Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh

Author : Steve Cavanagh
Title : Thirteen
Published : 2018
Publisher : Orion
Genre : Crime / Thriller
Pages : 368

     Murder wasn't the hard part. It was just the start of the game. Joshua Kane has been preparing for this moment his whole life. He's done it before. But this is the big one. This is the murder trial of the century. And Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house. But there's someone on his tail, ex-conman turned trial attorney Eddie Flynn and he alone suspects that the killer isn't the man on trial. For Kane, time is running out - all he needs is to get to the conviction without being discovered and for Eddie, it's a race against time to get to the killer before the wrong man takes the fall.

     This was a book that I had seen everywhere over the past few months, From book blogs to bookstores. So I thought I would grab a copy and see what all the fuss was about. This was my first time coming to this author and despite this being the fourth in the series I had no great difficulty finding my way around his characters. In many ways it felt to me like a stand-alone novel which may have worked a great deal in my favour. This is a book that likes to crank up the tension chapter by chapter.  In part, this is down to the split narrative as we switch back and forth between lawyer and serial killer. For me it's was fascinating to watch each of these two people try and throw the other off there game. 

     The author never lets up as he drives the book forward, each move is well thought out and precisely placed to catch you just at the right moment. As legal thrillers go this for me took a step out of the norm. A lot of times they tend to keep a lot closer to what you would believe to be the real world of the courtroom. But with Thirteen what you get is the F.B.I serial killer best seller version of the legal thriller. It is larger than Life and plays out on a blockbuster level, big screen style of storytelling. I found it a truly riveting book from start to its diabolically twisted end. What helps is having been given such a lovable lead character. While it is made clear that he has made a lot of mistakes in his past he is not about to let that get him down. I mean come on a con man turned defence lawyer, although he will only take on cases where he believes the defendant to be innocent. This is all learned from little bits of conversions which worked well for me to fill in his backstory. 

     The dark side of this book allows you to get into the mind of a dark and twisted serial killer. He is a pure narcissist and only cares for his own pleasure, which is not only limited to killing people but also manipulating a jury just to prove how great he is. This guy is not your average killer, I would think of him more of a mix of master spy crossed with a serial killer. From forging documents to managing to disguise himself as pretty much anyone on the plant this goes above and beyond. This works in favour of this style of the book pushing the narrative forward at breakneck pace. When dealing with these to things can change in a heartbeat and often do throughout the course of the book. For me It was good to have to equally matched opponents, it meant that it kept me guessing as to how it was all going to end. I think most of the time with books in a series you can kind of just assume that the lead will make it through to the next book. So to some extent, the peril is always a little less than a true stand-alone novel. But I enjoyed the way it played out and gave me enough to keep my eyes glued to the page. 

     Much like many others have said this probably has one of the best taglines of the year. It provides a hook that will pull people in who might not otherwise have given it a second look. If you are looking for your standard legal fare this is not going to be the one for you. There is a reason for it being a big best seller and for me it's because it goes beyond the norm. A little bit pulp fiction, a bit legal drama and part Hollywood killer this book did not disappoint.