The best legal thrillers from Next Chapter [March 2023]
Legal thriller is a popular subgenre of thriller and mystery novels that focus on legal cases, courtroom drama, and legal procedures. This genre typically revolves around the life of a lawyer or a legal team, either as the protagonist or the antagonist. Legal thrillers usually involve high stakes, intense conflict, and intricate plots that keep readers on the edge of their seats.
The legal thriller genre emerged in the late 20th century, with authors like John Grisham, Scott Turow, and Michael Connelly gaining widespread popularity. These authors were known for their ability to blend legal expertise with compelling storytelling and create gripping tales that capture the imagination of readers. Legal thrillers often tackle issues such as corruption, greed, power struggles, and moral dilemmas, making them not only entertaining but also thought-provoking.
Legal thrillers have become a staple of modern popular culture, with many books being adapted into successful movies and television shows. This genre continues to evolve, with new authors bringing fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to the field. Whether you are a fan of legal dramas or just looking for an exciting read, the legal thriller genre has something to offer for everyone.
Below, we’ve collected four of Next Chapter’s new legal thrillers, all available from major book retailers as of 03/2023. We hope you like the stories on this page - and if you do, please take a moment to leave the author a review :) Don’t agree with our choices? Leave a comment below and let us know what books are your favorites in the genre!
Books featured on this page
May It Please The Court (Daniel Mendoza Thrillers Book 1) by Daniel Maldonado
A Secret to Die For (Scott Winslow Legal Mysteries Book 3) by David P. Warren
The Cartel Lawyer by Jonathan D. Rosen
Book excerpt
I woke up at 5 a.m. and went for a jog. I had a big day in court today and needed to be ready. I put on my suit and tie and placed my badge on my waistline. I walked out of my new apartment and headed towards the public defender’s office. It was hard to believe that a year had passed since my internship.
The last year of law school was a grind. Like many law students, I wanted out and was ready to join the work force. I interviewed at ten small criminal law firms and received two offers. The salary was low, and the partners had a reputation for working new law graduates to death for a few years and then letting them go.
I decided that I wanted to work alone. I did not want to have a boss as I hated for someone to tell me when to do what and for how much money. I wanted to be my own boss. I thought: This is America. The land of the free and the home of the brave.” Why should I be working like a dog to make someone else money? I wanted to hang my own shingle up and practice criminal law.
The problem with my brilliant plan is that I had almost no experience. While you learn about the facts of many cases in law school, there is a major difference between reading about court cases in a textbook and practicing criminal law. I, however, received a job offer being a public defender. My goal was to learn as much as possible and then go out on my own.
My father did not like my plan. He would tell me, “Go for the money, kid. You didn’t go to all this school to start out making thirty-five thousand dollars a year. You’re not a celebrity.”
My father kept working away. He was making decent money as a manager, but nothing like he made while running the doctor’s office prior to his DUI arrest. He returned several times and begged for his job back. However, he worked for several neurosurgeons who had a god complex and believed that they were infallible. They could never understand how someone could engage in such “lewd and lascivious behavior.”
My mom’s condition stayed the same. My dad had a really hard time because his beautiful bride needed around-the-clock care and would never fully recover. Life was never the same.
I tried to visit him as much as I could, but it always depressed me. It reminded me of the life that I once had. Seeing the photos of my mom during my childhood made me realize that you never miss something until it is gone. My mom was not gone yet, but she had a hard time remembering things. She was wheelchair bound and would never live life like she once had.
While I resented my father for his drinking, I understood his pain. As I walked up the stairs, I thought about my last conversation with my dad. I had not spoken to him in months. I remember telling him to let me live my life and figure my career out on my own.
“Look dad, I’m going to get experience for one year and then go out on my own. Let me be. Did you pay for law school? Did you work at a butcher’s shop at night? Did you grind it out for three years slaving away like a dog? I’m the one with more than fifty thousand dollars in debt.”
Something Unfortunate by Mike Farris
Book excerpt
The voices of the two arguing men carried down the hallway on the south side of the firm’s offices. The door to Ken’s office had remained open from the first angry word as the two law partners tore at each other without apparent regard for who might hear them. Maybe neither of the combatants realized the door was open because they were so caught up in their personal battle. Or maybe they both knew it was open, but wanted to use the public nature of their argument for their own means – Ken to engender sympathy from other lawyers for this latest vicious attack from Frank Oliver, and Frank to impress upon everyone else in the section that he would not condone challenges to his authority. Whatever the reason, their voices bolted through the open door and into the hallway.
Embarrassed secretaries huddled over word processors, furiously typing as they tried to pretend they couldn’t hear what they obviously could. Around the corner, Joey Stephens and Clint Raymond fidgeted uneasily in Clint’s office, listening to the battle royale between their partners. Although Ken and Frank had argued before, it had never been quite so public. The open door offered a new twist on their feud. Joey and Clint periodically exchanged embarrassed glances but, for the most part, they merely stared out the window and listened.
Joey had been with the firm, working for Frank Oliver, for ten years, and during that time Frank had always held the reins tightly on his clients. From the day Joey got his first file from Frank, he found himself handicapped because Frank insisted on being the funnel for all client contact. Joey thought bottleneck was a better description than funnel. When he needed authorization from a client to take a specific action, he had to wait for Frank to get it for him. When he needed information, he had to wait for Frank to get it. When he ghostwrote letters to clients that had to go out over Frank’s signature, he had to wait for that signature.
And he often found himself called on the carpet by Frank, who was embarrassed by his own lack of familiarity with a particular file – as if it were Joey’s fault that he was ignorant. Joey cringed every time a client wanted to meet with Frank because there would always be at least one question that Frank was unable to answer, and Joey would be blamed for not properly briefing him. Joey thought, but never told Frank, that the logical solution would be for Frank to let him talk directly to the clients. Either that or Frank should get more actively involved in the files. Good logic, Joey thought. But Frank’s logic was not Joey’s logic.
Over the years, Joey had learned to deal with Frank’s system. If Frank wanted to be in charge – if his ego demanded that – so be it. As a former jock, an injury-prone running back at TCU, Joey knew about ego and self-promotion, terms that were almost synonymous with athletics. Himself humble and self-effacing, Joey wasn’t now, nor had he ever been, interested in glory and credit. If that meant being obscured in the shadows while Frank created his own sun, he would do that. Joey strongly believed in teamwork. He always had.
A loud noise coming from Ken’s office suddenly cut through the arguing voices. It sounded like the two combatants had moved from throwing insults to throwing objects.
May It Please The Court (Daniel Mendoza Thrillers Book 1) by Daniel Maldonado
Book excerpt
After the two-hundred-plus crowd of family members and friends calmed down with Hector’s encouragement, the ballroom floor emptied. Stragglers sat down to watch with the rest of the crowd as Mr. Clifton confidently and resolutely walked to the head table. His smile beamed for all to see. When he reached the table, his right arm stretched out to summon his daughter, Alejandra, to dance the first dance of the evening.
The chair behind her was pushed back as Alejandra rose from the head table to meet her father in a traditional waltz which they had practiced many times before. The live Puerto Rican band began playing once Alejandra met her father’s hand with her outstretched arm. Mr. Clifton bowed to his daughter, his left arm neatly and respectfully tucked behind his back. After rising, he continually turned his body to the left, while Alejandra spun in a wide circle around him on the dance floor. Her outstretched arms seemed regal as she gazed into the crowd while her diamond-studded tiara glistened as she turned.
When Alejandra completed a full circle and was facing her father again, he twirled her once in a small, tight circle. The crowd whistled as Alejandra approached her father and they began to dance to the music. Just then, unbeknownst to both Alejandra and her father, the seven damas, led by Porsha, left their respective seats and encircled father and daughter while they danced. Each dama held a sparkler that glowed in the darkened ballroom. Alejandra’s event planner, Mariposa, was pleased that both parents and the Superstar of the show were pleasantly surprised by this added touch. Mariposa looked at both the photographer and videographer to ensure that they both captured the moment. Luckily, they did.
Occasionally looking down at his feet, Mr. Clifton focused on the box step that the choreographer taught him in the preceding months. He stepped forward and to the side and then backward, leading his daughter appropriately and effortlessly. Alejandra smiled. She appeared happy and radiant as the father and daughter danced together. Although she mainly looked at her father while dancing, she couldn’t help glancing at the audience at times; noticing that they were admiring her and taking pictures of their own. It was the spotlight that she waited for since she was a young child and attended other sweet sixteen parties waiting for her own someday.
Mr. Clifton stepped back and then pivoted as he led Alejandra in outside spins to the far left of the ballroom dance floor. When they reached that part of the dance floor, Mr. Clifton executed a series of lifts that twirled Alejandra back into the middle of the dance floor. The crowd was ecstatic. The two continued waltzing until Mr. Clifton stopped into a bended-knee position. Alejandra rested on his knee, one arm wrapped around her father. The left arm stretched out towards the crowd.
A Secret to Die For (Scott Winslow Legal Mysteries Book 3) by David P. Warren
Book excerpt
Marty took the elevator up two floors, turned left as he exited the hallway and walked towards the receptionist. “He’s waiting for you,” she said, only partially looking up from her monitor.
“Thanks,” Marty replied and opened the door behind her. He walked down the corridor to the corner office occupied by Sean Garner, the corporate security guru. He gave a knock next to the open door and Garner looked up from his desk. “Come in, Marty. Thanks for coming by.”
“Hi, Sean. What’s going on?” Marty asked, wanting to cut to the chase and figure out why he had been summoned here. Seldom did Marty see Garner outside senior management meetings.
“Take a seat, Marty. Do you want some coffee?”
“No, I’m good, thanks.” Marty was quiet. This was Garner’s party, so he could fill the silence when he was ready.
“Mr. Cook is a little concerned, Marty. He asked me to reach out to you.”
“Reach out? Does he believe that I am in some kind of trouble?”
Garner smiled. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose.”
“A little vague, Sean. What’s on his mind that required this meeting?”
“I think you know. There is some concern that you may be attempting to undermine the release of Delexane.”
Marty stared at him in disbelief. “Undermine?” he asked. “Is undermining the same thing as voicing concerns that the tests no longer support the information the company is releasing?”
Garner gave him a stern look. “Obviously, Mr. Cook doesn’t see it that way. He believes that the results you refer to are just an anomaly, and we are on the threshold of changing cancer treatment and the way the world looks at cancer. You must admit, that’s a pretty big moment.”
“That moment will be wonderful, Sean. We just aren’t there yet with this product.” He was quiet for a moment, feeling frustrated at the message not being communicated. “Is there something else that you want to tell me?” Marty asked.
“Only the obvious.”
“Which is?”
“You’ve been a part of corporate culture for a long time, Marty. You know that it is extremely important to be a team player at critical times.”
“I’ve always considered myself exactly that and I still do,” Marty replied. “That’s what I am when I’m working hard to test a product, when I’m singing a product’s praises, and when I’m raising concerns about a product not being everything that we hoped it would be.”
It was Garner’s turn to remain quiet. After a time, he said, “Mr. Cook just wanted to make sure you understood the importance of this product to the company and to the consumer,” Garner offered. He leaned forward in his chair. “This is revolutionary, Marty. So far, no other company is where we are in releasing such a product.”
“Sean, I’ve been dealing with this product since before testing. I know what it represents and what it can be for the company. I also understand how important it is to the public that we get it right.”
Cashing In: The Corruption Kings by Jonathan D. Rosen
Book excerpt
“Wake up. It’s time to roll,” barked one correction officer. “You have an all-expenses paid trip to state prison.”
John was snoring in his cell. The guards had placed him in protective custody after he broke his ribs.
“Inmate! Wake up. I don’t have all day.”
“What time is it?” asked John.
“3 a.m. Time to roll. Rise and shine, kid.”
“Where am I going?”
“The bus is leaving in ten minutes. Roll up your sheets and leave the rest.”
John yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“Cell seven,” yelled the officer. The corrections officers in the control center opened the cell doors.
“Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go! Get up. Your limo is outside waiting for you,” said the officer.
There we have it: the best legal thrillers from Next Chapter in 03/2023. We hope you enjoy the stories - and if you do, please leave a comment below, or a review in Goodreads or your favorite store. It would mean a lot to us!
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