Spider Games by KJ McGillick
Genre: Legal Thriller
Published Independently 27th January 2020
After having read and reviewed two previous books by this author this year, I was delighted to be approached by Rachel Gilbey to be part of the blog tour for Spider Games. Kathleen's books are always gritty and explore the murky world of organised crime.
My thanks to Rachel for providing me with the ebook to review, all opinions here are my own and unbiased.
Published Independently 27th January 2020
After having read and reviewed two previous books by this author this year, I was delighted to be approached by Rachel Gilbey to be part of the blog tour for Spider Games. Kathleen's books are always gritty and explore the murky world of organised crime.
My thanks to Rachel for providing me with the ebook to review, all opinions here are my own and unbiased.
Book Description:
Kate O’Brien is pure dedication; she believes in the justice system. This feisty, no-nonsense attorney works herself to the bone every day, tirelessly building her reputation and career. She is on the path to being a legal star. That is until her corrupt law partner, Bill Brown, a criminal defense attorney, achieves a degree of notoriety which attracts the interest of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
When the inconceivable happens, Bill is arrested, charged with multiple counts of drug trafficking and money laundering leaving the law firm in chaos. As Kate slowly digs her way out, what she finds sends her down a dark path that could lead to her imprisonment or death. Bill has meticulously set her up to pay for his malevolent crimes. His cohorts, fearing she knows too much, have marked her for death. Can she stay ahead of the FBI and unravel crimes that reach as far as China and Russia? Or will she need to assume a new identity to save her own life?
A fast-paced thriller that keeps you guessing until the end. Suspenseful crime fiction with twists and turns throughout this masterfully plotted novel keeps you on the edge of your seat. It may be read as a standalone and serves as the first book in the series, A Conspiracy of Betrayal.
My Thoughts:
One of the things I love about Kathleen's books are that they take you bang! straight into the action. In this case we meet Kate O'Brien as she is roped into the defence of a woman, Alexis Mayhew, who has been found at her home with a man who has a fatal gunshot wound. The gun is not in her hand and she appears to be in a state of shock, unable to speak to explain the events which led up to the man's death. Kate is not primarily a criminal lawyer - she specializes in family law cases - but her partner at the law practice Bill Brown is being elusive and has essentially dropped her in at the deep end to represent Mrs Mayhew while he completes another court case.
This is the point life takes a rapid downward spiral for Kate and her paralegal Norma. They end up being investigated by an increasing number of law enforcement agencies, their offices raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI. Life gets increasingly surreal when the search turns up drugs and guns in Bill's safe, then Kate and Norma get moved to a safe house for their own protection, complete with their own FBI bodyguard.
Just what was Bill involved in - and how had his dodgy dealings gone unnoticed by both Kate and Norma? I began to get my suspicions regarding Norma as she seemed to know a lot of legal procedures and the intricacies of criminal law far more so than I suspect a regular paralegal secretary would in their daily work. Was she in league with Bill and more importantly could Kate trust her? Information as to their whereabouts seems to get into the wrong hands too easily which also raises red flags to the FBI agent providing their protection.
This is a fast paced thriller with some shocking scenes which kept me thinking even when I was forced to put the book down. The consequences of getting tangled up with organised criminal gangs are clearly represented in this book - certainly made me think about the fact that it is not necessarily those directly involved who have to pay the price.
Buy your copy via Amazon here
This is the point life takes a rapid downward spiral for Kate and her paralegal Norma. They end up being investigated by an increasing number of law enforcement agencies, their offices raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI. Life gets increasingly surreal when the search turns up drugs and guns in Bill's safe, then Kate and Norma get moved to a safe house for their own protection, complete with their own FBI bodyguard.
Just what was Bill involved in - and how had his dodgy dealings gone unnoticed by both Kate and Norma? I began to get my suspicions regarding Norma as she seemed to know a lot of legal procedures and the intricacies of criminal law far more so than I suspect a regular paralegal secretary would in their daily work. Was she in league with Bill and more importantly could Kate trust her? Information as to their whereabouts seems to get into the wrong hands too easily which also raises red flags to the FBI agent providing their protection.
This is a fast paced thriller with some shocking scenes which kept me thinking even when I was forced to put the book down. The consequences of getting tangled up with organised criminal gangs are clearly represented in this book - certainly made me think about the fact that it is not necessarily those directly involved who have to pay the price.
Buy your copy via Amazon here
About the Author:
Kathleen McGillick is a fiction writer in the Mystery Thriller Suspense genre. She was born in Manhattan and lived in Florida while she attended the University of Miami School of Nursing. After twenty years of teaching nursing in New York, she headed south leaving the snow behind. She has lived in Georgia over thirty-five years and is a practicing attorney in Cherokee County.
Her passions are international travel and art. And much like a CIA agent she has a "GO" bag packed to leave for a trip whenever possible. It's not a reach to realize her stories are culled from her travel adventures and there are tons of adventures to share. Her favorite place outside the US is the UK but her love of art was born at the Louvre requiring return pilgrimages to rejuvenate her soul. You can follow her travels at travelingesquire.smugmug.com/A grandmother of two and lover of her cats she enjoys writing her books much like Lee Child, by the seat of her pants. Her characters are flawed, her plots twist and turn and the endings you never see coming.
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