Book Review: LOSING FAITH, by Adam Mitzner

Adam Mitzner
LOSING FAITH
Gallery Books, 2015
368 pages
Legal Thriller

I have just finished reading LOSING FAITH, my third Adam Mitzner novel. I am on a legal thriller kick, and Mitzner is more than satisfying my literary cravings!

In LOSING FAITH, attorney Aaron Littman has secrets. He hopes to keep them buried. His affair with the Honorable Faith Nichols is over. She made ending it perfectly clear when Littman defended a client in her court. Faith found the client guilty, and gave him an extreme sentencing, as if only to punctuate the finality of the affair.

When the notorious Russian terrorist, Nicolai Garkov is arrested, Littman's past is about to catch up with him. After the apparent suicide of the judge slated to preside over Garkov, Faith is assigned the to hear the case. A man with many means, Garkov insists on having Littman in his corner. The threat for representation is clear. Either Littman gets Faith to play ball, and acquit . . . or he will destroy both of their careers revealing his evidence that the two were having an affair.

Littman brings new firm partner Rachel London in on his team. Again. Although she is in love with her boss, she is a confident, and damn good attorney. As the two begin working on Garkov's defense, the unthinkable happens. Faith Nichols is murdered. All evidence points directly at Aaron Littman.

Forced to confess his infidelity to his wife, his kids, and his firm Aaron finds himself on trial for murder. He risks losing his career, his freedom, and his family if convicted. Putting his faith in a senior partner, and father-figure to defend him against all odds, his hope at walking free is not at all optimistic. The nightmare of going to prison for life is now a realistic possibility!

Said it before, and I will say it again. Adam Mitzner has restored my faith in intense legal thriller fiction. Well-crafted characters, nail-biting courtroom drama, and twists that never stop making the reader's stomach flip-flop fill the pages. Not just in this book, but in the previous books I've read as well. My verdict on LOSING FAITH? Another winner!

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series,
and The Vaccination Trilogy

Book Review: THE KNIFE SLIPPED, by Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner
THE KNIFE SLIPPED
Hard Case Crime, 2016 (1939)
216 pages
Crime / Noir

THE KNIFE SLIPPED is classic, timeless, private eye, noir. Remember guys like Spillane's Mike Hammer, and Chandler's Marlowe? Yeah. Gardner was before them. Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under many pen names. He was also the creator of the Perry Mason novels, and short stories. THE KNIFE SLIPPED was supposed to be the 2nd book in the Cool & Lam Mystery series. but because of Bertha Cool's sassy, vulgar, smoking behavior, the publishers nixed the idea. Interesting, right? Very!

Hard Case Crime is the first ever to publish THE KNIFE SLIPPED. That alone is exciting. What is more exciting is how wonderful the book is!

Most private detective agencies won't touch two kinds of cases. Divorce matters, and anything political. Most agencies, but not B. Cool Investigations. Donald Lam is kind of new on the job. Making ends meet isn't always a guarantee with B. Cool, so when Bertha Cool gives him a divorce case, he's up for the challenge.

Mother, Mrs. Atterby, and daughter, Mrs, Cunner, need a detective. They are certain Eben Cunner is stepping out on his wife. They want proof. Something they can take to the lawyers. Divorce will be inevitable. After laying down the agency rules, the agreement is made and Donald Lam is on the job.

Following Eben is simple enough. The complication comes alone when it appears Eben is leading a secret life. Only, it might be worse than Atterby and his wife first suspected.

Submerged in bribes, and politics that involve the police force, the fire departments, and people with clout, Donald Lam finds himself in a bit over his head. When a body is discovered, Donald realizes he has become the fall guy. If he can't figure out who the killer is doing time in prison is what he faces.

Chasing down red herrings, and never sure who can be trusted, Donald does his best to maneuver between the traps in the case, his boss, and a new love interest. There isn't much time. The police are closing in. He needs to focus and find answers. Fast!

I will be hunting down Gardner books. And A.A. Fair books (which the rest of the Cool & Lam Mystery titles are penned under). The guys is smooth. The characters well crafted. The plot was tight, plausible. And like I said earlier, timeless (except for the use of payphones, that is). A fantastic book I loved reading, and a treasure Hard Case Crime uncovered!

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series,
and The Vaccination Trilogy