Good book!  This one kept me up very late and I popped it open within 20 minutes of rising.  (I often do this as there’s not much going on around here.) 

*******
Lethal Defense
By Michael Stagg
2020
Read by George Newbern 9h 56m
Rating:  A+ / legal drama
*******

Nate Shephard finds himself acting as “local counsel” on a case of 1st degree murder with extra penalties. There’s no question that Hank Braggi murdered a Dylan Chase, a member of a rock band,  by viscously beating him to death. But there are other issues – are there extenuating circumstances and what does mean?  How far can self-defense (or defense of another person) go? How much force is too much force?  

The writing and editing are not the best but if you’re up for a riveting story, with wonderfully interesting and likable characters and plenty of suspense and courtroom drama this is your book. 

From Amazon:
A client savagely kills a man to protect a friend. A lawyer with secrets must prove it was justified.

Attorney Nate Shepherd left a big firm to go out on his own. He sees nothing but opportunity when an out-of-town lawyer wants to hire him as local counsel on a high-profile murder case. Though his family worries that the case hits too close to home, Nate joins the defense team. 

When circumstances force him to take on a bigger role, Nate ignores his family’s fears and throws himself into his client’s defense. But as he digs deeper, every aspect of the case raises memories of a terrible event that Nate has tried his best to bury. 

Battling an aggressive prosecutor in court and a dogged reporter outside it, Nate fights to prove that his client’s brutal, bloody slaying of an evil victim was right. But when Nate’s own story is exposed, it threatens his client’s freedom … and Nate’s carefully constructed life.

Can Nate fend off his own demons long enough to save his client? 

Lethal Defense is the first book in the gripping Nate Shepherd Legal Thriller series. If you like razor-sharp dialogue, iron-willed characters, and slippery moral quandaries, then you’ll love Michael Stagg’s fierce courtroom drama.