. This is a dialog heavy novel and light on the description and action. Even the big ending was anti-climatic.

I give this book my two star "fair" rating because the writing is not terrible and the premise for the story was a good one. The finished product was just bland.

Thank you Prospect Park Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Kathleen Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pardon the Ravens Pardon the Ravens is a legal thriller with young lawyer, Alec Brno working on a fraud case that could make his career. He meets Carrie Maddigan, wife of Phil Anwar who is a mob boss of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island. Carrie is a battered woman, by her husband, with a young daughter who is in the custody of her father. Carrie has a drug problem, perpetuated by her husband, but he is trying to get clean and stay clean so she can get her daughter back and when she meets Alec there is an immediate attraction. As Alec gets more involved with Carrie he finds that their lives are not safe from the sadistic husband. They say, you can run but you can't hide as this young couple finds out.
 
The case that Alec is working on involves the clients of Kendall, Blake, the law firm that Alec works for, and they are the owners of a corporation that has lost great sums of money and are involved in a class-action suit that could be detrimental to business. A storage facility with tankers that should be loaded with oil are full of water instead. This case and the mob are intertwined and nothing is as it seems. This is a legal thriller at it's best. The writing style pulled me in and had me eagerly turning the pages. This is definitely a story about good guys and bad guys with an element of romance that should please the reader. I loved it!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I was chosen a First Reads winner, and received an ARC of Pardon the Ravens by Alan Hruska in the mail. That in no way influenced the review that follows.

A very enjoyable and fast-paced legal thriller, set in New York City and in a small fishing town in Maine in 1961. The main character, Alec Brno (pronounced bur-no) is a "gifted young New York lawyer" with great instincts -- even if he sometimes decides to go against them. The story chronicles both his courtroom battles and those of a much more personal nature which, inevitably, become intertwined before the tale steams to an exciting conclusion.

If you're a fan of John Grisham's novels, you'd most likely enjoy this; I know I did. The characters are well-written and the plot is, for the most part, believable. Publication of Pardon the Ravens is scheduled for Feb. 2015. I'm really pleased that I was able to read this beforehand.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

XXX I received this book in a Goodreads give-away - so excited to read it! Thank you! I received it within days of the completion of the giveaway, and have enjoyed it considerably.

The setting in NYC introduced me to area's I am not familiar with, and was a welcome change from southern settings, which I generally wind up reading because I know it, heart and soul. This look at the eastern seaboard in the fall of 1961 was interesting, and Alan Hruska paints a lovely picture with his words.I wish there had been a bit more of NYC in 1961, but the dialog is what carries you into the tale. Excellent.

The action never stops, in Pardon the Ravens. All of the characters are well defined, and the protagonists are well rounded. Some of the bad guys are all bad - rather inhuman. I will look for this author in the future.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel sad giving this book two stars. I really wanted to like this book, but the characters sucked, the romance sucked, the dialogue was boring, etc, etc. The plot was great but was not the main focus. Alec's relationship with the Carrie was the main focus. Looking for her, her times in rehab, countless descriptions of how f****d up she was, (but that was okay because Alec likes damaged chicks). The romance felt unreal and flat. sigh The legal stuff was fascinating to me, but never did get much of it, sadly. I did not finish this book, but I heard the ending wasn't even worth it, so I'm not too sad about that. This book had the potential to be spectacular, as it had all the ingredients, but alas... The execution was lacking. Two stars. For the scarce plot and cool cover.

[Sharyn Hutchens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Courtroom drama (and more!) at its best

What a relief to read a book by someone who knows how to write fiction! And has a good editor. Professionally written with likable protagonists and villains you're glad you don't know, a touch of humor, a plot that doesn't quit till the last few pages. All the way through, you keep thinking, "What would I do in this situation?" and coming up empty. The courtroom drama is superlative and the personal drama will have you up past midnight reading. My only problems were keeping up with the characters and understanding the finer points of law. The former got easier as it went along and the latter was solved by rereading a few passages. All in all, highly recommend!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot going on in this story. Alec who is a lawyer, a young one and very good. A young woman named Carrie who got mixed up with a mob boss and married him and is now estranged from him. Phil the mob boss who beats her and got her hooked on heroin. Very well written.

[Marcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free Advanced Reader's Copy of this book through the GoodReads FirstReads program.

"Pardon the Ravens" is a story primarily about lawyer Alec Brno trying a case involving mob boss Phil Anwar in ... I believe it was marketed as the "Mad Men" era? In the process he meets Phil's drug-addicted, battered, and practically estranged wife, Carrie - and promptly falls in love with her. Alec has to contend with the challenges that come with being a young lawyer in his firm, and the challenges that come with being dumb enough to get involved with a key witness in his case. He ultimately proves he is as smart as the book wants us to believe, both winning his case and managing to take down the mob boss so that he can have a happily-ever-after with his witness, her daughter, and dog Friday who had previously belonged to Phil's henchman, Vito.

While this book had its moments, I wasn't really thrilled with it. Some scenes were written so well that I could see them as if the author was describing how it would play out in a movie scene ... but not many. Honestly, for most of the book, there were just too many characters, with too little time devoted to them individually for me to keep them straight. I knew who Alec was, along with his drunk boss; I knew Phil, his wife and daughter, and his primary accomplice. I knew who Alec's dad was, and through him learned how it was that Alec could so quickly and out of nowhere fall in love with a woman he met through his career and which he has absolutely no business being with. But there were at least five other lawyers brought up, a handful of victims of mob violence (oh hell! I completely forgot about the sequence in which Phil takes out an entire branch of the mob family because while many of them were named, this whole aspect of the story ultimately just did not matter and it's just another example of there being too many characters with no reason to care.), randos living in a small community separate from the main action of the story, and even in the end random henchmen who are mentioned as if we have met them before but I for the life of me could not remember them because if they had come up before, it was just with so little detail that I couldn't retain it.

And if some of the above comments haven't made it clear, another challenge in getting into this book was just the speed with which some of the characters jumped into relationships, really awful ones from a professional vantage as well as a general personal self-preservation angle. Alec meets Carrie and is basically immediately smitten, willing to try to get her clean and even put her in rehab himself; by the time they get to trial she's claiming on the stand that they will get married. It's entirely unbelievable - we haven't been with these characters long enough to believe that they have fallen in love within the pages. As much as I hate to say "This book needed to be longer" because it did feel like a SLOG at times, I feel like if it had been we would have more reason to care about the characters as well as the detail necessary to know one non-central lawyer from another.

I will grant that the very end of the book was all right. I liked the showdown between Alec and Phil, and did appreciate how that situation shook out and what pieces were planted earlier in the story but with no explicit logic until it came together in the end.

So, two stars. For the few scenes that I could see, vividly, in my mind thanks to the writing, and the final scene and the pieces laid out in advance to get there.

[Tracy Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy), with the understanding that I would give an honest review.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book is the fact that it's set in the early 60s. Having come off of watching the entire Mad Men series, I really can't get enough of that time period. (Yes, the men were sexist and abusive, women had essentially no voice, etc. I can't help it--I still love this era!)

Another thing I enjoy about this book is that, while there are multiple characters and they're all fairly well developed, the main character (Alec Brno) is the kind of protagonist who is truly a hero. His traits are very well developed in this book, and I can totally see myself wanting to read more stories about him--I don't know if that's something that is in the works; I just know I really liked Alec a lot!

I think this would be a great read for anyone who enjoys thrillers, mob stories, and/or anyone who enjoys books about law and trials, etc., (Think John Grisham.) The reason I gave this four stars instead of five is that it was a tiny bit jargon-y for me. There were bits I had to kind of glide over, because I didn't understand them. I don't know if it was law jargon or terms about fraud, or mob-related things. I can't recall specifically--I just remember there were a few times when I went, "hmmmm......" and moved on.

Overall, though, a great read!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The synopsis sounded intriguing. However, the book never lived up to its synopsis or promise of intrique in my view. The book read like I was observing everything from afar instead of enveloping me, leading me to feel I was 'in the story.' Not great, not bad. Just okay. Too many characters introduced too fast. Too many 'plotlines' - wife abuse, mob, diesel oil theft, heroin addiction. etc. (all tied together thru the mob) - at the same time, not to mention a fairly fresh-faced attorney with next to no experience having the whole "shebang" trial given to him. Plus the plotlines were tied up too neatly, too fast at the end, with the brief testimony from the abused wife. I don't know if Alan Hrushka has written other books. I do know I doubt I'll read another of his any time soon.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book...probably two years ago as part of Goodreads First Reads and tried starting it back then but it never really caught my attention. Two years and a couple hundred books later, I tried it again. Got halfway through this time. Character development is nonexistent, the "romance" between Alec and Carrie is completely unfounded and comes out of nowhere, and basically nothing has happened 50% through the book. Did not and will not finish, though I appreciate the opportunity to check it out through First Reads.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess my rating is on the generous side but I liked the legal successes Alec managed and the brainy way he solved the pursuer problem. The author does an outstanding job explaining the legal twists and turns, to lay the foundation for his outsmarting the bad guys. The only parts that were hard to believe were the love at first sight aspect and the actual life with an addict where he did not give up. I know that makes me sound harsh but he was exceptionally patient and understanding when their connection was not that deep or longstanding.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This struck me as a cross between a legal thriller and a mob story - with a little Mad Men era glamour thrown in for good measure. The dialogue crackles and the action stays taut. But I didn’t find the main characters’ love affair that convincing - which isn’t to say I didn’t root for them. Against the mafia, they don’t stand much of a chance. Fortunately, some of the minor characters come through for them in the end. An elaborate plot twist also ties up all the legal ends nicely.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full Disclosure: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

I did enjoy this book, and the character arcs were done nicely. At the beginning, it did chop around a bit quickly, which meant it took a while for me to sort everyone out and figure out who fit in where.

The book is nicely written.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the legal parts were boring, but overall I enjoyed this. There were some really great twists, and I found the third act genuinely fairly thrilling. Also I was super invested in the main couple of course haha

[Alexander Pechacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read a legal thriller in a while. Man was I in for a surprise on this one! Yes, it did entertain me. Great storyline about a young lawyer trying a big case about diesel being stolen. And his love story with a mobsters wife who was a really really bad guy. I won’t spoil it… but read on!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cinematic legal thriller with interesting/frustrating characters that add to the "page-turner" aspect of this novel.

[Sheryl Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable suspense

I was initially confused by the characters and had a hard time keeping them straight but in the end, I couldn’t stop reading.

[Neola Rendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pardon the Ravens is a story of lawyers and mob people. It was a little graphic for me. I didn't need to know what the mob does to people they don't like. This book is for mature people only.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Legal thriller, lots of shooting and torture, love stories - hard to follow the legal cases for me. But a fast-paced engaging book.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twists and turns

Twists and turns as a brilliant mind negotiates the court house and relationships with the mod. Great characters. Wonderful writing style.

[Aaron Polish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book makes you think what to do before you do it, Alec who is an attorney is fighting in court and fights with the mob, which is very good to find out when it's over.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

NOTE: I received a free advance reader copy of this book to review.

You might think that the only thing that the nation needs less than another lawyer is another lawyer writIng a novel . PARDON THE RAVENS written by Alan Hruska fits the description, and he almost makes it work. Almost.

Take one sharp young, dedicated, supremely confident second-year associate in a prestigious Wall Street firm. ( I leave it to you to count the cliches in that word picture.) He acts as a defense counsel to a company which faces financial disaster in a case in which it, a major international financial institution has been victimized in a scam rum by the mob. If it was negligent in its duty it could be bankrupted. It is a case in which someone is going to be poorer by 1 Billion.
The U.S. Attorney for New York, vaguely reminiscent of a bald, sharp-witted attack dog US attorney known for investigating the mob ( hmm, who might that resemble?) is interested in the case.

Just for love interest, have the young,hard-charging, etc., lawyer get involved with the mobster boss' estranged wife, who is a sometimes recovering junkie who knows that her abusive, sadistic husband will not let her run off, taking their child with her. She knows much too much.Complicating matters is that the mob boss faces internal competition from those who think he is getting a bit soft, not being able to either control his spouse or simply erase her.
Sounds ok so far....

For the first half of the book which deals mostly with the complicated legal case, the story develops slowly, but is interesting enough. It is when the lawyer falls for the junkie wife that the plot slows. The love affair, which is mostly one of the young lawyer trying to sober up the woman and yearning for his love to be returned, all the while he is warned off from the relationship by his co- counsel, and threatened to leave the gangster wife alone or else, is just not credible nor interesting. IMO, it drains momentum from the story.

There is also a sub-plot involving the lawyer's father and his job/ love affair with the owner of a security firm which just happens to be mob- connected, connected with the same mob boss. They appear intermittently in the story and add little, except to further impede the flow.

The fraud trial ends in a flurry of legal film-flam, but by this time this reader's eyes have glazed over. But the climax of the book is truly wasun-believable, as in, " Oh yeah ,right, that is likely to happen."

PARDON THE RAVENS is a legal thriller that does not focus on the case; involves a love affair that never catches fire and a plot too many diversions; the characters have little depth, and the ending is a hash of unbelievable scenes.
It is almost, barely two stars.

[Alarice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay. The very short chapters made it a great book to pick up and read for a few minutes without getting too lost within it.

The only character with any sort of development was Carrie. Alec seemed half developed, and all of the other characters seemed to just be put in the novel at different points without any backstory. Also, the romances were very poorly done. It felt extremely random that Alec suddenly fell in love with Carrie. I had to do a literary double take to make sure I was reading it correctly. All of the romances in this book had no chemistry what so every. In Alan Hrusha's world two people just look at each other annnnndddd they are in love and moving in together.

The lawyer plot was pretty suspenseful, and it certainly kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next. That being said I couldn't tell anyone what exactly was going on with Alec's case. A large part of that I believe was the overload of characters that were not introduced, so suddenly the book had many lawyers and judges and it was hard to keep track of who was who.

Some people have commented on the short chapters and different view points the reader is exposed to. The chapters are extremely short, and there are many characters that the readers follow. Although, the shortness of the chapters I thought added to the fast paced feel of the novel. Sam and Abigail could have been axed from the story though without any real impact on the story. They were a good example of having too many hands in the pot as far as characters go.

Overall, the book was okay. I did not give it 2/5, because at least there were parts of the book where I was hooked in. I was a bit disappointed in the book in the end.

Full disclosure: I received this book free as a Goodreads giveaway winner.

[Angel Hartline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: As a Goodreads First Reads winner I received an ARC of Pardon the Ravens. The review that follows is entirely my opinion and was in no way influenced by winning this book.

This fast-paced Mad Men era legal thriller is a highly enjoyable read. In fact overall it's one of the best thrillers I've read in a long while.

The characters are appealing and pretty well written, the story interesting and the ending satisfying. I have trouble finding books with unpredictable endings, and while this one was somewhat predictable there was a nice twist I did not see coming. I only had one real issue with the characters' plausibility (see below).

I also particularly enjoyed the language and writing style itself; it's intelligent without being condescending and suitable to the story / characters.

The character I did not find believable is the mob boss' junkie wife with whom the protagonist (Alec) falls in love (of course). Perhaps I am too cynical to believe she would be able to stay clean after so many failed prior attempts. Also after she falls for Alec and does get clean she seems to rather miraculously turn into quite a strong-willed person willing to face and strike back at her abusive psycho husband and his entire mob family. It's too far fetched.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really excited that I won an ARC for this novel.

I received it extremely quickly & I loved it!

I don't ordinarily read this type of novel, and I've never read anything revolving around the law or the mafia, but I couldn't put it down - common theme for me these days (I'm expanding my horizons, Ma!). It was witty, charming, clever, modern and esoteric. An unkindness of ravens, the mob is.

The busy body work beginning in the first chapter put me in the mindset of The Great Gatsby, & I instantly fell into the story. Upon reading the dialogue, I instantly added accents and eccentricities to the characters - something I've been missing in modern pieces for quite a while. Even while the character rattled off line after line, I couldn't help laughing to myself. When the reader is able to mold the characters, places, faces, reactions, etc. all into their mind while exploring a four hundred page world, they fall in love with reading all over again.

& that's just what happened here.

I would have, however, liked to see a lot more imagery and description involved, a bit more magic, - it's New York in the sixties! Who wouldn't?! - but the dialogue was definitely the pillars on which this book stood.

I'm just so pleasantly surprised by the work of Alan Hruska. He's a gem of a writer. & this is a gem of a novel.

[Charley Ilg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the first thing I want to address out this book are the numerous reviews of how hard it was to follow. I read many complaints of the chapters being too short and there were too many characters involved. I'll go ahead and save anyone the curiosity and say that this simply isn't true. The short chapters kept me intrigued as well as allowing several story lines to continue without having to catch me back up. I thought Hruska juggled the different story lines well and created a clever way to tie them together in the end.

All that being said, what I didn't enjoy so much were how many times I was left to infer what a character would want or be thinking. There were several instances throughout the book where I suppose the author felt the dialogue between characters would be sufficient enough for me, as the reader, to understand all the implications of the conversations. There simply was not enough character development for me to understand base solely on dialogue or conversation (in my opinion, of course).

All in all, it was a good, quick read that I didn't regret putting the time in reading. I also think that comparing this author to John Grisham is a fair assessment, and I wouldn't mind try another book by him.

[Emily Onufer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Pardon the Ravens through the Goodreads First Reads program. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Hruska cleverly weaves the story of a young lawyer breaking into his first case with the behind-the-scenes life of an old-school New York mafia boss and his family. I thought that Hruska's writing was fantastic and captivating, and I was so interested by the plot's twists and turns that I finished the book in just about two days. The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five was because, at times, I felt that the plot focused a little too much on the romance, leaving the legal aspects and the actual case untouched for several pages at a time. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the legal thriller genre.

"There's a biological principle that, in whatever nook or crevice of the Earth life can be supported, some form of it will generate. A similar principle works for lawyers. You see a corporate misfortune, you'll find a species of lawyers in a frenzy to feed on it." 67

"Whatever the future, he thinks, it will, necessarily, be a product of this moment - and this place." 359