Lockdown

by Eric Matheny

The midday sun glimmers off the thick coiled razor that sits atop the fence surrounding the perimeter of Central State Penitentiary. As Californiaas toughest prison, itas where twenty-two-year-old convict Stanley Allen Wexel will serve out his life sentence, one agonizing day at a time. Miles away on a Los Angeles law school campus, first-year student Blake Rowley accepts an offer to participate in a pro bono program working with prison inmatesajust the right ahands-ona legal experience he needs to boost his uninspiring resume. But when Blake meets Stanley, his first aclient, a he begins to doubt this young inmateas guilt. When doubt turns to passion and passion becomes obsession, Blake will risk everything to save Stanley from the hell of life in prison. As tensions mount and the stakes get high, Blake will stop at nothing to uncover the truth, the truth that could cost Blake his life.

312 pages, Paperback

Published August 29, 2005

About the author

Eric Matheny was born in Los Angeles, California, where he lived until he went away to college at Arizona State University. At ASU he was president of Theta Chi Fraternity. He graduated with a degree in political science and moved to Miami, Florida, to attend law school at St. Thomas University. During his third year of law school, he interned for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, where he worked as a prosecutor upon graduation. In 2009, he went into private practice as a criminal defense attorney. He is a solo practitioner representing clients in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Broward County, Florida. He has handled everything from DUI to murder.

In his free time, Eric enjoys writing crime fiction, drawing from his experience working in the legal system. He published his debut novel Home in 2004, which centers around a successful drug dealer catering to the rich in Orange County. His second novel Lockdown, published in 2005, follows a law student trying to prove that an inmate serving a life sentence in one of California’s toughest prisons might actually be innocent. Eric will be releasing his latest novel The Victim, a fast-paced legal thriller, in August 2015.

Eric lives outside of Fort Lauderdale with his wife and two young sons.