Kenneth Eade's Blog

Remember The Lincoln Lawyer? That legal thriller by Michael Connelly which introduced unconventional lawyer Mickey Haller? He’s back! And apparently because of John Grisham.

Grisham’s Rogue Lawyer is Sebastian Rudd, who works out of a van instead of an office, has a driver/bodyguard instead of a receptionist, an ex-wife and a kid, a problem with alcohol and with authority and the occasional brush up against the law. Sound familiar? Apparently readers think so too.

That is the reason why The Lincoln Lawyer is enjoying a renaissance of sorts; not because the protagonist in Rogue Lawyer admits reading it. From the release of Rogue Lawyer on October 20, Michael Connelly’s street lawyer tale has shot up the charts, where it now occupies the #1 spot in legal thriller books on Amazon.com, the #2 spot in legal thrillers on Kindle (where it is #31 in the Kindle Store). Not bad for a book that was released 10 years ago.

As a legal thriller author myself, I have admiration for the work of my fellow authors who write in my genre, and I know there is room for all of us. Grisham was probably inspired by Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer and there is nothing wrong with that. There is room for one more rogue lawyer on the block and there will probably be more. In fact, Michael Connelly should probably send a thank you note to John Grisham for the boost.

Kenneth Eade http://kennetheade.com is a recovering lawyer and the author of the Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series; a series of 9 legal thrillers which are wrapped around current issues, such as Guantanamo Bay, police brutality, and mortgage fraud.

Kenneth Eade

Is the Legal Thriller really dead? According to a July 27, 2015 article in Library Journal, The Journal reports that, at Thrillerfest X in New York City July 7-11, 2015, there was a debate over the question by the “Where Legal Thrillers are Headed” roundtable, a discussion which has been kicked around since July 2013 when Slate Magazine declared the legal thriller, and its close cousin, the courtroom drama, officially killed by Hollywood. The panel’s answer to the question was a wishy-washy “No, they’re not dead,” but the Journal went on to report that “The inherent drama of the courtroom assures that, even if lawyers aren’t today’s most beloved professionals.” However, according to the Journal, “The number of agents at Thrillerfest looking specifically for legal thrillers seemed low.”



Author Alafair Burke, in his March 2012 blog post, “Putting the thrill back in the Legal Thriller,” contends that, “Perhaps trying to replicate the success of groundbreaking novels like Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent and John Grisham’s A Time to Kill, publishers had over purchased and over promoted courtroom-centric novels by lawyers who managed to turn the term “legal thriller” into an oxymoron.”

However, given the recent revolution in publishing, where, according to Digital Book World, 50% of all book sales are online sales, legal thriller authors like Paul Levine and Clifford Irving are finding a resurgence of interest of the books on their backlist in electronic sales. Paul Levine’s Bum Rap is the number two best-selling book in the legal thriller genre, knocked out of first place by To Kill a Mockingbird (#27 in the Kindle Store) after the release of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (#3 in the Kindle Store) in July 2015.

My conclusion? Don’t hold your breath waiting for the demise of the legal thriller. For some reason, which escapes us lawyer-authors who write them, people are fascinated by the law and its application to life situations. Perhaps it is the mystery that surrounds a profession whose language appears to be foreign to most people, or human curiosity in general, but the legal thriller should be around for many years to come.

Kenneth Eade is the author of the Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series and the Involuntary Spy Espionage Series. He offers free books and prizes to those who sign up for his mailing list at: my link textUnreasonable ForceBrent Marks Legal Thriller Series: Box Set One

There is big a difference between crime and detective novels and courtroom dramas. In one, the action takes place on the streets; and in the other, the main story takes place in the courtroom. HOA Wire represents the latter, and will appeal to fans of Grisham and any other writer who spins a solid yarn based on courtroom drama and realistic experiences.

While it’s Book Three in the Brent Marks legal thriller series, newcomers will find it quickly accessible. It revolves around the murder of a homeowner’s association president, where lawyer Brent Marks finds himself standing square in the center of a maelstrom of puzzles in which every town resident is a potential suspect and no easy answers are apparent.

Readers aren’t bludgeoned over the head with clues that are obvious leads, and they aren’t teased by the presence of a protagonist who might know the answers, either. Brent Marks is well-educated and trained, but is just as puzzled as readers – and it’s his process of discovery that succeeds in creating an involving story of just how a crime is solved.

Key to an unusually successful approach are the tidbits of information about courtroom proceedings which are added not just to embellish a tale, but to provide realistic atmosphere and lend clues on how decisions are made: “Brent was sure that the jury had no doubt that the urine sample tested positive for ricin, but the judge instructed them that no urine test was in evidence, and that they could not consider the testimony about it. It was a good win for Brent, but not enough to win the case. You could be sure that the jury would be thinking about the positive urine test when they deliberated, whether or not they discussed it amongst themselves.”

Witnesses, cross examinations, and instances where even the professional lawyer makes errors are all brought out and considered in the bigger picture of crime and punishment processes, where judges can influence outcomes and approaches: “Sorry’s not good enough. When something’s broken, sorry can never bring it back. Now I know your case is important, and that you’re zealous in your defense of your client, but I don’t want to declare a mistrial in this case. So please, don’t make any more inappropriate comments.”

The obvious prerequisite for enjoying this approach is affection for courtroom dramas, because this is the centerpiece, here. Readers with such an interest will find HOA Wire successfully weaves crime and courtroom to such a degree that the unexpected conclusion comes as both a successful, logical outcome and as a real surprise. With its real insights on HOA processes and neighbor disputes, HOA Wire is a deft exploration of attorney-client ethics on the line, and is crime/courtroom writing at its best.

D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

HOA Wire

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers’ Favorite

HOA Wire by Kenneth Eade is a fast paced courtroom drama. Barbara Dennesmore is the president of the Orange Grove Homeowners Association and takes great delight in issuing citations for the wrong color paint or an overgrown lawn. Nobody likes her and, on her birthday, she receives a deadly gift – deadly enough to kill her. Everyone had a motive but suspicion falls on Nancy Hoskins who has just won a case against the HOA. Evidence is found on her property that leaves the police no option but to charge her with murder. Enter Brent Marks, hotshot lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience. As the case moves forward, Brent hires a PI to try to uncover who the real murderer is, believing with all his heart that his client is innocent. Did Nancy kill the president? And what is going on in Orange Grove that casts doubt over everything?

HOA Wire by Kenneth Eade was a very good book, written by a lawyer. A combination of courtroom drama and crime, it’s full of twists and turns and a very surprising ending. It’s an intriguing story, going in a different direction at every corner, and I found it was very easy to understand. Mr. Eade has written a winning novel here, the third in the Brent Marks series. I also very much appreciated the explanation at the end of the story on the legal aspect of Home Owners Associations as it made things in the story much clearer. I would like to read the other two books in the series as well and I hope that there is more to come!

Go Set a Watchman has been announced as Harper Lee’s second novel, but is it really? The much anticipated sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, is actually the first manuscript that Lee wrote before Mockingbird, which she attempted to get published in the 1950’s. Already dubbed on its Amazon pre-order page as an “instant classic,” the typewritten manuscript was the discovery of Lee’s lawyer, Tonja Carter, who took over the author’s affairs after her older sister (also a lawyer) passed away last year.

Harper Lee is said to be deaf and blind, but still mentally sharp at 88 years old. Still, controversy has surrounded the discovery and publication of Watchman, which is said to be both a prequel and a sequel to Mockingbird, as the story is told from the perspective of a grown up Scout, the main character.

Lee is reported to be very “happy as hell” over the publication of her manuscript, but nobody knows if that sentiment is really coming from the author because all statements are coming from her lawyer. When Mockingbird became an instant success in 1960, Lee vowed to never publish again saying: ‘I wrote one good book and that was enough’. Adding to the confusion, Lee’s editor at Harper Collins has not even read the manuscript yet, and, reportedly, says it will not be edited.

As with any other discovery of a great author or artist’s work, arguments are now being made that the manuscript belongs to the world, so Lee’s objections, if she indeed has any and if they can be voiced, are irrelevant. One thing is for sure- Harper Collins and Lee’s lawyer are going to make a lot of money from what is being called the greatest literary discovery of the 21st century.

Kenneth Eade is an attorney and best-selling author of the courtroom dramas A Patriot’s Act, Predatory Kill and HOA Wire. http://kennetheade.com.

Full review from Midwest Book Reviews:
While readers needn't hold familiarity with Kenneth Eade's prior courtroom thriller A Predatory Kill, be forewarned: such a familiarity will provide background for A Patriot's Act, which continues Brent Marks' globe-trotting international encounters; and newcomers who enjoy this book will turn to its predecessor for another well-grounded, involving legal thriller.
A courtroom would seem the last place to find Marks when a naturalized American citizen goes missing in Iraq, but it prompts him to battle the U.S. government with its own Constitution in search of justice.Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet.
And events don't stop in the courtroom's boundaries or jurisdiction, either, as they lead to detention and torture in Guantanamo Bay and involve an American citizen who is being pressed for information he doesn't have. In fact, the story opens with the bang of this detention, torture, and its ultimate result. It doesn't end there - so readers are afforded little opportunity to stop reading before they find themselves immersed in the 'who, what, where and why' of what evolves into an international thriller spiced with legal and business concerns.
A wife's determination to locate her missing husband in Iraq against all odds fuels the events to follow, which assume a winding progression of political, legal, and personal encounters.
Be forewarned: there are periods of (and graphic accounts) torture; and while these scenes are in keeping with both the plot and real-world events, that doesn't mean that A Patriot's Act is a recommendation for the light thriller reader. Sometimes the juxtapositions of life at Guantanamo and events back home in the States proves both striking and jarring: "As Ahmed choked and sputtered, the nurse put a mask over his face, and he threw up in the mask, covering his face with his own vomit. Brent placed a luscious bite of Lobster Thermidor in his mouth, savoring the creamy mixture. Debbie, the blonde bombshell, looked on affectionately."
It's all about delicate balance of power and experience - something gone awry in A Patriot's Act, and something explored through intimate descriptions: "Debbie’s home cooking was great, but the company was even better. As the candles dwindled, they drained the bottle of Pinot Grigio. Brent’s thoughts drifted to Ahmed. It’s true that life is a balance between hardship and joy. Everybody suffers. But in Ahmed’s case the balance was decidedly tipped toward suffering, and the joy was only in his memories."
As Eade deftly juxtaposes the lives of two very different Americans experiencing two very different circumstances, he delves into the politics and processes of prisoners and military men alike, exposing the wounds of their experience and psyches and the points at which man's inhumanity stems from a worldview that dehumanizes and rips apart systems and people.
It's a machine-gun staccato of relentless violence, unremitting action, and underlying issues of freedom, sacrifice, and the ultimate results of America's 'war on terror'.
If Eade's intention is to grab his readers by the collar and shake them up with an exposé of detainees who have no freedoms, rights, or hopes under the Patriot Act, concluding with courtroom activities that define the very nature of freedom itself, then he's more than succeeded in providing such a story under the guise of a legal thriller that probes the foundations of America's belief system against the backdrop of terrorist activities.
Have the terrorists won their quest for freedom's erosion, exposing its underbelly of inconsistencies and repression - and will Brent Marks win his quest for justice? That's for the reader to learn in a novel that deftly winds its way around the world and through the hearts and minds of its audience as it provides a compelling, thought-provoking (and not an easy) read.

Full review from Self Publishing Review:

A Patriot’s Act by Kenneth Eade is a tight, legal thriller and the second book in the Brent Marks series. When Ahmed, a naturalized US citizen of Iraqi descent is mistakenly held by the government and sent to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Brent Marks, a top Californian attorney, is hired by the accused’s wife to free him. But Marks is faced with the mammoth task of fighting against the American government in a world that has the power to make any evidence – or person – disappear rather too conveniently. He must beat the very system he believes in to get justice for his client.
Eade, a lawyer by profession, weaves legal dialogue, corruption and international action to create a pacey read with echoes of Grisham, Baldacci and Clancy nipping at his writing heels. Law issues as well as forensics and police procedures are clearly explained with such authority as to add gritty realism in and out of the courthouse, but it’s within the court drama that Eade really packs some punch. With some success with the first book of the series, Predatory Kill, this second saga looks sure to satisfy his growing base of readers.

$5 off paperback legal thriller "A Patriots Act"- discount code CPYKL353 at: https://www.createspace.com/4869276

Live the action in the second novel of the popular mystery legal thriller series by Kenneth Eade

Brent Marks, whom most know from Predatory Kill, is called upon to seek justice for an innocent client held prisoner in Guantanamo Bay

When a naturalized American citizen turns up missing in Iraq, Brent Marks fights the Goliath U.S. government with its own Constitution. Santa Barbara accountant Ahmed Khury responds to the plea of his brother, Sabeen, a suspected money launderer in Iraq. Before Ahmed realizes what has happened to him, he is in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, being subjected to torture to extract information that he doesn't have. The drama outside the courtroom explodes, and when murder, corruption and cover-up enters the picture, nobody, including Brent, is safe.

Find out what critics already know

"Eade, a lawyer by profession, weaves legal dialogue, corruption and international action to create a pacey read with echoes of Grisham, Baldacci and Clancy nipping at his writing heels. Law issues as well as forensics and police procedures are clearly explained with such authority as to add gritty realism in and out of the courthouse, but it's within the court drama that Eade really packs some punch. With some success with the first book of the series, Predatory Kill, this second saga looks sure to satisfy his growing base of readers. Out October 17th." SPR Review
"It's all about delicate balance of power and experience - something gone awry in A Patriot's Act, and something explored through intimate descriptions. As Eade deftly juxtaposes the lives of two very different Americans experiencing two very different circumstances, he delves into the politics and processes of prisoners and military men alike, exposing the wounds of their experience and psyches and the points at which man's inhumanity stems from a worldview that dehumanizes and rips apart systems and people. D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review.
"Kenneth Eade is a master of suspense and unexpected twists, which makes "A Patriot's Act" an exciting, unpredictable page-turner, and a must-read for anyone who loves legal thrillers." I Publisher News

Full review from Midwest Book Reviews:
Just as its title says, Predatory Kill: A Legal Thriller combines the genres of a good detective thriller with an exploration of legal process and, much in the manner of John Grisham, laces all this together with strong, believable protagonists who face the impossible.

All this comes from a lawyer/author, so the legal process is authoritative and specific as it relates a lawyer's move to take on cases that involve wider-ranging, more difficult issues of social importance.

As chance would have it, Brent's first venture into new legal realms involves one April Marsh, who instigates a case revolving around the predatory lending practices of big banks who have foreclosed on her parents' home.

It all seems pretty cut and dried ... until murder enters the picture.

With April's mother dead and her father severely beaten, lawyer Brent Marks finds himself confronting an impossible conclusion: that big business has moved beyond the boundaries of predatory lending and into the realm of predatory killing. But why? What is so important about a single home that would cause a bank to hire a killer?

That's the crux of an investigation that becomes more convoluted and complex as chapters go on, immersing readers in a series of legal and social encounters that involve twisted purposes, perspectives, and emotions gone wild.

Fans of Grisham will find equal talent here in Eade's ability to captivate and hold readers with the unexpected, both in character development in nonstop action which lays the foundation for a story that's anything but predictable.

The realistic dialogue is - well - simply killer; while action points in one direction, then often takes a 360-degree turn. In a world where plot and outcome are often predictable from the start, this will prove more than satisfying to readers already well versed in the legal thriller format.

Another note: there's plenty of legal process and background incorporated into the chain of events. This lends Predatory Kill more than a realistic feel, with courtroom proceedings and arguments fueling the fire for out-of-courtroom drama.

Atmosphere is not neglected for the sake of either legal process or character development (as is too often the case in this genre): take (for example) an opening chapter in the salvo of a battle that crosses into different territory: "To the novice, it may have a appeared that a storm was rolling down Stagecoach Road, accompanied by dark clouds and the roar of thunder. But it was not an act of God; rather, a pack of hogs rolling into the Cold Spring Tavern Saturday night. The clan of bearded men and tattooed women rumbled in on their bikes, peeled their leather coated bodies off their saddles, and packed into the bar area."

What does this rough-and-tumble piece have to do with lawyer Brent's courtroom appearances, which liberally dose the book with realistic arguments and legal encounters? Read Predatory Kill to find out.

One thing's for certain: you won't be bored by this page-turner's wealth of characters, settings, and unpredictable cat-and-mouse games. D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

Please vote for An Involuntary Spy: A GMO Thriller for the RONE Awards,thriller category, by Kenneth Eade, by sending an email to anasmith@indtale.com
http://www.indtale.com/2014-rone-awards