Book Review: From the Shadows (Dan Grant Book 1), by Neil White

Publisher:  Bonnier Zaffre

Publication date:  Kindle – 9th March 2017 / Paperback – 10th August 2017

All hail the first in a new British legal thriller starring Dan Grant, and what a firecracker it is!

If someone would have said I’d have enjoyed reading anything about courtrooms I’d have said, “no, you’re alright thanks.” Except for the occasional Perry Mason episode it wouldn’t be my first choice of entertainment. So it’s a damned good job I was familiar with Neil White’s writing from reading his crime thriller “The Domino Killer” or I probably would have passed on this one, and THAT would have been a huge mistake!

I was mightily impressed by just how much the aspects of case preparation and court procedure intrigued me – the truth chasing, deciphering the witness testimony, the late additions of ‘forgetful’ interviewees, alongside lawyers’ etiquette and conduct both in and out of the court room.

Forget pages of endless paperwork and lengthy ‘lawyer talk’, the time just flew by as I was reading. From the Shadows excels when representing the demands placed on a defence lawyer with integrity and it genuinely kept me on the edge of my seat. What makes you suspect someone isn’t telling you the whole truth and everything but the truth? What if your appraisal of the evidence is off the mark and your case fell apart along with your client’s life? More importantly, what have you actually achieved if you succeed and the guilty go free? So many questions, so little time face Dan Grant, a lawyer with a moral compass directing him to places he may regret visiting.

Grant is the last hope for some and has earned a reputation for providing legal assistance with a conscience, both inside and outside the courtroom. Occasionally his work is shrouded in a mystery that is impossible to unravel, like this case involving a ‘creepy’ bloke accused of murdering a young woman in her bedroom was literally thrown to him like a hot potato after a rival law firm stated ‘conflict of interest’, plus there was only two weeks to the trial date.

With the help of his freelance assistant, a previous client he defended after she killed her abusive boyfriend in self-defence, they uncover witnesses who are too reluctant to talk to the police because of their personal ‘experience’ of them or for a gut feeling that Dan and his assistant cannot pin down, until it steps out From the Shadows.

Conflicting facts and maintaining chameleon-like social skills to adapt to people from all walks of life is emotionally and physically demanding, especially when the only thing you can believe is that your client is holding something back. But that doesn’t mean they are not entitled to have representation to convey their version of events before a jury. After all, what if ‘the whole truth’ hasn’t been revealed yet?

This story shows anything can be waiting in the shadows. Tremendous work, Mr White – I loved it!

Rating:   5/5

(My thanks to the publisher for offering me the opportunity to read a digital copy of this title for which it is my pleasure to provide an unbiased review.)

(Courtesy of Amazon UK)

Mary Kendricks, a smart, pretty, twenty-four-year-old teacher, has been brutally murdered.

Robert Carter stands accused of killing her.

According to Mary’s friends, Robert watched her, harassed her, stalked her.

But did he kill her?

Dan Grant is Robert’s lawyer. He and his investigator Jayne Brett have two weeks before Robert Carter goes to trial. Two weeks to prove whether or not he killed Mary.

Together they will get to the truth – whatever the cost . . .

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(Currently £0.98 at the time of publishing this review!)

(Courtesy of Author’s own website)

I’m a criminal lawyer and I’m a crime fiction writer. I have published nine books so far, and my new series is now out in ebook, the first called From The Shadows, published by Bonnier Zaffre, involving defence lawyer Dan Grant and private detective Jayne Brett. The paperback will follow on 10th August 2017.

​My previous books include the Jack Garrett series, published by HarperCollins, four of which were top twenty ebook bestsellers, with Cold Kill spending a month at number one and becoming one of the biggest selling UK ebooks of 2011. The books in the Parker brothers trilogy were published by Sphere from 2013, with the last in the series, The Domino Killer, was released in paperback on 1st December 2016.

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