Posts Tagged ‘legal thriller’

KILLER WEED
by Manning Wolfe
July 29 – August 16, 2024 Virtual Book Tour

 

 

Synopsis:
Merit Bridges Legal Thrillers

 

GET READY FOR A LEGAL SHOWDOWN, LIKE NO OTHER, IN MANNING WOLFE’S GRIPPING THRILLER, KILLER WEED!

Austin attorney, Merit Bridges, steps up to defend a client whose twin sons are targeted in a fiery attack on a lucrative medical marijuana field. Once again, Merit is thrust into a dangerous game of deception with a corporate giant pulling strings. With their ruthless hired gun, Raiden Prince, eliminating obstacles with chilling precision, Merit finds herself in a high stakes battle for justice. As Merit thwarts the ambitions of the dangerous corporation, Prince turns his sights on her. With his mastery of disguise, he lurks in the shadows. But Merit, her clients, and her trusted team aren’t going down without a fight. Can Merit navigate a labyrinth of legal issues, protect her client, and survive Raiden Prince? Prepare for a twisty confrontation that no one can see coming. From award winning author Manning Wolfe comes the fifth installment in the electrifying Merit Bridges Legal Thrillers. Can be read in any order. DIVE IN TODAY! Killer Weed will keep you on the edge of your seat!

 

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thriller

Published by: Starpath Books Publication Date: July 25, 2024 Series: Merit Bridges Legal Thriller, Book Five

Book Links: Amazon | Goodreads

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MY REVIEW

Sometimes, not often, I come across a book that bogs down when going into detail about how something works. Not so with this book. I found it amazing. Never knew how difficult it was to legally farm pot. The author did her research. She shared the ins and outs of the legal hemp and marijuana business. For those who manage to get one of the licenses to grow pot, there are so many hoops to jump through. So much red tape. That’s where the politicians and lawyers play a huge part. They navigate through the confusion, making sure the players are on the up and up.

The illegal pot business is dangerous. So is the legal one. It’s a business that brings in billions. For some, they would do anything to get a piece of that pie. From threats to sabotaging the crops, to arson and even murder.  Killer Weed indeed. It’s a fast paced thriller with some characters that you’ll love and some that you’ll want to…. well, erase from the picture. This is my first dive into the series and now I want more.

4 STARS

 

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Read an excerpt:

Chapter 1
Raiden Prince prowled the field on foot, a solitary figure moving purposefully in the dark through the field of tall green leafy stalks. The summer night wrapped around him like a shroud, making his eyes appear as black as pools of Texas crude oil and concealing his clandestine mission. In the velvet light, only the shape of the vegetation was visible, but the outline of the three-pronged leaves was unmistakable. He threw gasoline from a red gas can onto the field of hemp, backing up as he worked, so as not to soak his jeans or work boots with the flammable liquid. He returned the red can to the bed of his pickup, retrieved another gas can and moved to the opposite side of the field. There, he emptied the flammable liquid onto a greenhouse made of a steel frame and plastic sheeting, filled with high grade medical marijuana plants, some labeled Peanut Butter Breath, and others Blue Dream. The silence of the night was broken only by the rhythmic chirping of dog-day cicadas, and Prince’s off-key rendition of Red Headed Stranger. He did his best Willie Nelson imitation in his practiced backwoods Texas accent. He mimicked the elastic voices, that he’d heard most Texans use, by eliding certain syllables. All the vowels were stretched out in the middle of each word, and the end of them clipped, especially ones ending in ing. The music was just to set the mood for the evening’s tasks. He preferred rap. After he’d soaked the greenhouse, Prince backed toward the two lane county road as he threw the last of the gasoline. He then moved out of the field, onto the caliche roadbed, where he walked back to his old rusty pickup truck and placed the second gas can in the bed beside the first. # Brad and Thad Lane, each on an ATV with custom paint jobs and extra-large wheels, cut across the pasture from their picturesque home on the hill above the expansive farm owned by the Lane family. They often rode late at night when they could sneak out without waking their mother, Gladys. She was a heavy sleeper, as the pure of heart often are, but she was still a protective mother and didn’t like the twins roaming the acreage in the dark. Brad, the larger of the two, now shirtless, and already tan, played defensive end on the local high school football team, the Giddings Buffaloes. Thad, three minutes younger, wearing a white wife-beater undershirt, played tight end and was the more talented of the two. He was often compared to Travis Kelce because he was fast and often carried the ball in for the team’s touchdowns under Friday night lights, a Texas passion. Riding around the family farm was not an issue for the seventeen-year-olds, even at night. They knew every inch of the family property, as they’d been using it as their personal playground since they could walk. They had certain hiding places for their special crops. Not marijuana, there was plenty of that. Their secret was growing small patches of maize or clover near their bird blinds so they could enjoy a good season of dove hunting in the fall. It was called baiting, and was illegal, but this was their land, and they didn’t follow many rules once they entered the gate to the property they called home. The twins cut low into a narrow creek bed caused by hundreds of years of rain runoff, then peaked again at the top of a low mound overlooking the growing fields. From their vantage point atop the rise, Brad spied a solitary figure below, near the county road, his movements casting eerie shadows against the moonlit landscape. Brad’s brow furrowed in confusion as he pointed out the intruder to his brother. “Who is that?” Thad’s eyes narrowed as he squinted into the darkness, his instincts going on high alert. “Don’t think I know him. What the hell is he doing?” They watched the intruder move further onto the country road, then recede, taking a squarish object that appear to be a gas can with him. The man placed the can in the back of a pickup and returned to the edge of the field. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and just as he was about to thumb the heel, the twins came tearing down the rise, bearing down on the intruder on their ATV’s, while shouting obscenities. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” “This is private property, Asshole.” At that moment, Prince thumbed the wheel, sparking the flint, and tossed the flaming Zippo, lighting up the edge of the field. The fire caught and expanded flaring toward the twins. They zigged and zagged, skirting the field and avoiding the flames by driving through a wet creek at the edge of the heat. Marijuana smoke puffed out of the burning field and then the greenhouse, the plants expelling gases that smelled sweet and exotic. Prince moved back toward his pickup, placing his right hand in his pocket and grabbing his keys to expedite his exit. He moved quickly, but the twins were quicker. Thad bounded his ATV up out of the creek bed and headed straight for Prince. Thad knocked Prince down with the front bumper, and Brad came charging up behind Thad. Prince pulled himself up, dropping his truck keys in the onslaught, and picked up a large limb that had fallen from a nearby oak. He swung it over and caught Brad across the chest with the heavy weapon before Brad could come to a complete halt, knocking him from the ATV. The machine continued into the roadbed and across to the neighboring fence, where it was caught by barbed wire and abruptly died. Thad did a wheelie in the road, turned back, stopped his ATV, and jumped off to help his brother. While he was bending over Brad, Prince came up behind him and slammed the same offending tree limb into the back of Thad’s head, knocking him out cold. Prince went down again as his right leg gave way from the injury caused by Brad’s ATV. Prince got up, limped nearer to the twins, and hit them again, although they were both already unconscious. “Stay down.” Prince sat down on a nearby rock outcropping to catch his breath and assess the situation. The fire popped and flared as he watched and listened for fire trucks that might have been dispatched. The two young men had seen his face and his truck. He could not risk their exposing him or his employer to scrutiny. Feeling the urgency to leave the scene of his crime, he made a decision. He limped back over to the bodies and dragged each twin in turn to the edge of the flames, leaving first Brad, and then Thad to be consumed by the fire. Prince then returned to his truck, but when he put his hand in his pocket to fetch his keys, there was nothing there. It was only then that he remembered dropping them when the first boy’s ATV had taken him down. He limped back to the area where he had been hit and searched the leaves, grass, and waning Bluebonnets with the flashlight on his phone. His search was in vain, and when he heard the siren of an approaching fire truck, and the grinding sound of another ATV coming closer from the direction of the farmhouse, he jumped into his truck and jerked the wires from beneath the dashboard. He hot-wired the engine, and it sparked and sputtered to a start. Prince threw gravel on his exit from the roadside and headed down the county road, leaving a trail of white caliche dust to mingle with the smoke from the burning field. *** Excerpt from Killer Weed by Manning Wolfe. Copyright 2024 by Manning Wolfe. Reproduced with permission from Manning Wolfe. All rights reserved.

 

 

About Author Manning Wolfe:

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Manning Wolfe

MANNING WOLFE, an award-winning author and attorney residing in Austin, Texas, writes cinematic-style, smart, fast-paced thrillers and crime fiction. Manning was recently featured on Oxygen TV’s: Accident, Suicide, or Murder. * Manning’s legal thriller series features Austin attorney Merit Bridges, including Dollar Signs, Music Notes, Green Fees, and Chinese Wall. * Manning’s new Proxy Legal Thriller Series features Houston attorney Quinton Bell and includes: Dead By Proxy, Hunted By Proxy, and Alive By Proxy. * Manning is co-author of Killer Set: Drop the Mic, and twelve additional Bullet Book Speed Reads. As a graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law, Manning’s experience has given her a voyeur’s peek into some shady characters’ lives and a front-row seat to watch the good people who stand against them.

Catch Up With Manning Wolfe: ManningWolfe.com Goodreads BookBub – @ManningWolfe Instagram – @manningwolfe TikTok – @manningwolfe Pinterest – @manningwolfe Twitter/X – @ManningWolfe Facebook – @manning.wolfe

 

 

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Dying Declaration: A Legal Thriller
by Solange Ritchie

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Dying Declaration: A Legal Thriller
3rd in Series
Setting – Florida
Stony Hill Publishers (November 30, 2019)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1670430324
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1670430328
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B082733F4W

Dr. Catherine “Cat” Powers is FBI Forensic pathologist and special agent with an uncanny sixth sense for bringing murders to justice.

During a vacation in Belize with her young son, Joey, Cat gets a phone call from her boss. Young prostitutes are being picked up, murdered and left for dead in the Florida Everglades. The first victim does not fit the killer’s modus operandi. She was a legal secretary working for the Fort Lauderdale based international law firm, Black and Knight.

As Cat investigates this and other deaths, they lead back to the firm’s henchmen and to its partners. With the help of another firm employee, Cat discovers a secret web of murder, illicit drugs, prostitution, sex trafficking, corruption and more. The firm’s partners intend to kill anyone who can lead the law back to them, including Cat.

As the body count grows, powerful people will make decisions that will change lives. Decisions that will destroy families. As Cat uncovers the conspiracy, only one partner, the mastermind, will become Cat’s ally. She will walk away, after seeing that the others are brought to justice.

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Check out this excerpt from Chapter 10:

Cat can see Miss Jennings is nervous.

She is fidgeting in the seat, messing with things in her purse.

“What is going on?”

“I think I am being followed.”

“Yes, you already said that.” Cat does not want to seem impatient, but she is. “Who would be following you?”

“I don’t know who they are, but ever since Anna went missing, I feel like I am being watched. There has been a black sedan I have never seen that is parked on my street when I get home at night. The windows are tinted so dark, I can’t even tell if there is someone in the car. And when I am going to work and coming from work, a similar-looking car has been following me. Far enough behind that they do not think I can see them, but I know they are there.” Miss Jennings’ explanation comes rapid-fire. “I don’t know who they are, but I know they want to hurt me.” She perspires even though the AC is on full blast.

Cat wonders if this is all a figment of an overactive imagination, but she continues to listen.

“This all started after Anna went missing. At first, I just dismissed it. I figured I was imagining things. Maybe I was watching too many action movies late at night. Or someone new had moved into my neighborhood with the black car. I thought it was all in my mind. But then I started to think about it. No one has had a ‘For Sale’ sign up on any of the houses on my block. And I know all my neighbors. No one new has moved in. I don’t recall seeing anyone new when I take my dog for a walk. My neighbors would have told me if there was someone new or if a friend was visiting. I have lived in that neighborhood for over fifteen years. Everyone knows everyone.” She takes in a deep breath, exhaled and continued. “And even though I can’t see the face, I sense that there is someone sitting in that car watching when I leave for work and when I get home. It’s spooked me.”

Miss Jennings pauses long enough this time to allow Cat to ask some questions.

“You say this started after Anna went missing?”

“Yes, the very next day is when the black sedan showed up by my house.”

“I noticed in Ms. Perez’s file that it didn’t match what Mr. Pierce was telling me. Do you know anything about that?”

“Huh?” was all Miss Jennings could manage. “What?”

“Well, your boss, Mr. Pierce, seems to have a different story to tell about Ms. Perez. He said she was fired by her prior employer and he seemed to suggest it was because of sexual misconduct, but he didn’t say so. He said she was a flirt who liked to pal around with the firm’s young male associates and associate herself with them, if you know what I mean. He made a lot of disparaging remarks about a dead woman who could hardly defend herself. But when I looked at her employment file the other day, none of that appeared true.”

Miss Jennings’ face is flushed. “That’s ridiculous. It’s a lie. All of it.”

“Pierce is lying about it. Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, but I can tell you something is not right at that law firm.”

“Why do you say that?” Cat asks.

“Well, for starters, Thomas Pierce never does a bit of legal work. You’ve seen the man’s office. Spotless. I’ve never seen him work on a client’s legal file. But there are files that he keeps locked in his office. No one is allowed to see them except him and the other partners and Isabella. And the only time those files ever see any action is when there is a partners’ meeting. The partners’ meetings happen once a month, behind locked doors. Always done on the last Friday of the month at ten a.m. and only in his office. That is the only time that those files ever come out. The only reason I know about them is that there is a vague reference to them in the partners’ meeting minutes, which I type up every Friday afternoon after the meeting is over.”

Cat says nothing.

“So, there is that.” Miss Jennings continues to spew information. “And there is the fact that Isabella Arsovska attends each of these meetings. She is not even a partner of the firm. Why is she even there?”

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About Solange Ritchie

BORN ON THE BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL ISLAND of Jamaica to a Jamaican father and a French mother, Solange Ritchie (then Solange Levy) immigrated to the United States at age eleven. Since then, she has become a dynamic force for change. Fed up with thrillers that start with a fizzle and longing to see more powerful women as lead characters, Solange decided to create her own characters. Despite the demands of a busy legal career, she accomplished her ambitious goal by rising each morning to write before work, dedicating her weekends to writing, and even spending her vacation time writing. Solange is fortunate to have traveled to over 19 countries in her lifetime.

Words have always been Solange’s passion – now so more than ever.

Solange achieved a successful writing career while doing “last minute trial,” mostly in Southern California. Dubbed “the Case Saver,” Solange handled intense legal motions that either make or break a case, especially in the areas of business, labor, and employment law. In 2014, she received the State Bar of California’s Solo and Small Firm’s Section’s highest award, the Myer J. Sankary Attorney of the Year Award. It is given to only one attorney each year in California.

When Solange was just thirty-seven years old, her first husband, John, died due to gross medical negligence at a leading Southern California hospital. This life-altering experience helped shape her into the person she is today. She began writing creatively to deal with the stress of his hospitalization and his death.

Solange’s first psychological thriller, The Burning Man, featuring FBI forensic pathologist Dr. Catherine “Cat” Powers was published in 2015. Her second novel in the series, Firestorm, was released to critical acclaim, on May 15, 2018. Dying Declaration is the third novel in the Dr. Catherine “Cat” Powers series. Bomb Blast is Solange’s fourth novel in the series. Solange plans at least two more books in the Dr. Catherine Powers series. A fan of things that go bump in the night, Solange has also penned a Southern Gothic novel called Fiona’s Box, which will be released shortly.

Solange lives in Southern Florida. She enjoys traveling, writing, gardening, time with her family, as well as good food and conversation. Solange is available for speaking engagements. She especially enjoys talking with book clubs. To receive her Sunday blog post, Notes from Solange, just go to her author website, www.solangeritchie.com, and leave your e-mail address. Nothing negative or political is ever posted. Her author website, www.authorsolange.com, includes a blog, reviews, recipes, events, and the latest on Solange’s adventures. Solange welcomes your comments, reviews, and suggestions, and invites you to contact her at:

Author website / Legal website / Facebook / LinkedIn / Twitter / Twitter

Purchase Links – AmazonB&NBooks-a-MillionBookshop.org 

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TROPICAL DOUBTS
David Myles Robinson
Legal Thriller

Synopsis

When Honolulu’s flamboyant and quirky attorney, Pancho McMartin, agrees to step out of his normal role as a criminal defense lawyer, he thinks it will be a challenging but welcome change from his daily dose of criminal clients. His old friend and father-figure, Manny Delacruz, has beseeched Pancho to handle a medical malpractice claim against the physicians who botched what should have been a routine surgery, but which resulted in Manny’s beloved wife being in a permanent vegetative state. The case looks good, the damages enormous, but when Manny is arrested for the murder of one of the doctors, Pancho finds himself back in his old role. If Manny is convicted, it means he won’t be able to be at his wife’s bedside to hold her hand, caress her face, and read his poems to her. He will have lost his reason to live. The pressure on Pancho is enormous. While he and his team try to make sense out of one of the most sinister and complicated murder schemes he’s ever seen, the medical malpractice case chugs forward, in jeopardy of being worthless should Manny be convicted.

Order links: Amazon / B&N

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Other Books By David Myles Robinson:

Tropical Doubts 7

David Myles Robinson was a trial attorney in Honolulu, HI for 38 years before retiring to the mountains of New Mexico, where he lives with his wife, a former Honolulu trial judge. In the days of yore, before becoming a lawyer, he was a freelance journalist and a staff reporter for a minority newspaper in Pasadena, CA. He is an award-winning author of six novels, three of which are Pancho McMartin legal thrillers set in Honolulu.

Having traveled to all seven continents, he has also published a travel memoir entitled CONGA LINE ON THE AMAZON, which includes two Solas Traveler’s Tales award winners.
He says he includes his middle name, Myles, in his authorial appellation because there are far too many other David Robinson’s running around.

Website & Social Media Links: Website / Twitter / Facebook

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