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Nate Shepherd #3

Blind Conviction

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A vicious attack leaves a woman near death. The evidence points to one man. Only Nate Shepherd stands in the way of a conviction.

Attorney Nate Shepherd doesn’t want to take on an attempted murder case. But when people he trusts ask him to get involved, Nate agrees to represent the hard-working farmer who’s been accused of trying to kill his brother’s fiancée.

By the time Nate steps in, law enforcement has already gathered a mass of evidence to bury his client. With the help of a diligent associate, a dogged investigator, and a dangerous bail bondsman, Nate unearths a web of money and motives that only raises more questions. But while Nate digs deeper to prove his client’s innocence, a zealous prosecutor steamrolls on toward a conviction, relentlessly building a case to put Nate’s client away for life.

As Nate fights for his client, a family fractures, friends are endangered, and a farm-tough victim struggles to recover. And all the while, a hard truth gnaws at Nate:

If his client didn’t do it, then who did?


Blind Conviction is the third book in the gripping Nate Shepherd Legal Thriller series. If you like razor-sharp dialogue, iron-willed characters, and slippery moral quandaries, then you’ll love Michael Stagg’s fierce courtroom drama.

Buy Blind Conviction and step into the courtroom today!

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2020

2871 people are currently reading
346 people want to read

About the author

Michael Stagg

10 books321 followers
Michael Stagg has been a trial lawyer for more than twenty-five years. He has tried cases to juries and he's won and he's lost and he's argued about it in the court of appeals after. He still practices law so he's writing the Nate Shepherd series under a pen name.

Michael and his wife live in the Midwest. Their sons are grown so time that used to be spent at football games and band concerts now goes to writing. He enjoys sports of all sorts, reading, and grilling, with the order depending on the day.

For more information about Michael and his books, sign up for his newsletter at michaelstagg.com/newsletter/ or go to michaelstagg.com.

Nate Shepherd Legal Thrillers - Reading Order

Lethal Defense
True Intent
Blind Conviction
False Oath

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5 stars
5,041 (58%)
4 stars
2,800 (32%)
3 stars
658 (7%)
2 stars
96 (1%)
1 star
46 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
Profile Image for Valleri.
1,013 reviews45 followers
March 30, 2021
I didn't like this book quite as much as I did the first two. To me, the pacing felt a little off with the courtroom questioning, and it started feeling a little redundant. I have to confess to having a bit of a reader's-crush on Nate, and I still love all of the other characters, however. I also still love the spot of humor here and there. And once I got to the last quarter of the book I was totally enthralled!!
Profile Image for Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader).
1,478 reviews47 followers
July 21, 2024
Abby Ackerman met her girlfriends at Century Quarry to attend the Big Luke concert. On summer days, it was the best place in the area to go swimming and the favorite of concertgoers on evening weekends. Abby was the fiancée of Hamish Mack. She was taken aback to see Hamish at the venue after the concert, but her surprise was nothing compared to what she felt when she saw who he had been talking to. The shocking news for Abby came several days later. While still in the hospital, she learned that Hamish’s older brother Archie had been arrested. How could a summer concert initiate the most harrowing days of a family’s life?

The only person more surprised than Attorney Nate Shepherd that he has agreed to be defense counsel for yet another criminal case, a charge of attempted murder, is his associate Daniel Reddy.

The storyline comprises riveting parts: Stone, Earth, Oil, Ash, and Bone, which steer readers through the development of a case from the event that precipitated a victim’s injuries to the alleged perpetrator’s arrest to the hiring of a lawyer, the investigation by the criminal defense team, the interplays between the sheriff’s office, prosecutor’s office, and attorney’s office, and the courtroom drama. It is gripping reading through the investigation and the dynamics of the courtroom dialogue, compelling edge-of-your-seat reading.

Michael Stagg is the pen name the author created for his literary writing while working as a civil trial lawyer. It’s a reader’s delight that the attorney now writes full-time, continuing this series.
66 reviews
February 15, 2021
Masterful storyteller!

Another great legal story with superb cast of recurring characters. However, it was jarring to see Nate’s niece Taylor referred to as Bonnie (page 102) before reclaiming her name (page 161). Stagg minimizes the biggest problem of solo/small practitioners - getting paid - by not telling the reader the price he is charging his client for an all-consuming criminal jury trial taxing all his firm’s resources for months. Most would gloss over this because the story is so compelling otherwise, but as a former solo attorney for 33 years, I thought it significant enough to mention. I eagerly await the next installment!
15 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2021
addicted!

I thoroughly enjoy Michael Stagg’s Nate Shepherd legal thrillers. Great stories and unusual cases. If you like Grisham you’ll love these. And I would like to say it is refreshing to read excellent books with witty dialogue, surprising twists and turns and no gratuitous sex. Winning combo and can recommend it for any lover of legal thrillers.
98 reviews1 follower
January 26, 2022
I like this guy, will read more.
Court room narration is satisfying, with good cross examination sequences.
Plots are challenging enough...suspensful until the late "discovery".
I most appreciate what the author does not rely on:
Reality-stretching twists and convolutions where all the good folks are in cahoots.
No testerone...not one opposing attorney with long legs and an icy manner.
No "Lawyer Adoration" so often found in the "grish-mill" Nate is a humble guy.

I do find the supporting cast to be a bit contrived. Danny is a long suffering puppy kind of guy, who just works harder... You don't get to know him.
Olivia, and Cade seem like they came from a pool often accessed by authors: The tough big guy, man of few words, ex MMA, Navy Seal, Jack Reacher fan club type. Quiet but not complex.
Olivia is from the spiked hair, tattoo club.. razor wit, tough as nails, physical, but technically gifted,
and sexy when she needs to be. Women who are plain, or overweight need not apply.
But, all said, I will accept these character shortcomings...they are not irritating...you just want to know them better.
Profile Image for Simon Gosselin.
238 reviews
November 7, 2023
In his new case Neal Shepherd is defending Archie Mack for the attempted murder of Neal’s future sister-in-law, Abby Ackerman. The Macks are an old local family with considerable acreage divided into three equal parts, the center parcel for the parents and a piece on each side for their boys, Archie and Hamish.

It was Abby, Hamish Mack’s fiancé, who was left very badly beaten and at the foot of a steep stairway near a river while a music festival played behind them. Although the police arrested Archie, Abby and Archie both deny it was him and they have no idea who the villain was. There are an abundance of clues pointing to Archie and Hamish is especially angry.

This the third installment and honestly the ending is too much. But still a good legal thriller!
Profile Image for Heather.
1,551 reviews9 followers
May 31, 2021
Blind Conviction

I absolutely love this series and it just gets better with every book. I enjoy most of the reoccurring characters and the added mystery was especially well done in this one.
Profile Image for Lamis.
246 reviews12 followers
April 12, 2025
3.5 stars
My favourite of the series so far
226 reviews
December 14, 2023
Book 3 in the Nate Shepherd series kept me on my toes. Narrated by the great George Newbern as Nate, I am now totally invested in this character. Although he's a defense attorney-and I'm the one on the other side of the courtroom--I can't help but be drawn in by the masterful storytelling. This time Nate is defending a man accused of beating his brother's fiance to within an inch of her life after a country music concert at the local quarry. The fiance can't identify her attacker but is sure the brother accused DIDN'T do it. The DA has forensic evidence placing the accused at the scene of the crime, and Nate faces a less-than-friendly judge in Michigan who's not a big fan of lawyers from Ohio trying cases before her.

Stagg builds on previous characters, allowing us to get to know them deeper and giving us "real" people we begin to care about. He also provides a glimpse into small-town life and how the interconnections among friends and neighbors provide a unique support system in modern times. I intend to work my way through this series and highly recommend the audio book if you want to make time fly.
417 reviews2 followers
November 14, 2021
The first two books in the series were repetitious, had uninteresting parts, and had too many boring interactions. This novel also has those faults. But books 1 and 2 had creative plots and dynamic courtroom scenes. This novel doesn’t. Worse, when we finally find out the motive for the attempted murder, it just doesn’t make sense.

And one other thing, the case against Nate’s client is so weak it’s almost nonexistent. In his last novel, the evidence against Nate’s client was also weak, but the author provided an explanation as to why charges were brought: angry family members made donations that could benefit the prosecutor.
447 reviews4 followers
May 31, 2025
I appreciate this author series, they’re on point, recommend

I love this author penmanship. I’m impressed how he gives different variations of cases and storylines. He just doesn’t dwells on murder cases. He dips and daps in any criminal case that cross his path, and that’s what makes the story different and not repetitive or boring. I’m truly enjoying the courtroom scenes. They are very interesting, entertaining, and engaging. I like how the author gives the readers realistic court angles. The judges and prosecutors are very likable in each book. Prosecutors present great cases, but I love Nate’s cross examination techniques. He makes it seem so easy and exciting, how he can extract confessions out of witnesses. All the original characters are so well developed and relatable. All the people in Nate’s circle are tight-knitted, and have great relationships, but when they’re on the witness stand, you’re never know they are friends and spend quality family time together.
Profile Image for Judi Haley.
1,347 reviews6 followers
December 25, 2021
This is the 3rd in the series about Attorney Nate Shepherd. Each book is as good as the one before.

In this one, Nate again is going to take on another client that is being accused for attempted murder.
This one, his friend, Olivia has asked him to help on. One of Olivia's clients is engaged to the man that is being accused. He is a hard working farmer, sharing the acreage with his parents and other brother.

The twist in this one, one brother is against the other as the woman that almost died was the fiance of the other brother. This one keeps you turning those pages as you wonder if two brothers could turn on each other and take their hatred out on the ones they love.

Don't miss this one.

84 reviews2 followers
March 1, 2024
The first book in this series was a real treat. Original plot, likable characters, with enough small town atmosphere and plenty of context with the MC's friends and family to make it heartwarming.

This book, #3 in the series, is all about the case and only the case. Most of it takes place in the courtroom and the questioning by both prosecution and defense is a very long, very tedious process, like watching someone build a brick wall or put a jigsaw puzzle together.

This may, in fact, be how trials are conducted, but as pleasure reading it isn't pleasurable. No plot is worth this tiresome, plodding process. Many series eventually take this path, but I've never seen it happen as quickly as this, and that is really too bad.
Profile Image for Jkane.
721 reviews2 followers
July 11, 2022
The first book was the best one, the second was the second best, and now this third falls directly in line with it being the third best. I wonder where the 4th novel will fall. Each of the first three books was a good, easy read, that kept my attention. The plots have not been particularly interesting, but the novels flowed very well to a conclusion. The first novel was by far the most interesting story, with the most tension. I enjoyed the book, but if it was the first novel I had read by Mr. Stagg, I don't know that I'd move on to the next one. However, as I'm 3 novels in, I'll read the 4th one out of sheer curiosity if nothing else.
Profile Image for Raymond.
972 reviews5 followers
May 18, 2025
This novel imagines a murder that involves the attempt to encourage oil and gas leases in the Michigan area near Ohio. "Albion-Scipio Trend." It is described as one of the best producing oil finds in the state, with around fifty-nine million barrels of oil and about fifty billion cubic feet of natural gas produced since it started. The company involved in the area is Hillside Oil & Gas, which manages lease acquisitions and pays landowners a percentage of the gross revenue from the wells. The novel also references a rock field characterized by "dry wells" between the Albion-Scipio Trend and Mack Farms, where previous drilling attempts did not find oil or gas in a straight line
Profile Image for Tim.
15 reviews
November 8, 2020
Outstanding! A must read!

The quality of writing is superior. Captivating both in story line and word play. Seriously can’t put this author’s books down. Lost a lot of sleep and worth it! Anxiously awaiting book four. This is my favorite genre with this author at the top of my list. Always a twist mingled with some humor and depth of relationships. Painted people and circumstances so well, I could visualize exactly what was being portrayed. Set aside some time to read this author’s works.
Profile Image for Sierra.
16 reviews
February 27, 2021
Another home run

This series is so great, mostly in part because of the way the courtroom proceedings go and because of the characters.
This story was built layer by layer, and even if you think you know who did it, you don’t!
This was the first book in the series where the ending had more action. It’s refreshing that it’s a little more realistic in that not every case ends in some dramatic dismissal of all charges after an action packed climax.
Can’t wait to read more of Nate Shepherd!
533 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2022
Another excellent book in this series.

A great main character. And interesting supporting characters.

Always a great storyline, although in this book and the other two prior books in this series, there is maybe just a little to much "luck" used in solving the problems.

But even that is forgiven because the writing is fast-paced, humorous, down-to-earth, and interesting. I read this one in a day--but I was actually listening on Audible while I weeded my garden and did weekend chores. What a great way to spend a weekend.
Profile Image for Byron.
226 reviews8 followers
August 26, 2023
Book 3 builds on the previous 2 efforts in this series, and I continue to find this series enjoyable and reasonably engrossing. I felt like this book slipped a little in terms of following some caricatures of some types of characters, and the story seemed only marginally plausible. However, the heart of this story revolves around a conflict between brothers over the future of their farm, and I guess that we are in a time where it is no unthinkable that brothers would become enemies because of different beliefs.
Profile Image for Billy Bell.
473 reviews2 followers
June 10, 2024
Best book of the series so far! The story was better and there were no annoying spelling and grammar errors. I really like something that Stagg does in that he kind of breaks the 4th dimension and it's like Nate Shepherd himself is talking to you. He'll say things like "I won't bore you with the details of this...". It must be VERY hard to make courtroom drama interesting while still cutting out the dry parts. Not to mention sticking to actual legal terms and rules in the process. Real good series and can't wait to read the next one!
196 reviews
May 30, 2021
Blind Conviction by Michael Stagg

This is the 3rd book of this author that I have read in the past 1-2 months. Excellent as with the previous two. The actual culprit and the ending were a total surprise. The court room scenes were very well presented. I have started to really like the lawyer, portrayed, Nate Shepherd and his close friends and associates and feel a sense of identity with them. I cannot wait to read the next book of this author.
23 reviews
June 5, 2022
Blind Conviction

Nate Shepherd has been retained to defend Archie Marks against the charge of attempted murder. The state really has only circumstantial evidence. It is up to Nate and his crew of Danny an. Nod Olivia to dig up the evidence and motive for the crime. Michael Stagg keeps you glued to the book until the final pages when you'll find out the surprising outcome. Read it to find out.
Profile Image for Lynn Lynn Sanchez.
97 reviews
June 29, 2022
Didn't see that one coming

Great read. I can tell you I didn't know what was going to happen in this one. I know the main theory was just finding it how to get a client not convicted in come very loose ends it was just trying to figure out how they were gonna to just that. In the end it all formed was you would how. Kept me into the support without losing interest. Can't wait to start next book!
Profile Image for Julie Born.
92 reviews
August 11, 2022
So sad

So sad that I am finished reading this book. Like all the best reads, you want to see "who did it" but wish it could go on and on. There are so many things I enjoy about Michael's books. First, the subject matter is different and interesting. In this case it's about oil and geology, In previous books it's about drugs ( things you wouldn't know) It's clear he spends a lot of time researching the topic and I always feel educated as well as entertained. Then the dry humor is just awesome. I laughed out loud several times. AND, these characters seem like real people that makes you feel as if you know them. They actually have conversations that sound like real people. All in all a strong 5+ star book.
Profile Image for Cheryl A.
67 reviews
April 6, 2024
Had me right up to the end.

I love that Nate Shepherd isn’t a criminal attorney, but he does one hell of a job portraying one. This kept me on my toes right until the end. I had no idea who did it, I just knew Archie didn’t. For most of the book I actually thought maybe Hammish did it. Hey, we’ve seen in real life what people can do for money, power and greed. Love the legal thrillers and Michael Stagg is on my list of favorite authors.
10 reviews1 follower
March 16, 2021
I enjoyed this novel with it's skilful portrayal of the lawyers legal wrangling,gradual development of plot and surprising twists.i thought the plot was slightly weak eg a prosecutor with such a stellar reputation, mentored by the judge who would prosecute such a dubious case!. Allowance for the author creativity is required
99 reviews2 followers
November 14, 2021
A Riddle, But Not A Murder Mystery.....

A riddle, but not a complicated murder mystery as previous efforts have been and not to say it is not a good yarn, just not as well done as previous efforts. Expected more about the Judge, which was setup as being anti city lawyers to any that transgressed into her territory.
156 reviews
December 7, 2022
Terrible reader for this book. He doesn't even try to differentiate between characters. It is strictly a legal crime story. Not muxh else happens in the story but the drama surrounding the crime. No character involvement on the love side of the life of the main character. It is like reading a Perry Mason story. Average story interest at best. Good if you like Perry Mason books
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews

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