Publisher: Century (Trade Paperback – 3 April 2024)
Series: Standalone
Length: 423 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The blockbuster team of bestselling author James Patterson and former lawyer Nancy Allen return with the outstanding and highly entertaining legal thriller, The No.1 Lawyer.
I have been having an outstanding time getting into the various works of James Patterson the last few years, especially as he produces so many excellent books in collaboration with a range of exceptional authors. This includes 2 Sisters Detective Agency and The Murder Inn with Candice Fox, Death of the Black Widow with J. D. Barker, Lost with James O. Born and The Perfect Assassin with Brian Sitts, just to name a few. One of the more interesting people he has been collaborating with is veteran lawyer and author Nancy Allen. Best known for her Ozarks Mysteries and Anonymous Justice series, Allen has also cowritten two legal thrillers with Patterson, including The Jailhouse Lawyer and Juror No.3. The No.1 Lawyer is the third collaboration between Patterson and Allen and proved to be an amazing amount of fun.
Stafford Lee Penney is a high-flying lawyer with a shining reputation in the city of Biloxi. The son of a notorious mob lawyer, Stafford Lee has worked his way out of the mud and holds the distinction of being the best defence attorney in the state of Mississippi. However, this dubious title comes at a cost, and Stafford Lee’s marriage is in the toilet and his home life is a mess. Throwing himself into his latest case, Stafford Lee defends a prominent doctor accused of a heinous murder in the trial of the century.
Determined to show that he’s the best, Stafford Lee provides an impassioned defence in this controversial case. However, Stafford Lee is unprepared for the fallout of his decision to defend the undefendable, when his wife is murdered and he loses everything. Broken and devastated, Stafford Lee sinks into a drunken losing streak that destroys his reputation and ends his once promising career.
With the help of his friends, Stafford Lee attempts to return to legal profession he loves so much, even if just on the periphery. But he is unprepared for the dark truth that his wife’s killer might still be on the loose. Worse, it soon becomes apparent that someone is targeting Stafford Lee personally, and he soon finds himself accused of murder. To survive, Stafford Lee needs to once again become the No. 1 lawyer of Biloxi to win the biggest trial of his career, his own.
Patterson and Allen are in strong form as they bring together an outstanding and highly exciting legal thriller that is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. The No.1 Lawyer was an awesome book, that wowed me with its cool court scenes, intriguing protagonists, and thrilling plot.
The team of Patterson and Allen come up with a fun and compelling narrative for The No.1 Lawyer and it was one that I found hard to put down at times. The authors find the right balance of legal thriller, murder mystery and character driven storylines throughout The No.1 Lawyer and you really get drawn in as a result. The first half of the book is firmly anchored around a big murder trial that the protagonist has been hired as the defence lawyer for. This proves to be a fascinating case, especially as it raises some intriguing ethical concerns about Stafford Lee defending a likely guilty man, and the case gets highly personal and crazy at times. This first half of the book also introduces some key plot points that become very relevant later, while also showcasing the main cast in a great way. This first part of the book ends on some big moments, and while I was hooked all the way there, the compelling conclusion to the first part of the story ensured that I had to keep going with The No.1 Lawyer.
After the death of the protagonist’s wife, the story goes in some fantastic and personal directions as Stafford Lee ends up spiralling and very much losing his way. This is easily the most emotionally charged part of The No.1 Lawyer, and you really come to appreciate the author’s character work and how they cover grief and loss. A good chunk of the middle of the book is dedicated the protagonist rebuilding his life one brick at a time, while he also finds his way back into the legal profession, albeit at a much lower level than before. These various scenes are really heartfelt, and the authors also use them to further set up additional plot points for the rest of the book.
The final third of The No.1 Lawyer is where all the action unfolds, and Patterson and Allen don’t hold back, with additional murders, frame jobs and a new trial where the protagonist must defend himself for murder. I really enjoyed how bleak things got for the protagonist here, especially after seeing him get back on his feet in the previous part of the book, and it was great to see him once again get into top legal form to defend himself. The big trial here was very fun, as Stafford Lee stopped caring about decorum and decided to go for a very aggressive defence, and the resulting scenes were pretty damn fun. There was also a compelling murder investigation in the sidelines, which melded well with the legal thriller parts of the book. The big reveal of who was behind the killings was very interesting, if not too surprising, and while I liked how it turned out, especially the violent confrontation, I would have preferred a fun court sequence to reveal the truth. Still, Patterson and Allen more than make up for this with the final big twist, which I thought was extremely clever, and which will blow more than a few people away. I had such a great time with this amazing and epic story, and this was easily one of the most entertaining narratives of 2024 so far.
I am a big fan of legal thrillers, and Patterson’s writing style combined well with the knowledge of Allen to create a very good example of the genre. The various court scenes and accompanying legal work are well showcased, and you really get drawn into the outrageous and captivating court sequences as a result. The cases being discussed also prove to be quite complex, and I enjoyed seeing the various secrets and lies that the authors hide within the details. I also had a good chuckle at Patterson and Allen producing a fun homage to John Grisham here with The No.1 Lawyer, especially as they featured a legal thriller down in Biloxi. The two provide their own excellent take on this infamous city, and I liked the small town feel you often got with everyone knowing each other, especially as that led to some intriguing legal complications. Everything is kept very sharp and fast paced, and the multiple quickfire chapters that are so typical of a Patterson book help to keep readers extremely engaged with the plot.
While there is obviously a lot of focus on murder and legal proceedings in The No.1 Lawyer, I felt that human elements of the story helped to make this book particularly good. Nearly all the main characters in The No.1 Lawyer are deeply flawed in ways that only humans can be, and the authors do a wonderful job showcasing this as the plot continues. This is particularly true for protagonist Stafford Lee Penney, the young hotshot lawyer whose obsession with his career has cost him his marriage and a normal homelife. We follow Stafford Lee through the many highs and dramatic lows of his life, which presents a rollercoaster of emotions to the reader which are so damn compelling. The many scenes where Stafford Lee loses everything and finds himself in a drunken depression were very moving, and the authors did an amazing job of capturing his grief and despair. Watching him rebuild himself with the help of his friends was an excellent part of the book, and you really grow attached to him as a result, which makes the trials that follow even more intense. I also appreciated how the way in which the book captures the many pressures associated with being a top-notch lawyer, especially as it shows that no matter how hard it gets, the protagonist loves his profession and the thrills that comes with it.
The No.1 Lawyer also features a fantastic supporting cast that move the story along in some interesting directions. Stafford Lee’s two close friends, Mason Burnett and Jenny Glaser prove to be his emotional rock for much of the book, and the various scenes where they support Stafford Lee at this worst are some of the strongest in the entire novel. Jenny’s concurrent investigation into the various killings around Biloxi also prove to be an interesting part of the book, especially as it often clashes with Stafford Lee’s wishes, and she proved to be a fantastic female lead. However, I did think the inevitable romantic arc between Stafford Lee and Jenny was a little forced at times, and the book might have been fine without it. Other key characters include Stafford Lee’s original client, who proves to be a fun key suspect, a notorious Biloxi gangster, and the various members of the state’s court system, all of whom prove quite invested in Stafford Lee’s various cases. The opposing prosecution for Stafford Lee’s main trials is of particular note, especially as the cases get quite personal for them. All these characters, and more, prove to be excellent additions to the plot and I really enjoyed the fun directions the authors took them in.
Overall, I had an amazing time with The No.1 Lawyer, and it proved to be a very epic and entertaining book that I really got invested in. The brilliant team of James Patterson and Nancy Allen created an excellent legal thriller, and I really appreciated how compelling and exciting the story got at times. Slick, entertaining, and loaded with substantial emotional charge, The No.1 Lawyer was a fantastic novel that is really worth checking out.
