The Lawyer's Lawyer

Jack Tobin #3

by James Sheehan

Jack Tobin, the main character of The Mayor of Lexington Avenue returns in this non-stop novel that combines enthralling plot twists with some of the best coutroom fiction being written today.
Tobin, known as the lawyer's lawyer--the guy the best lawyer's say they'd want to represent them in a courtroom battle--undertakes the representation of a serial killer who he believes to be innocent. The Chief of Police is outraged, the citizens of Oakville where the murders occurred, erupt, and the State Attorney is out for blood as Jack challenges the criminal justice system once again.

Sheehan masterfully weaves stories of love and friendship into one man's uncompromising search for truth within the four corners of a courtroom where it is often spoken about but seldom seen. Jack is in a fight for his life and the outcome is in doubt right up to the turn of the final page.

A trial lawyer himself, James Sheehan is also a top-notch thriller writer. Once again he succeeds in translating the depth of his courtroom knowledge into an entertaining and truly fascinating read.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Legal Thriller, Legal, Mystery Thriller

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

James Sheehan was born in New York City and grew up there in a four-room railroad apartment with his five brothers and sisters.

He started working at the age of twelve, shining shoes at a local shoe-repair shop. At fourteen, he had a newspaper round. He worked at a local delicatessen, an antique store where he stripped and delivered furniture, as a construction worker during the summers, a short-order cook throughout his college years, and as a roofer's assistant while he attended graduate school in Florida.

He is currently a trial attorney in St. Petersburg, Florida where he has practiced law for over 30 years. His experience of growing up in New York has shaped his life.

Reviews

[Jami · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I added this to my TBR years ago, I didn't realize it was the 3rd in a series. I read it anyway, and I didn't feel like I missed anything by not reading the first two. The prior events that you need are explained and the rest of the story stood alone. I thought the whole thing was interesting, starting with the serial killer search and ending with Jack's trial. Well worth the read!

[Shanequa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack's actual trial was awesome. I was hooked. The 250 pages it took to get there weren't bad but I did feel the build up was a tad overlong.

I still think this was a decent read and a satisfactory ending to a trilogy that I have enjoyed.

[Jackaline Rutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked all the plot twists. I usually get bored with fictional books but this one kept me reading.

[Michael Mraz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a difficult time with "The Lawyer's Lawyer". It reads well and has a lot of potential, but there are a ton of logical flaws and plotting missteps that derailed me from taking it as the enjoyable read it could have been. In truth, having just finished the final pages minutes ago, I wanted to give it a 1-star rating because the last 80 pages grated so much, but for the first half it was a solid 3-star so I decided to compromise with 2 stars.
The concept is good - a defense lawyer who defends death row cases pro-bono successfully defends a possible serial killer and when the killings start again, Jack Tobin, our hero, is framed for 1st-degree murder of his client. The characters have good points- but Sheehan constantly betrays them. Many times characters we are led to believe are smart, become extremely dense in order to create plot tension. Bright Homicide Detective Danni Jansen, complains about one of Jack's previous death penalty exoneration cases centering on Henry (Jack's Investigator) and he says Henry is my closest friend. When "Jack's friend Henry" accompanies her to question a witness, we're really supposed to believe she doesn't put 2 and 2 together until after the questioning? Or that Jack doesn't realize when going over the copious case files on the serial killer's case that his lover was the lead detective on the task force until he's too far into the case.
But while these few issues threw only small wrenches in my enjoyment, it wasn't until the final act that things started falling apart-and it all comes down to the major flaw with Jack Tobin as a character: he has no flaws. He's a defense attorney who won't defend someone unless he's sure they're innocent, he believes in every single person's innate goodness and their trust-ability to fault, he handcuffs his poor lawyer Tom by his sterling morality- basically preventing him from actually presenting a case. And it all works out in the end. A trial based on the testimony we read is actually un-winnable for our heroes, but they pull through thanks to 2 unlikely 11th hour attacks of conscience. By the time Jack sabotages his trial for the 10th with his own morality, you start disliking him because you know, in the end, the story will go his way. It's far to Disney. There's no emotional complexity to it. Jack wins because he thinks people will hold to truth and think he's a good guy. Not only is he boring but his moral fortitude ends up being grating.
I also found it an odd decision to portray the original serial killer investigation as so sloppy and shady, only to reveal the guy they were trying to pin it on without any good evidence was actually the guy. I expected it to turn out that they actually did put the wrong guy away, and the actualy killers was just intelligent and started seeking his revenge once the patsy got out. But the plotting was on the nose, exactly what bothered me about most of this book-everything was completely on the nose.

[Howard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first 35 pages and just could not get into this book. I found it uninteresting, flat characters and poorly written. Sorry, I tried.

[Katherine Mcgrath · Rating 1 out of 5]

tstr. how does the stuff gets published?

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lawyer's Lawyer is the third and final (as of writing) book in the Jack Tobin series. James Sheehan also wrote The Alligator Man which features Tom Wylie from this book, and takes place in the same setting, chronologically after this, with a brief mention of Tobin and contains spoilers about the outcome of this novel.

In this installment we see Jack Tobin convinced to take on a serial killer's death row case by the advocacy group he works with, Exoneration. Initially Jack is not too keen on taking on a case where the client may not be innocent, but is convinced to review the file and finds glaring problems with the prosecutions case.

This leads to a rather enthralling chain of events that eventually sees Jack facing first degree murder charges and finding for his freedom in court.

As with the last installment, the writing style has continued to develop and I found this to be the best of all three, to the point that I ended up reading it cover to cover in one day putting off sleep to finish it off.

Whilst it's possible to read this on its own, you'd definitely benefit from reading the first two books in the series first which give a great deal of depth to the characters.

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lawyer’s Lawyer by James Shee­han is a fic­tional story tak­ing place in present day Florida. Mr. Shee­han works at Stet­son Uni­ver­sity in Tampa, FL and teaches trail law.

Jack Tobin, one of the best lawyers in the United States, takes it upon him­self to rep­re­sent a ser­ial killer that he believes to be inno­cent. The cit­i­zens of the town of Oakville are out­raged, the Chief of Police is angry and the dis­trict attor­ney is out to get Jack.
The crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem as a whole is not too happy either.

The Lawyer’s Lawyer by James Shee­han was a delight to read. I got this book a few months ago, but just picked it up and fin­ished it in about two days.

While there are sev­eral direc­tions the book pulls the reader towards, the real strength lays in the court­room drama which Mr. Shee­han so elo­quently brings to life. I’ll even go fur­ther and say that the side­bars the lawyers had while approach­ing the bench were some of the most inter­est­ing, fas­ci­nat­ing con­ver­sa­tion I’ve read in this genre.
The author did a great job telling the story while stay­ing away from many tech­ni­cal terms (“legalese”) and if used, explain­ing them almost imme­di­ately. The nar­ra­tive is smooth and elo­quent which makes for an easy read despite the setting.

The pro­tag­o­nist of the book, Jack Tobin, is too per­fect. He is rich, retired in fact, and only rep­re­sent clients for char­ity. Jack has a volatile con­scious which makes one won­der how he became not only a suc­cess­ful lawyer, but a “lawyer’s lawyer” – the one lawyers them­selves call when they get in trou­ble. The reader is reminded much too often about what a good per­son Jack is and how self­less he is that it seems unbe­liev­able at times.

Mr. Shee­han did a fan­tas­tic job writ­ing a very inter­est­ing book. The legal bat­tles between the judge, the defense and the dis­trict attor­ney bring the book to life and reminds the reader that a trial is not nec­es­sar­ily about the accused.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Christian Fiction Addiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

A smart and entertaining thriller, "The Lawyer's Lawyer" is a book that is sure to please fans of legal-themed suspense novels. I've never had the chance to read a book by James Sheehan before, but I certainly enjoyed his latest offering, appreciating the fast-paced nature of the plot, the action filled pages, and the complex character of Jack Tobin. The author keeps the story moving along with one twist after another, and the courtroom scenes contain the element of realism, making it clear that the author knows exactly what he's talking about. I appreciated the deeper themes the author explores, such as the ethical dilemma around whether a lawyer should take on a case of defending a serial killer who may not be innocent, if there has clearly been a procedural injustice at work in his conviction. The characters in the Lawyer's Lawyer certainly aren't perfect, but there is much to admire in Jack's drive to represent truth and to act with utter loyalty. I also enjoyed the supporting characters in this book, who demonstrate what true friendship should look like. I must say that there was a bit more swearing than I expected from this publisher (Center Street), and the spiritual themes are definitely on the light side. But if you are looking for a well-written book that will have your pulse accelerating from start to finish, then you are definitely going to love this book.

I award it 4.5 out of 5 stars. I look forward to future books from this talented author.

Book has been provided courtesy of Hachette Book Group Canada, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a page turner from the beginning with a very believable character in Mr. Tobin, a lawyer with heart and purpose that really believes in his clients. Mr. Tobin starts out as a high-powered attorney tired of the court-room scene and decides to retire to a sleepy little fishing village and just enjoy the quiet life for the rest of his days. Until one day he gets a call from an old friend that is in trouble and that gets his creative juices flowing again and before long he is back in the court-room as a defender of justice once again, as always he does his best for his clients and this attorney is a fighter until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author Mr. Sheehan put this story together and I highly recommend this book.

I received this book for an honest and unbiased review.

[Cherie Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

long drawn out story of a serial killer and the lengths several characters would go to ensuring he stayed behind bars or died. There were several main characters, but none of them developed fully. The love affair between two of them was there in one paragraph and done the next without any real explanation of why other than "I can't do this any more".

[Nicole Ferranti · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this zero stars if I could. although I liked the idea of the plot, the story line is a half passed attempt at copying two well known serial killers, it is unimaginative and poorly executed. I couldn't stomach reading past the third chapter. it is a shame because I have enjoyed this authors other books

[Simonne Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it but the end was a bit of a let down. Bit of a cop out. Nevertheless my first book by this author and will not be my last

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good, but not great read. I like the south Florida setting. The main character is just a bit too good to be true.

[Tyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any other books by him but I will in the future. And I think this works as a stand alone book, if there were characters brought forward, I didn't realize it.

[Kevin Kazokas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The meandering plot does not fully crystalize until well beyond the first 150 pages of this sinuous legal drama, "The Lawyer's Lawyer." During the early block of non-pertinent chapters, a reader can't help but wonder, "What is the actual story here?" Apparent plot pathways resolve and lead to dead ends, for no clear reason. Eventually, the moral dilemmas at the crux of the hidden plot emerge, as attorney Jack Tobin must weigh the personal cost of freeing a known killer from Death Row in a repeatedly victimized small town. Despite successfully reversing the man's death sentence because of completely bogus evidence gathered at one of the murder scenes, Tobin knows he must immediately endure the scorn of a united community of mourners and near victims. One such vengeance-minded person is Tobin's former lover, who was involved in the original investigation leading to the killer's conviction and who nearly lost her daughter under the killer's terrorizing threats at that time of his spree. Her relationship with Tobin long-since dissolved, the lawyer's latest victory puts them further at odds and leaves Tobin feeling as though standing alone in life is the price of success. Eventually, Tobin takes matters into his own hands to try to make things right and ends up in a legal fight for his life.
As the novel shifts into the courtroom, the author highlights the moral strengths of Tobin and the three in his most immediate circle --eventually including his ex -- to paint a contrasting tide of emotional heroism standing tall against the embittered town folk and a morally corrupt legal system. This scores some degree of success by novel's end. Nevertheless, this book leaves nothing enduring for the reader to yearn for more Jack Tobin. Despite his characters' moral strength, they at times reflected an incongruent shallowness, naivety or just being too darn dense.
This drama lacks the plot power to attain the levels of success enjoyed by the works of other genre pros such as Grisham, Turow or even Grippando. For Sheehan to join the big ranks and have his name at the forefront of the fictional legal counsel table, he must rely more on plot than principle in future Tobin installments.

[Caitlin Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lawyers' novel. I love them, especially for the bits of law I am unfamiliar with. Especially for the courtroom scenes, the witty conversations between intelligent people with much at stake. This one hinges on Jack Tobin, a super competent lawyer with a reputation, who is asked to represent a suspected serial killer on death row. We know who did it, and still Jack decides to represent the accused. This decision pits him against the woman he loves, whose daughter was being stalked by the killer before being arrested and put in prison, as well as the entire powerful elite of Apache County.

Jack creates a case that opens up the conviction so wide that the killer is released. By this time we know he's going to strike again. Will Jack figure it out before it's too late? Or .. .

The confidence of the lawyer / writer is almost too steady, as the character takes chances, and as a reader, you say, 'Don't!'

The pace moves quickly. This one's not quite as well written as Martini's 'The Judge' but it was just as entertaining.

[Jordy · Rating 4 out of 5]

great ending to a great legal drama. I loooved the last third of the book which was the trial! You can tell the author is a legal professor and made my law student heart quite happy.
The only qualm I have is that the main characters made critical mistakes that were inconsistent with their character - they are retiree-age trial lawyers that were the TOP of their field and extremely skilled. I understand it was needed to further the plot, but it just wasn't believable.

...But what do I know, I'm just a lowly law student (;
(also I'm pretty sure one of my professors knows the author, a professor at Stetson Law so I"m shutting up now O.o )

[Iz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely got some shivers from this book, simply because of the nature of the mystery novel. However, this book was extremely hard to put down because of it. The only thing that was a bit confusing was the organization of parts in this book, in that there were gaps chronologically. However, that worked in favor later in the book because suspense was created for the reader because the true events that had happened in the past were not fully understood until the end of the novel.

[Lewis Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent legal thriller by this author, and another five star rating! He's as good as John Grisham; who in my opinion, has always been the "standard bearer" for legal thrillers. Keep up the GREAT writing!!

[Arianna Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is ACTION PACKED! there are so many different things that go on and the twist and turns are insane!! it literally pulls you in from page 1 and I couldn’t read this book fast enough! Hands down, a top 5 favorite of mine!

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was ok! First time I read this author. A lot of back and forth.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack Tobin takes on death penalty appeals for free after he retires. He is asked to take on the case of a serial killer despite public opinion. As a result his life will have major changes.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not read the first 2 books in this series...but I thoroughly enjoyed this legal drama

[Jeanette Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never any of this author's books, but I plan on reading them all now. I could not stop reading this book. It kept you thinking the whole time and was very well written. Loved it.

[Jess VanderWeele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd say 3.5 stars. The story itself was great, kept you guessing and kept you intrigued. The writing style wasn't my favorite, a little elementary. But he did a great job spinning the story for you.

[Hlsmlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

High marks for creative plotting and pacing. Prose is a bit wooden.

[Linden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad; however I think I would not read another book of his; much better fictions are out there

[Arshad Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most intricately written books I've ever read! Such an amazing story of the good in people and the trust we put amongst our fellow humans!

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone who is a "Lawyer's lawyer" he sure made a lot of questionable decisions and mistakes. Still, a pretty good story.