What do you think?
Rate this book
The Cooperating Witness
Suffolk Law student Susan Sorella is tending tables at her father’s restaurant in Boston’s North End when the head of the local mob pays her a surprise visit. What he tells her sends her on a mission to save an innocent man accused of gunning down the mob’s accountant.
Susan’s an intern for Bobby Coughlin, a burned-out defense attorney who cops his clients out faster than they can sign his retainer agreement. The judge, having dropped the accused trigger man in Bobby’s lap, is pushing for a quick guilty plea. Bobby wants to supply it before he has a nervous breakdown.
Susan has to battle Bobby’s fear of failure, his sexism, the State’s Attorney, crooked FBI agents, their homicidal informants, and a cooperating witness to get to the truth. She’s not a lawyer yet, but with her knack for digging up evidence and the wise guys on her side, she’s racing to get to the truth before an innocent man goes to jail.
Susan’s an intern for Bobby Coughlin, a burned-out defense attorney who cops his clients out faster than they can sign his retainer agreement. The judge, having dropped the accused trigger man in Bobby’s lap, is pushing for a quick guilty plea. Bobby wants to supply it before he has a nervous breakdown.
Susan has to battle Bobby’s fear of failure, his sexism, the State’s Attorney, crooked FBI agents, their homicidal informants, and a cooperating witness to get to the truth. She’s not a lawyer yet, but with her knack for digging up evidence and the wise guys on her side, she’s racing to get to the truth before an innocent man goes to jail.
277 pages, Unknown Binding
Published July 1, 2020
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 15, 2020
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher via LibraryThing in exchange for an unbiased review.
They say not to judge a book by its cover. In this case it is so definitely true. I am loving the whole Boston Italian mob theme being from Boston, I can can picture myself in the story! This is a great debut novel for this criminal defense attorney turned author.
Susan Sorella is a Suffolk Law student in Boston where she lives and works at the family restaurant, Gabriellas. She never imagined she would receive a visit from crime boss Romano at the North End eatery. Since Susan’s mother died from a brain aneurysm she has helped her dad at Gabriellas. Her father notions to her that Mr Romano would like to speak with her. Why would an infamous mobster want with her?
Apparently, her father knew Romano but would not go into details when he assured her it was safe to speak to him. Romano learned that she would be interning for Bobby Coughin, a burnt out defense attorney. She isn’t expecting to learn much from him since he takes on simple cases that result in plea deals. Romano had informed her that Coughlin would be handling a criminal murder case. He wanted her to know that the men accused were not involved in the brutal killing of his accountant, Tony Francini.
Bobby Coughlin is not very happy that the judge handed him the case nor that Susan was an overzealous intern. He just wanted his client Nicky Marino to accept a plea deal so he could avoid a trial. He couldn’t imagine going to trial when there were rumors that Francini was embezzling from Romano. It was assumed that his dead body found outside the condo of Rena Posa, his girlfriend, was a message. His anxiety soars when Susan presents him with information indicating that his client is most likely innocent. Going against his advice Susan begins to do some investigating to prove the man’s innocence.
The main question is why is Joe Brady being a cooperating witness? The man has a criminal record and history of murder and violence. FBI special agents Mike Rizzo and Harry Smith worked out a plea agreement with him if he gave up the names of his accomplices. The two men he points a finger at claim they barely know Brady let alone murder anyone.
The story unravels as the case goes to trial. The plot was rather predictable but enjoyable. I liked the enthusiasm of the law student even though her efforts almost get her killed.
They say not to judge a book by its cover. In this case it is so definitely true. I am loving the whole Boston Italian mob theme being from Boston, I can can picture myself in the story! This is a great debut novel for this criminal defense attorney turned author.
Susan Sorella is a Suffolk Law student in Boston where she lives and works at the family restaurant, Gabriellas. She never imagined she would receive a visit from crime boss Romano at the North End eatery. Since Susan’s mother died from a brain aneurysm she has helped her dad at Gabriellas. Her father notions to her that Mr Romano would like to speak with her. Why would an infamous mobster want with her?
Apparently, her father knew Romano but would not go into details when he assured her it was safe to speak to him. Romano learned that she would be interning for Bobby Coughin, a burnt out defense attorney. She isn’t expecting to learn much from him since he takes on simple cases that result in plea deals. Romano had informed her that Coughlin would be handling a criminal murder case. He wanted her to know that the men accused were not involved in the brutal killing of his accountant, Tony Francini.
Bobby Coughlin is not very happy that the judge handed him the case nor that Susan was an overzealous intern. He just wanted his client Nicky Marino to accept a plea deal so he could avoid a trial. He couldn’t imagine going to trial when there were rumors that Francini was embezzling from Romano. It was assumed that his dead body found outside the condo of Rena Posa, his girlfriend, was a message. His anxiety soars when Susan presents him with information indicating that his client is most likely innocent. Going against his advice Susan begins to do some investigating to prove the man’s innocence.
The main question is why is Joe Brady being a cooperating witness? The man has a criminal record and history of murder and violence. FBI special agents Mike Rizzo and Harry Smith worked out a plea agreement with him if he gave up the names of his accomplices. The two men he points a finger at claim they barely know Brady let alone murder anyone.
The story unravels as the case goes to trial. The plot was rather predictable but enjoyable. I liked the enthusiasm of the law student even though her efforts almost get her killed.
May 31, 2020
Mike Avery’s “Cooperating Witness” is definitely one of those “cannot put it down” mysteries. It follows a young law student, Susan Sorella, thrust into a major investigation involving murder, the mob, the FBI, and the courtroom. The characters are developed through the plot without a wasted word. If you believe a novel should be judged primarily by the lives it creates, it is masterful. Susan immediately becomes alive. You will feel her successes, her frustrations, her joys, and pains. After reading is done you’ll miss her!
When you think you have the plot narrowed down to one of two logical outcomes, you’re hit with a totally unexpected conclusion. A great read!
When you think you have the plot narrowed down to one of two logical outcomes, you’re hit with a totally unexpected conclusion. A great read!
August 8, 2024
honestly more realistic than most media about the criminal legal system because it was written by a former defense lawyer
June 12, 2020
Mike Avery’s timely new crime novel “Cooperating Witness” is part sly roman a clef, part pithy police procedural, and a bit of Perry Mason, all seasoned with some Goodfellas and a dash of John Grisham. It also provides tantalizing hints about what it must have been like behind the scenes of one of this country’s most high profile and notorious trials involving a frame-up for murder, organized crime, and FBI agents gone bad. Really bad, in real life.
At the center of Avery’s fictional tale is Susan Sorella. She is an idealistic third-year law student at Suffolk Law School in Boston. Between reading about torts and writing briefs, she works at a restaurant her dad owns in Boston’s nearby North End. Throughout the novel, the distinct sights and sounds of Boston and the flavors of its Italian North End are woven in almost like supporting characters and ring true again and again.
Susan lands an internship in the office of a local lawyer who is slogging through life as an uninspired public defender. Then, almost immediately, she gets a surprise visit from the local mob boss, who, it turns out to Susan’s total surprise, has had a long friendship with her dad. The Don proceeds to inform Susan that the schlub of an attorney she’s working for is going to be appointed by the court to represent a man accused of participating in the murder of a mob accountant. And Big Don tells her solemnly, the accused man is totally innocent.
Well, if a mob boss sits you down for a little heart to heart and tells you something like that, would you believe him, or at least act like you did? And, do you then tell anybody what just happened to you? Maybe not so great for her dad. Susan faces what begins to be an increasingly complex set of challenging ethical dilemmas about taking shortcuts for what you tell yourself is an acceptable reason in service to a good cause. I suspect it’s something we all do at times. Including FBI agents. And that is the real crux of the story, two FBI agents who have convinced themselves that taking shortcuts is OK. Because – hey- we’re putting bad actors away right? So, some rules get bent. So what?
As Susan learns what is really happening in what looked like an open and shut case, she realizes that “She’d never read a case…where government misconduct was this extreme—framing innocent men to cover-up a murder by an FBI informant.”
Avery’s novel is clearly informed by his own long-time work as a civil rights lawyer, and in particular by his work on the Peter Limone case. Google it. Limone was a low-level mob soldier who was sent away by the Feds for a murder he didn’t commit. The hit was actually committed by an FBI informant – and the FBI agents who sent Limone away knew it all along.
You may recall that the FBI’s misdeeds and rampant corruption all got exposed in the fallout from the Great Whitey Bulger saga. The disclosures resulted in the guilty verdicts against Limone and three others being overturned. But not before Limone had served 33 years for a murder he didn’t commit. Avery was one of the lawyers who sued the Government on Limone’s behalf. And he won. Big.
In the interest of full disclosure, so as not to take a short cut myself, I am now very happily married to Michael Avery’s ex-wife. And in further disclosure, the most popular and sought-out guest that my Quaker wife and I had at our family and friends dinner the night before we wed, was a small-time thug who wrote a book about being a street soldier and leg breaker for Whitey Bulger. Long story cut short - it was fascinating to see how nearly every one of our friends and family wanted to have their picture taken with Eddie Mckensie. I believe our friends took more pictures of Fast Eddie than of my wife-to-be that night. As one of Avery’s characters speculates in Cooperating Witness, maybe they “got off a little on hanging out with tough guys.”
Like Fast Eddie McKensie, these tough guys in Avery’s first novel are pretty interesting to hang out with.
At the center of Avery’s fictional tale is Susan Sorella. She is an idealistic third-year law student at Suffolk Law School in Boston. Between reading about torts and writing briefs, she works at a restaurant her dad owns in Boston’s nearby North End. Throughout the novel, the distinct sights and sounds of Boston and the flavors of its Italian North End are woven in almost like supporting characters and ring true again and again.
Susan lands an internship in the office of a local lawyer who is slogging through life as an uninspired public defender. Then, almost immediately, she gets a surprise visit from the local mob boss, who, it turns out to Susan’s total surprise, has had a long friendship with her dad. The Don proceeds to inform Susan that the schlub of an attorney she’s working for is going to be appointed by the court to represent a man accused of participating in the murder of a mob accountant. And Big Don tells her solemnly, the accused man is totally innocent.
Well, if a mob boss sits you down for a little heart to heart and tells you something like that, would you believe him, or at least act like you did? And, do you then tell anybody what just happened to you? Maybe not so great for her dad. Susan faces what begins to be an increasingly complex set of challenging ethical dilemmas about taking shortcuts for what you tell yourself is an acceptable reason in service to a good cause. I suspect it’s something we all do at times. Including FBI agents. And that is the real crux of the story, two FBI agents who have convinced themselves that taking shortcuts is OK. Because – hey- we’re putting bad actors away right? So, some rules get bent. So what?
As Susan learns what is really happening in what looked like an open and shut case, she realizes that “She’d never read a case…where government misconduct was this extreme—framing innocent men to cover-up a murder by an FBI informant.”
Avery’s novel is clearly informed by his own long-time work as a civil rights lawyer, and in particular by his work on the Peter Limone case. Google it. Limone was a low-level mob soldier who was sent away by the Feds for a murder he didn’t commit. The hit was actually committed by an FBI informant – and the FBI agents who sent Limone away knew it all along.
You may recall that the FBI’s misdeeds and rampant corruption all got exposed in the fallout from the Great Whitey Bulger saga. The disclosures resulted in the guilty verdicts against Limone and three others being overturned. But not before Limone had served 33 years for a murder he didn’t commit. Avery was one of the lawyers who sued the Government on Limone’s behalf. And he won. Big.
In the interest of full disclosure, so as not to take a short cut myself, I am now very happily married to Michael Avery’s ex-wife. And in further disclosure, the most popular and sought-out guest that my Quaker wife and I had at our family and friends dinner the night before we wed, was a small-time thug who wrote a book about being a street soldier and leg breaker for Whitey Bulger. Long story cut short - it was fascinating to see how nearly every one of our friends and family wanted to have their picture taken with Eddie Mckensie. I believe our friends took more pictures of Fast Eddie than of my wife-to-be that night. As one of Avery’s characters speculates in Cooperating Witness, maybe they “got off a little on hanging out with tough guys.”
Like Fast Eddie McKensie, these tough guys in Avery’s first novel are pretty interesting to hang out with.
July 13, 2020
In "The Cooperating Witness," law student Susan Sorella is determined to find the truth in a high-profile murder case. Not just any murder, but a mob hit. As Susan’s ambition drives her deeper into the case, she discovers secrets that hit close to home and learns that the truth is never black-and-white. Mike Avery’s debut novel is a fascinating legal thriller in which the moral ambiguities of justice are on trial.
The novel opens with a dramatic Prologue in which a man known as “The Accountant” is killed on the waterfront in Boston. In subsequent chapters, a cast of well-developed characters emerges as the case barrels toward a trial date. The narrative point-of-view alternates between Susan, her boss Bobby, FBI agents and the prosecutor, mob boss Frank Romano, and the man standing trial for The Accountant’s murder. The alternating POV allows readers to appreciate the perspective of each character, including the criminals.
I was especially drawn to the protagonist Susan Sorella. In her personal life, she’s loyal to her father and to the family restaurant in an immigrant neighborhood of Boston. As an aspiring professional, she wants to succeed in the male-dominated field of criminal defense law, with few female mentors in sight. Her ambition and naiveté are endearing qualities that quickly get her into trouble, leading to dangerous lapses in judgment. Her inexperience often meets the hardness of the world, such as the first time she enters the Boston Municipal Court. As in all good crime stories, nothing is ever quite as one expects. The mood of the novel is decidedly noir, with the city of Boston acting as one of its unpredictable characters.
Boston and its environs provide a rich setting for the action, whether we’re in the leather chairs of the Parker House Hotel or in a bar for a Red Sox game. There’s a delicious quality to the dark side of the North End, run by modern-day Machiavellis such as the charismatic mob boss, Frank Romano. While Susan and Romano stroll the streets of the North End under FBI surveillance, readers are treated to a culinary tour of the neighborhood’s Italian grocery stores and restaurants, adding to our sensory experience of the setting.
In the tradition of John Grisham, Mike Avery has written a legal thriller that explores the world of criminal justice, where it may be hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad, and where ethical choices are not as straightforward as we assume. After a fifty-year career in criminal and civil rights law, Avery admits that he “knows the law and the people who break it, including those who are supposed to enforce it.” His prose is smooth and straightforward, and his language filled with relevant vocabulary, both legal and forensic, in a way that’s accessible and clear. Whether navigating the hallways of a jail or a courtroom, Avery places readers on the front lines of the war on organized crime. "The Cooperating Witness" is a compulsively readable novel that races through the dark streets of Boston to reach an unexpected and compelling conclusion.
The novel opens with a dramatic Prologue in which a man known as “The Accountant” is killed on the waterfront in Boston. In subsequent chapters, a cast of well-developed characters emerges as the case barrels toward a trial date. The narrative point-of-view alternates between Susan, her boss Bobby, FBI agents and the prosecutor, mob boss Frank Romano, and the man standing trial for The Accountant’s murder. The alternating POV allows readers to appreciate the perspective of each character, including the criminals.
I was especially drawn to the protagonist Susan Sorella. In her personal life, she’s loyal to her father and to the family restaurant in an immigrant neighborhood of Boston. As an aspiring professional, she wants to succeed in the male-dominated field of criminal defense law, with few female mentors in sight. Her ambition and naiveté are endearing qualities that quickly get her into trouble, leading to dangerous lapses in judgment. Her inexperience often meets the hardness of the world, such as the first time she enters the Boston Municipal Court. As in all good crime stories, nothing is ever quite as one expects. The mood of the novel is decidedly noir, with the city of Boston acting as one of its unpredictable characters.
Boston and its environs provide a rich setting for the action, whether we’re in the leather chairs of the Parker House Hotel or in a bar for a Red Sox game. There’s a delicious quality to the dark side of the North End, run by modern-day Machiavellis such as the charismatic mob boss, Frank Romano. While Susan and Romano stroll the streets of the North End under FBI surveillance, readers are treated to a culinary tour of the neighborhood’s Italian grocery stores and restaurants, adding to our sensory experience of the setting.
In the tradition of John Grisham, Mike Avery has written a legal thriller that explores the world of criminal justice, where it may be hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad, and where ethical choices are not as straightforward as we assume. After a fifty-year career in criminal and civil rights law, Avery admits that he “knows the law and the people who break it, including those who are supposed to enforce it.” His prose is smooth and straightforward, and his language filled with relevant vocabulary, both legal and forensic, in a way that’s accessible and clear. Whether navigating the hallways of a jail or a courtroom, Avery places readers on the front lines of the war on organized crime. "The Cooperating Witness" is a compulsively readable novel that races through the dark streets of Boston to reach an unexpected and compelling conclusion.
May 7, 2020
Mike Avery’s first novel, The Cooperating Witness, is a riveting courtroom drama and psychological mystery of true literary merit. When Susan Sorella, an ambitious and talented law student, receives inside information from the head of the mob about a case she will soon work on with trial attorney Bobby Coughlin, this slow burn of suspense begins. Avery does well to place these two characters at the helm, as they could not be more different. Susan is eager to get to the truth of this case, in which a man who claims he’s innocent is accused of murder, whereas Bobby wants his client to plead guilty and take a plea bargain, to avoid the case going to trial.
This tug-and-pull, which propels the plot, is not just a plot device; each character’s motivations are tied to his or her identity. We learn that Coughlin is emotionally wounded from a past case and has real cause to drag his feet, as he’s fighting a private battle with his rising anxiety. As we learn more about each character, the plot becomes more complex, without ever becoming unwieldy or disorganized. Avery sets us on a straight line and sees it through to the end. The result is a satisfying and engrossing read.
Avery allows his characters’ thoughts and—more crucial and more difficult to pull off—their personalities to inhabit the narration. Through this approach, he develops a distinct identity for each character, and he does so in a way that feels utterly organic. We soon see that the characters are deeply concerned for the people in their lives. Their relationships factor into their motivations and decision-making. These are believable characters navigating complex webs of personal concerns.
Down to the sentence-level, Avery reveals that he has the technical expertise of a master prose writer. He weaves flashback, private ruminations, and present action seamlessly, to create a gradual rise in tension and a satisfying, robust narrative. Many scenes have full cinematic grace, invoking all the senses. The reader’s attention never falters. Avery’s knowledge of the courtroom and the entire process of building a case is clear, and he writes with authority. This is true also of his treatment of the city of Boston (especially the North End). Through fresh descriptive writing and clean, effortless prose, Avery allows this multifaceted city to speak and breathe on the pages of his novel.
Although The Cooperating Witness is Avery’s first novel, it bears the fingerprints of a master craftsman. This reader, for one, hopes there are more to follow.
--Marley Stuart
This tug-and-pull, which propels the plot, is not just a plot device; each character’s motivations are tied to his or her identity. We learn that Coughlin is emotionally wounded from a past case and has real cause to drag his feet, as he’s fighting a private battle with his rising anxiety. As we learn more about each character, the plot becomes more complex, without ever becoming unwieldy or disorganized. Avery sets us on a straight line and sees it through to the end. The result is a satisfying and engrossing read.
Avery allows his characters’ thoughts and—more crucial and more difficult to pull off—their personalities to inhabit the narration. Through this approach, he develops a distinct identity for each character, and he does so in a way that feels utterly organic. We soon see that the characters are deeply concerned for the people in their lives. Their relationships factor into their motivations and decision-making. These are believable characters navigating complex webs of personal concerns.
Down to the sentence-level, Avery reveals that he has the technical expertise of a master prose writer. He weaves flashback, private ruminations, and present action seamlessly, to create a gradual rise in tension and a satisfying, robust narrative. Many scenes have full cinematic grace, invoking all the senses. The reader’s attention never falters. Avery’s knowledge of the courtroom and the entire process of building a case is clear, and he writes with authority. This is true also of his treatment of the city of Boston (especially the North End). Through fresh descriptive writing and clean, effortless prose, Avery allows this multifaceted city to speak and breathe on the pages of his novel.
Although The Cooperating Witness is Avery’s first novel, it bears the fingerprints of a master craftsman. This reader, for one, hopes there are more to follow.
--Marley Stuart
Read
July 28, 2020The Cooperating Witness starts out with a bang and concludes 250 eventful pages later with the bang of a gavel. Along the way we meet Frank Romano, Big Cheese of the Boston Mafia, and Suffolk Law School 1L Susan Sorella, who comes on like “Nancy f*****g Drew” in the words of the lawyer with whom she’s serving a summer internship.
First-time novelist Michael Avery brings to this well-plotted story a lifetime of pertinent experiences as a criminal defense attorney, law professor, and Boston resident. He paints convincing portraits of the prosecution and defense counsel who square off against each other over the murder of a mob accountant, in a case that turns on the testimony of Joseph Brady, a stone killer who’s willing (like Sammy “The Bull” Gravano) to strike a deal with the feds as their cooperating witness in order to stay out of prison and get into the witness protection program.
Avery’s insider knowledge of the criminal justice system informs every page with credibility, as he moves his narrative into the minds and motivations of Susan and her colleagues at the defense table, an ambitious prosecutor with his eye on higher office, and two FBI guys who are determined to make their case against Susan’s client.
Susan’s father owns a restaurant that provides the setting for opening and closing scenes, and Avery indulges an appetite for great Italian cooking in his descriptions of the food and wine consumed by his many colorful characters.
This debut novel rewards the reader with atmosphere and mystery, tension and surprises from start to finish. Try it. You’ll like it, and you’ll wind up with an appetite for more from Michael Avery.
First-time novelist Michael Avery brings to this well-plotted story a lifetime of pertinent experiences as a criminal defense attorney, law professor, and Boston resident. He paints convincing portraits of the prosecution and defense counsel who square off against each other over the murder of a mob accountant, in a case that turns on the testimony of Joseph Brady, a stone killer who’s willing (like Sammy “The Bull” Gravano) to strike a deal with the feds as their cooperating witness in order to stay out of prison and get into the witness protection program.
Avery’s insider knowledge of the criminal justice system informs every page with credibility, as he moves his narrative into the minds and motivations of Susan and her colleagues at the defense table, an ambitious prosecutor with his eye on higher office, and two FBI guys who are determined to make their case against Susan’s client.
Susan’s father owns a restaurant that provides the setting for opening and closing scenes, and Avery indulges an appetite for great Italian cooking in his descriptions of the food and wine consumed by his many colorful characters.
This debut novel rewards the reader with atmosphere and mystery, tension and surprises from start to finish. Try it. You’ll like it, and you’ll wind up with an appetite for more from Michael Avery.
July 17, 2020
Due disclosure: Mike Avery has been my good friend for 60 years since we started high school back in Minneapolis. His first foray into fiction, The Cooperating Witness, is a riveting crime novel but much more drawn from his extraordinary life experience as a courageous Boston lawyer, breaking ground on issues of police abuse, race and gender discrimination and criminal defense. In one of his last cases, Mike spearheaded the extraordinary prosecution of damage claims for four innocent men framed for murder and then incarcerated for decades. The convictions, stemming from a Boston gangland murder in the 1960s turned out to be based on false evidence knowingly procured by FBI agent in order to protect their source. The case resulted in damages of $104 million, the largest ever against the United States for illegal actions of FBI agents. In addition to edge-of-your chair drama, The Cooperating Witness is marked by beautiful writing, vivid local color of Boston neighborhoods, broadly-shared love of Italian cuisine and the Red Sox, rich & sensitive characterizations, premier one-liners, traumas of life as a trial lawyer, travails of women aspiring to legal careers even today, and gems of wisdom for what to do and not to do as a lawyer in dicey situations. It should be required reading for lawyers and law students.
Daniel Edelman
Washington, DC
July 17, 2017
Daniel Edelman
Washington, DC
July 17, 2017
June 5, 2020
The Cooperating Witness is a great read, an incredible first crime novel by a retired Boston lawyer. The protagonist, Susan Sorella, is a young law student who works part time for her father in an Italian restaurant in Boston's North End. She also works as in intern for a lawyer appointed to represent a defendant charged with murdering the accountant for a local crime boss. Her client claims he is innocent. The book's tension builds as Susan and her boss cannot find much evidence to support their client's claim. But she persists in pursuing leads and fighting for her client. She encounters a local North End crime boss, rogue FBI agents and the girl friend of the murdered accountant. Along the way, there are realistic discussions of the problems the defense lawyers face, as can only be described by one who has been there. There are spot on scenes of Boston and aromas of Italian cooking. It all comes to a head in a surprising courtroom turn. The Cooperating Witness has plenty of plot twists, interesting characters and Boston tableaus, all artfully described. A real page turner. Don't miss reading it.
October 9, 2026
Welcome to Boston and the Susan Sorella series. The Cooperating Witness is a thrilling beginning to this series. Susan is an intern with Bobby Coughlin when he is assigned to defend a murder suspect. Susan believes in his innocence and she sets out to prove it. Will she succeed?
The performance by Rebecca H. Lee and Steve Marvel was phenomenal. Rebecca H. Lee was magnificent as kind, intelligent law student/intern Susan. I could feel her fear, uncertainty, vulnerability, intelligence, curiosity and love through her voice. Steve Marvel was spectacular as scared, uncertain Bobby. They both portrayed all other characters perfectly. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook.
Thanks to the author and High Gravity Productions for this ALC.
AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Story 5 stars Performance 5 stars
The performance by Rebecca H. Lee and Steve Marvel was phenomenal. Rebecca H. Lee was magnificent as kind, intelligent law student/intern Susan. I could feel her fear, uncertainty, vulnerability, intelligence, curiosity and love through her voice. Steve Marvel was spectacular as scared, uncertain Bobby. They both portrayed all other characters perfectly. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook.
Thanks to the author and High Gravity Productions for this ALC.
AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Story 5 stars Performance 5 stars
June 16, 2026
A pretty dull internship. A very busy law student in her third year. She goes to school, works at her father’s restaurant and has an internship with a lawyer that has a relatively quiet practice. Until he is assigned by the court to defend a man accused of the murder of accountant who did the books for the mob. A story with many moving parts each one an important cog in the tale. There are many personalities. There is a cast worthy of recognition if not incarceration. There are private eyes, safe houses, bodyguards and jail cells. There s are investigations, surveillance vans and secret meetings. With twists occurring when least expected. A really great read for this genre as it is well written and keeps you guessing.
July 6, 2020
Finally a true to life legal thriller!
As a lawyer in MA for more than 40 years, this is a first - a legal thriller with plenty of truth about how the system works! But a thrilling and great read for anyone, whether or not they recognize some names, locales, etc. this novel gets my highest recommendation!
As a lawyer in MA for more than 40 years, this is a first - a legal thriller with plenty of truth about how the system works! But a thrilling and great read for anyone, whether or not they recognize some names, locales, etc. this novel gets my highest recommendation!
March 20, 2026
(3). This was a nice surprise in my new adventures with BookSirens. Susan Sorella is a tasty protagonist in this legal thriller. The story gets a little stupid here and there due to a sap factor with one of the side characters, but the legal action is nice, and the reversals and twists and turns at the finale are really solid. I will read the next one in the series for sure. Good stuff.
Want to Read
July 19, 2020This was a great read and an excellent primer on the use and importance of evidence in a trial. The ending was clever.
This would make a wonderful film and provide some colorful roles to a number of actors. Hope some producer sees it's potential as much as I do.
This would make a wonderful film and provide some colorful roles to a number of actors. Hope some producer sees it's potential as much as I do.
March 22, 2026
I especially enjoyed the plot design. The characters, although stereotypical, fit well into their respective roles creating an entertaining tale. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and voluntarily provided an honest review.
September 4, 2020
Well, first of I love anything to do with the mob so this book was right up my alley. It was a really good story. It moved fast and kept my interest. The story could be a good series story.
December 4, 2023
I'm not picky.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews