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Nina Reilly #7
Writ of Execution
Masterful storytelling ... gripping legal drama ... relentless suspense -- these are the hallmarks of Perri O'Shaughnessy's work. Critics hail her legal thrillers as "terrific ... will keep you turning the pages into the night" ( USA Today ) and "a real puzzler ... with twists diabolical enough to take to court" ( The New York Times Book Review ).
Now the New York Times bestselling author of Move to Strike returns with Writ of Execution , an electrifying tale that plunges attorney Nina Reilly into a shadowy world of high-stakes money and cold-blooded murder.
In the mountain resort town of South Lake Tahoe, Nina Reilly is known for taking on the underdog cases, the kind that can make -- or break -- her one-woman law practice. Her latest case begins in the middle of a summer night when she is called away from a very personal visit to her investigator Paul van Wagoner's hotel room to meet with a desperate new client at her office who gives her name as Jessie Potter. The frightened young woman has just hit a huge slot machine jackpot, and the men in suits are waiting to hand her the check just as soon as she tells them her real identity.
With time running out, Nina helps her client devise a brilliant plan to collect the money while keeping her true identity a secret. Unfortunately, powerful interests have lined up to grab the money. The gaming commission thinks the jackpot was rigged. The man sitting on the seat just before the jackpot hit says it's his, and he doesn't mind going outside the law to get it. And the wealthy man stalking Nina's client has retained an unscrupulous local lawyer, Jeff Riesner, to attack the jackpot winnings using a legal maneuver called a Writ of Execution. The odds of Jessie ever collecting are starting to look hopeless.
For Nina, what began as a fight for an underdog in federal court soon escalates into something very different and far more dangerous. Jessie has a secret, and she needs that money for a very good reason. By the time Nina discovers that Jessie is withholding vital information, it might be too late for her client and even for Nina herself.
Because somewhere in the darkening Tahoe night, people are dying. A cold-blooded, obsessed killer will stop at nothing -- including execution-style murder -- to get that jackpot in a case where the Writ of Execution has become more than a legal maneuver; it's a death warrant.
Sweeping from the glittering casinos of Tahoe to the drama of a packed courtroom to the darkness of a woman's secret past, Writ of Execution is spellbinding entertainment -- Perri O'Shaughnessy's most intricate and compelling novel to date.
Now the New York Times bestselling author of Move to Strike returns with Writ of Execution , an electrifying tale that plunges attorney Nina Reilly into a shadowy world of high-stakes money and cold-blooded murder.
In the mountain resort town of South Lake Tahoe, Nina Reilly is known for taking on the underdog cases, the kind that can make -- or break -- her one-woman law practice. Her latest case begins in the middle of a summer night when she is called away from a very personal visit to her investigator Paul van Wagoner's hotel room to meet with a desperate new client at her office who gives her name as Jessie Potter. The frightened young woman has just hit a huge slot machine jackpot, and the men in suits are waiting to hand her the check just as soon as she tells them her real identity.
With time running out, Nina helps her client devise a brilliant plan to collect the money while keeping her true identity a secret. Unfortunately, powerful interests have lined up to grab the money. The gaming commission thinks the jackpot was rigged. The man sitting on the seat just before the jackpot hit says it's his, and he doesn't mind going outside the law to get it. And the wealthy man stalking Nina's client has retained an unscrupulous local lawyer, Jeff Riesner, to attack the jackpot winnings using a legal maneuver called a Writ of Execution. The odds of Jessie ever collecting are starting to look hopeless.
For Nina, what began as a fight for an underdog in federal court soon escalates into something very different and far more dangerous. Jessie has a secret, and she needs that money for a very good reason. By the time Nina discovers that Jessie is withholding vital information, it might be too late for her client and even for Nina herself.
Because somewhere in the darkening Tahoe night, people are dying. A cold-blooded, obsessed killer will stop at nothing -- including execution-style murder -- to get that jackpot in a case where the Writ of Execution has become more than a legal maneuver; it's a death warrant.
Sweeping from the glittering casinos of Tahoe to the drama of a packed courtroom to the darkness of a woman's secret past, Writ of Execution is spellbinding entertainment -- Perri O'Shaughnessy's most intricate and compelling novel to date.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
106 people are currently reading
608 people want to read
About the author
Perri O'Shaughnessy
49 books278 followersPerri O’Shaughnessy is the pen-name for two people, Pamela and Mary O’Shaughnessy, sisters. The authors' pseudonym is an homage to Perry Mason, the man who never met a guilty client, and a melding of their two first names, Pamela and Mary. O’Shaughnessy is their paternal family name.
They are the authors of eleven bestselling Nina Reilly novels as well as a collection of short crime fiction, Sinister Shorts.
They are the authors of eleven bestselling Nina Reilly novels as well as a collection of short crime fiction, Sinister Shorts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
March 19, 2012
One of the strangest ones I've read yet. Nina this time meets a girl, name unknown (for now) who wins seven million on the slots. But the problem is, that she can't claim the money because she won't give out her name. So who does she go with? A guy right beside her as her husband. The girl says she must say hidden in order to protect herself. Nina agrees to take on the case, but things start to go out of hand when the people the girl sat beside on that night begin to die. The guy she is "suppose" to be married to (name is Kenny) is who the guns it might belongs too. Surprising twists unravel which then Nina is desperate to keep the girl alive. A compelling thriller, will grab you at the first page. A very good mystery.
November 6, 2019
Pretty good, but out of date with he tech -
February 6, 2019
First Nina Reilly book I have read but am going to go back to the first one and read them all. What a thrilling book this turned out to be... I couldn't put it down. Great story line, with lots of twists.
November 18, 2019
This story was just OK... It started off very strong and then it became very confusing... But in the end it was the right thing to do!!!
May 7, 2020
This book is one wild ride. Nina Reilly is an attorney near Lake Tahoe , which sits on the Nevada/California border. She is a single Mom trying to survive in a competitive area. Just like
Vegas, people love to gamble . Jessie Porter is a widow who lived in Hawaii with her husband, Dan who had just died in a boating accident. She has an infant boy and an angry father-in-law who suspects that she murdered her husband. Jessie escapes to Nevada and tries to secure her future. She goes gambling one night and meets Kenny Leung .When a gambler leaves his position at a slot machine, she sits down to play one game and now the story starts to unfold. It turns out that the man who was sitting there just went to the restroom but in that time lapse.......the machine tells Jessie that she has just won $7,000,000 !!
The man returns from the restroom only to find that the machine that he 'was' told would pay out a huge sum had been occupied by Jessie. Now things start to heat up. Jessie secures the services of Nina Reilly and the friendship of Kenny and a wild fight is about to begin.
Murder and mysteries will follow ........hang on to your chairs for a wild tale where you will find it hard to put down this thriller until the very end.
Vegas, people love to gamble . Jessie Porter is a widow who lived in Hawaii with her husband, Dan who had just died in a boating accident. She has an infant boy and an angry father-in-law who suspects that she murdered her husband. Jessie escapes to Nevada and tries to secure her future. She goes gambling one night and meets Kenny Leung .When a gambler leaves his position at a slot machine, she sits down to play one game and now the story starts to unfold. It turns out that the man who was sitting there just went to the restroom but in that time lapse.......the machine tells Jessie that she has just won $7,000,000 !!
The man returns from the restroom only to find that the machine that he 'was' told would pay out a huge sum had been occupied by Jessie. Now things start to heat up. Jessie secures the services of Nina Reilly and the friendship of Kenny and a wild fight is about to begin.
Murder and mysteries will follow ........hang on to your chairs for a wild tale where you will find it hard to put down this thriller until the very end.
March 26, 2024
I just remember liking it.
December 14, 2024
This is an outstanding installment in the series. It has everything I appreciate in a book of its type—some courtroom drama, moments when everything seems hopeless, and times when good people win despite the incredible odds stacked against them.
The young widow isn’t addicted to gambling, but on a summer night in Lake Tahoe, she’s playing the slots. She took the chair when someone with a British accent vacated it to use the bathroom. Jessie Potter’s life would never be the same again. As she fed money into the machine, it announced that she had hit the jackpot. She won seven million dollars and change. But Jessie has a problem. Her father-in-law is convinced that she murdered her husband by poisoning him, and the old man has vowed to make her life as miserable as possible. He doesn’t know Jessie has a son by her husband, and she’s terrified if he finds out, he’ll take the child away.
Benny Leung sits next to Jessie that night. He’s there to play his last dollar before escaping to one of the hotel rooms upstairs to take his life. He brought his handgun just for that purpose. He has gambled away his parents’ savings and lost everything. Or has he? Jessie hires Nina Reilly to both help her secure the jackpot withheld by the manufacturer of the slot machine until the manufacturer can test it for integrity and to protect her name so the child’s grandfather can’t take it.
Benny and Jessie agree to marry in a quick Reno ceremony, and she’ll pay off his gambling debts in return for the use of his name.
The bodies pile up as Nina works to unfreeze Jessie’s money, and Nina deals with domestic difficulties of her own.
The young widow isn’t addicted to gambling, but on a summer night in Lake Tahoe, she’s playing the slots. She took the chair when someone with a British accent vacated it to use the bathroom. Jessie Potter’s life would never be the same again. As she fed money into the machine, it announced that she had hit the jackpot. She won seven million dollars and change. But Jessie has a problem. Her father-in-law is convinced that she murdered her husband by poisoning him, and the old man has vowed to make her life as miserable as possible. He doesn’t know Jessie has a son by her husband, and she’s terrified if he finds out, he’ll take the child away.
Benny Leung sits next to Jessie that night. He’s there to play his last dollar before escaping to one of the hotel rooms upstairs to take his life. He brought his handgun just for that purpose. He has gambled away his parents’ savings and lost everything. Or has he? Jessie hires Nina Reilly to both help her secure the jackpot withheld by the manufacturer of the slot machine until the manufacturer can test it for integrity and to protect her name so the child’s grandfather can’t take it.
Benny and Jessie agree to marry in a quick Reno ceremony, and she’ll pay off his gambling debts in return for the use of his name.
The bodies pile up as Nina works to unfreeze Jessie’s money, and Nina deals with domestic difficulties of her own.
February 6, 2018
Takes place over a few days in July - woman wins $7 million jackpot playing slots - but she cannot collect because she does not want to reveal her identity since she is in hiding. She consults attorney Nina Reilly who acquiesces to the woman's scheme to marry the man who was sitting next to her at the slots - he will present themselves as a married couple, collect the $7 million, keep $1 million, and give the rest to the woman. The plan unravels when a murderer kills three people who were around the slots when it paid off. Everything is settled in the end, but there is no exciting violent climax in Lake Tahoe or Mount Tallac or surrounding areas of the Lake Tahoe region. Instead there is an unexciting murder attempt, which is immediately defused. Turns out the slot machine was rigged to pay off and the woman was not supposed to be there when it did. The insider who planned the heist was killing everyone who might have exposed him.
Some bothersome details: Nina has a teenage son who she does not seem to attend to. She asks her brother, who luckily lives near by, to care for him most of the time. Nina also leads on her loyal boyfriend, Paul, but seems uncommitted and ambivalent towards him. He finally leaves her in the end, although there is a hint that she is going to get him back.
Some bothersome details: Nina has a teenage son who she does not seem to attend to. She asks her brother, who luckily lives near by, to care for him most of the time. Nina also leads on her loyal boyfriend, Paul, but seems uncommitted and ambivalent towards him. He finally leaves her in the end, although there is a hint that she is going to get him back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2020
This is my second book written by the O'Shaughnessy sisters. Still have 5 more on my shelf. Will give myself a break for a while. Nina Reilly, in the two books I have read, is not a likable lead character. In fact, so far in the two books I have read, only Paul, her brother Matt and sister-in-law are nice people. This book had some really interesting reading as far as gambling goes. I rarely skip through pages at a time and usually when I do, I hit on something else later in the book, I end up going back to read what I had not previously read. Yeah, NOT this time. So many angry people. Too much stuff I could not even remotely believe could happen. Just fantasy.
October 30, 2024
One of the things I like most about this book is that it is written by two sisters with the combined name of Perri. Attorney Nina Reilly must navigate the legalities presented by a woman who has won $7 million at a casino, but doesn’t want any publicity so she gets married to the guy sitting next to her who happens to be a computer geek contemplating suicide. The woman is trying to avoid her murderous father-in-law from Hawaii. Definitely unpredictable.
August 7, 2017
This is the seventh novel in the Nina Reilly series and I liked it as much as the other six I've read. Great characters and story line: exciting, unpredictable and realistic. This story is also a facinating depiction of the gaming industry and the psychology of compulsive gambling. I highly recommend it.
December 6, 2017
Like Nina Reilly, and some of the other characters . Some suspense , but the build up was very slow. This romance between Paul and Nina is a bit annoying. I really don't hear how the are so passionate about each other...just sort of fixated. Not much real love - just a lot of sexual tension.
July 29, 2020
another great story. sure makes you doubt gamboling.
when a woman wins a huge jackpot all hell breaks loose. there are several stories going on here. the young guy who is sitting next to her finds himself married. people are dying lefthand right.
when a woman wins a huge jackpot all hell breaks loose. there are several stories going on here. the young guy who is sitting next to her finds himself married. people are dying lefthand right.
September 16, 2023
An interesting legal thriller with courtroom drama - suspense - some romance - along with winning a Huge jackpot from the "slots" exposes her hiding - murder - some of the story was slow reading but held my interest -
May 10, 2017
Casino gambling as the background for a complex money and murder story
August 12, 2017
I love these books. I never know what's going to happen. Lots of twists.
May 12, 2018
First time to read this author and I really enjoyed the book,
December 7, 2018
Just a good enjoyable non challenging read. What you want this time of year.
Want to read
February 28, 2019Did not like this so much - just OK
July 26, 2019
Really enjoying this series
August 11, 2019
I just could not get into this book, tried a couple of times.
April 22, 2020
Enjoy the writing of this sister team. Interesting story about the gaming industry.
June 10, 2020
A very short standard mass market paperback. Allows you to suspend reality for a bit while you listen/read it. Not great, not terrible.
April 15, 2022
This book is several years old but holds up pretty well. Interesting mystery.
July 10, 2022
Enjoyed it.
May 1, 2023
Lots of twists and intrigue. I hope some of the stuff about casinos is not true. Well enjoyed.
July 21, 2023
This was a great book! I am disappointed to find out that I started near the end of the series! I will certainly check out the other Nina Reilly stories!
June 5, 2024
3.5 stars. Always enjoy a good Nina Reilly legal battle.
December 25, 2024
Okay; the suspense wasn't page turning and the story was a little hard to follow at times, but overall a good read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews