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Betrayal

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Robin Lockwood #7
Betrayal

Phillip Margolin

4.01
114 ratings84 reviews
In Phillip Margolin's Betrayal , attorney Robin Lockwood finds herself defending her old nemesis in a multiple murder case with too many suspects, where success might cost her own life.

Robin Lockwood is now a prominent defense attorney in Portland, Oregon but a decade ago, she was a ranked and rising MMA fighter. Her career came to a quick end when she was knocked out and concussed in the first round by Mandy Kerrigan, a much more talented fighter.

Now the situation couldn't be more different, with Kerrigan on her last legs, her career nearly over, arrested for the quadruple murder of the entire Finch family...and Kerrigan's only possible friend is the attorney she beat so many years ago.

For Robin, it's no simple Margaret Finch was a lawyer working for vicious Russian mobsters, and was in the cross-hairs of both the mobsters and the widower of a woman a client killed; her husband Nathan Finch was deeply in debt to a bookie who threatened his life; her son Ryan was the one who sold Kerrigan illegal performance enhancing drugs and was beaten severely by her when Kerrigan failed her drug test. To complicate matters further, the DA that Robin is facing is the man she's just started dating, the first person she's begun seeing seriously after her husband was killed.

In a case where the stakes are high and the truth is elusive, where each new fact twists the case in a new direction, there is seemingly no way to win or direction to turn that will leave Robin Lockwood unscathed.

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Genres
Mystery
Thriller
Fiction
Audiobook
Legal Thriller
Mystery Thriller
Suspense

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336 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication November 7, 2023


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Phillip Margolin
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Ratings & Reviews
My Review

Denise Satin
272 reviews
4 followers

November 2, 2023
First, I want say is that the first book I read by Phillip Margolin was Gone but not Forgotten which I read on vacation on the beach and literally could not put down. With that being said, Phillip Margolin never diissapoints his readers. In Betrayal, a Robin Lockwood book who is an attorney but once was a ranked and a MMA fighter but was knocked out by Mandy Kerrigan. Now she is not the fighter she used to be and arrested for a quadruple murder. Husband, wife daughter son. Margaret Finch is an attorney, bit it is known she works for criminals. Her husband was a chemist, graduated with honors but now he lost his job because of his gambling addiction and makes drugs in his basement which he now has his teenage son peddling for him. Then there is Annie, the youngest in 8th grade whom everyone says she changed so much after the seventh grade. She told her once good friend she should kill herself and taunted her. This friend Donna committed suicide. So we are presented with a very dysfunctional family with so many suspects but Mandy gets arrested because she bought PEDs prior to her last fight from Ryan who told her they couldn’t be detected. Well she was tested and it came back positive. Ryan is the son in the Finch murder. So she went to where he hangs out and took him outside and beat him up. Also the people the Margaret defends are Russian mafia and do insurance scams with car accidents. But this last one was very bad because the driver, part of the insurance scam accidentally killed someone which is not supposed to happen. The father Nathan Finch owes money to loan sharks so that is why he is making drugs for fear of his life and having his teenage son Ryan selling the drugs. The parents of the girl that committed suicide are a wreck. So as I said so many suspects. Who actually did it was such a twist ending I never saw coming. Also Robin becomes involved with the prosecutor of this case prior to the murders and he is for representing the family that were killed. So we truly had a real who did it. I want to thank net galley and the publisher for this ARC for a honest review. If you like these type of books which obviously I do I highly recommend it. I think I read it in one day it was so good.

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A Most Complex Plan B Investigation

At 7:50 a.m., Megan Radcliffe is preparing food to eat when she sees a woman knocking on the door of the house across the street. The woman appears to be saying something that she could not hear. About 15 to 20 minutes later, she sees the woman leaving the porch. She looks every so often at the house, but nothing is happening. At 8:30, she sees a teacher from Annie’s middle school arrives. He rings the doorbell and enters. He comes out shouting a few minutes later. Megan leaves her house and approaches the teacher, who waves her off. He is calling 911. He tells the operators that they are all dead.

The main storyline consists of Robin Lockwood defending Manny Kerrigan. The prosecutor believes that the case is a slam dunk case. Robin thinks that Manny is innocent. Robin must find out who killed the entire Finch family. To complicate the investigation, each member, father, mother, son, and daughter, has one or more solid motives for their murder, but why were all four killed? The author weaves the four subthreads on each family member very well with the subthread of the legal representation of the defendant. There are many twists and turns. More than one person has a motive to seek revenge against the same Finch family member. What captured my interest was trying to figure along with Robin Lockwood what was the real motive for the murders and who killed the family. I could not stop reading and finished this novel twice as fast as usual.

Two significant threads provide much insight into the Robin Lockwood character. The first is that the defendant was the MMA fighter who stopped “Rocking Robin” Lockwood’s MMA career. Of the books in this series that I have read, one of Robin’s characteristics was that she was an MMA fighter. Now, this thread provides the end of her MMA and how it refocused her life. The second thread was her growing relationship with the prosecutor in this case. Of the books I’ve read, Robin has cocooned her social life since Jeff Hodges, her investigator and fiancé, was killed in court in front of her. These threads provide much insight into Robin’s character.

The aspects of a novel that stop some readers are present at a relatively low level. There are some preliminaries to intimacy and some statements that intimacy occurred. Vulgar and rude language also was at a low level and was not a concern for me. Most violence was described in the less edgy after-the-fact vice as it occurred. Lastly, this is the seventh book in this series. I did not find any references to events in the previous novels, which I have read, that had inadequate backfill. These aspects should not pose any problems for most readers.

Betrayal has all the aspects that I seek. The main storyline was complex, kept my interest engaged, was easy to read and follow, and had an intriguing personal side of the protagonist. I found no aspect of this novel that rubbed me the wrong way. There are not any loose ends in the main storyline. The long-term character storyline of Robin promises more in future novels. This is the third novel in this series that I have read. I am so happy with these that I have purchased two earlier novels in this series to read. The author is solidly in my Must-Read category. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. If you like this genre, I recommend reading this novel. I rate it with five stars.

I received a free prepublication e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books. My review is based solely on my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

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I have been a Phillip Margolin fan since WAY back with Gone but Not Forgotten, still one of the best thrillers out there! But I digress. Betrayal is a great entry into the Robin Lockwood series. I have loved watching Robin grow and change, even though I did not like one of the changes a few years back, I now see how it is all playing out and am okay again. But I digress a second time. Robin, a former MMA fighter, is asked by Mandy Kerrigan to defend her against charges of killing 4 people. Mandy is a former opponent who was part of the reason Robin quit fighting and became a lawyer. What follows is a quick moving story involving the mob, shady deals, police procedures and of course law. Yes, I had an idea early on who actually "did it" but that in no way took from the fun of this story. I cannot recommend this series enough and this is from a girl who does not really like series. But if Phillip Margolin reads it, I will read it. Looking forward to more!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Phillip Margolin and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

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A terrific addition to a series that always sees growth in its main character a unique and dynamic attorney that will be just fine as a stand alone. Robin, who was forced to retire from MMA thanks to Mandy Kerrigan feels duty bound to defend the other woman when she's charged with multiple murders, Yes Mandy was angry at Ryan Finch over performance enhancing drugs but she didn't kill him. Turns out there was more to his mother- Margaret- than anyone knew. It's near a good idea to get involved with the Russian mob, Or insurance fraud, As always, this is a smart novel that incorporates great small details of the MMA world. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

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Betrayal is the next book in the Robin Lockwood series. Robin is a former MMA fighter and a defense attorney. In this book, Robin is defending Mandy Kerrigan. Robin's MMA career ended when she got a concussion during a fight with Mandy years earlier. Now Mandy had been charged with murdering a family of four. Robin represents her in court. There are a few alternate suspects. Will she be able to establish reasonable doubt and keep Mandy off of death row?
Phillip Margolin is one of my must read authors. Although I'd recommend reading the series, you can read Betrayal without reading the previous Robin Lockwood books.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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I read an advanced copy of the audio book of Phillip Margolin's latest Robin Lockwood novel, Betrayal. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to listen to the audio book in return for an honest review.

This was the second Robin Lockwood book I have read, and I enjoyed it much more than the first. It is a courtroom thriller, although I kind of think of these books as courtroom "light" - not the same depth and extended drama in a trial as say in a Mickey Haller novel, but the book itself was quite good. You definitely do not have to have read the earlier novels to read this. It is suspenseful, and kept me interested.

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This book will keep you guessing until the very end! The trial had me becoming a Juror and weighing the evidence, it was all so riveting. I am a true lover of Legal Thrillers and
" Betrayal " has become one of.my favorites!

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The next Robin Lockwood book finds Robin defending Mandy Kerrigan, the woman who ended her UFC career 10 years prior. Mandy is now accused of killing a family of four. However, there are many suspects who wanted this family dead.

Another good entry in this series! This one was a bit different structurally as Margolin built up a lot of the suspects’ motives before the actual killing. I was really proud of myself for predicting the ending, but I think many people might not see it coming!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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An interesting legal thriller from one of the genre's masters. Cool lead character. Former MMA fighter turned lawyer, tasked with defending the fighter who ended her career in a multiple murder case. Good fun!

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Fantastic book!

Robin Lockwood is back in court, this time defending a woman who she knew from her past as an MMA fighter; in fact, the last fight she was in was against Mandy and it was the fight that made her decide to quit fighting and pursue law full time.

Mandy is accused of killing 4 people. But, as usual, this author weaves in a few other possible killers and their motives, which keeps the reader guessing up until the last 5% or so. To make it interesting, Robin has to defend her client in a trial in which her new love interest, Tom, is the presiding DA.

This book was a very fast read, well-written as always for this author, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good, old-fashioned whodunit.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

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Betrayal is book 7 in A Robin Lockwood series by Phillip Margolin.
I’ve been enjoying defense attorney Robin Lockwood’s novels since the beginning.
Margolin expertly develops these stories independently.
The complex details were strong and compelling.
A true-to-form legal thriller that is well-written and absolutely spellbinding.
Betrayal is definitely a page-turner and very hard to put down. Mr. Margolin does an excellent job developing his characters. The characters, especially Robin, are well crafted, and the plot is tight. The plot is intricate, written with some clever twists along the way.
The novel is well-written and absolutely spellbinding.
This riveting thriller is a testament to Margolin's storytelling prowess and will leave readers utterly captivated from start to finish.
Fans of courtroom drama with fleshed-out characters and plenty of fast-paced action will enjoy this book. This is a favorite series and is highly recommended for anyone who loves a good legal thriller.
I can’t wait for book eight!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Minotaur Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

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I haven't read all the books in the series yet but the ones I have read are fantastic. The characters have depth and the plots are gripping. I would say this series is a medium boiled mystery, not graphic or crude, but the subject matter can be sensitive.

I enjoy stories where the defense attorney investigates and not only gets their client off, but solves the crimes as well.

This installment had multiple layers. There were so many twists that you really weren't sure "who dunnit". I did have my suspicions early on and I was right but it didn't take away from the story.

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“ In Phillip Margolin's Betrayal, attorney Robin Lockwood finds herself defending her old nemesis in a multiple murder case with too many suspects, where success might cost her own life.”



Margo Lin has certainly done it again. When it comes to murder mysteries. Robin Lockwood never seems to stop when it means someone is out there killing people. A great thriller with lots of twists and turns.

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One of the more solid installments of this series as of late. A quick read, though as with many, a few questionable phrases/descriptions (Robin and Loretta’s discussion on race, for example).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Another fantastic Philip Margolin legal thriller featuring Robin Lockwood. Please see my complete review at www.reviewingtheevidence.com

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There’s a lot happening in this book. Almost too much, to be honest. It felt a bit jumbled with everything happening. I did enjoy the case and the characters. Overall a fun, quick read but one that made me feel a bit overwhelmed.

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Robin Lockwood book #7

A Legal Thriller

In a few words:

Robin, MMA fighter turned Portland, Ore., criminal defense attorney takes on the case of a former rival, Mandy Kerrigan, who has been charged with murdering a family of four. Though Mandy maintains her innocence, witnesses saw her banging on the door of the Finch family home after beating up the Finch’s oldest son, Ryan, at a bar when the performance-enhancing drugs he sold her showed up on a drug test. Robin is convinced she’ll find answers about the Finches’ enemies that will divert blame from Mandy. But this case turned not to be a cake walk.....

Defending her old nemesis in a multiple murder case with too many suspects, where success might cost Robin’s life, is not simple. To complicate matters, she is dating the DA.

My thoughts:

I am a long-time fan of Phillip Margolin and I am always eager to read what he has in store for us.

The court scenes maneuvers sucked me in from the start, although fictional this legal drama sounded real to me. I was captivated by the setting, Portland Oregon, where it seems you can pull off random murders, well at less according to this thriller. Mr. Margolin knows how to spin a case where the stakes are high and the truth is elusive, where fact twists the case in all directions, he surely does that with aplomb. Maybe trial attorneys can poke holes into this story but I think following the antics was exciting and suspenseful. I agree with some who think the Russian mafia connection is weak and really didn’t ring true, but what the heck it made for a very captivating read.

Definitely this story is characters driven. With its snappy dialogue and short chapters to help push things along, I was eager to see how this case would turn out.

It is a page turner no doubt in my books.

This is a good novel and one of Mr. Margolin I enjoyed the best.

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Robin Lockwood is a charismatic character in Betrayal by Phillip Margolin. She's smart, strong, and doesn't give up even when there are so many twists and turns before the case is solved as in Betrayal.

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Another great Margolin legal suspense! This was my first in the Robin Lockwood series, and it reminded me why I enjoy legal fiction so much. Part police procedural, part legal strategy, part investigation, and part mob threats. Makes for a killer read!

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First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Phillip Margolin, and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

A long-time fan of Phillip Margolin and this great legal thriller series, I was eager to see what Robin Lockwood would be doing. Building on Robin’s past work as an MMA fighter and stellar lawyer, the story works to merge the two and show how a murder could bring many motives to the surface. Margolin proves his worth and shows how gripping a writer he is when given the chance to let all the pieces fall into place!

Robin Lockwood was once an established MMA fighter on her way up the ranks. After clashing with Mandy Kerrigan a decade ago, Robin’s fighting career came to an abrupt end and she turned her focus to law school, where she excelled and became a lawyer of some regard in the Portland area.

When Mandy reemerges in Robin’s life, things could not be more different. Her career on the literal ropes, Mandy has been arrested for a quadruple homicide, when the entire Finch household is found slain in their home. Mandy turns to Robin to defend her, a Herculean task if ever there was one.

As Robin tries to make sense of the case before her, she comes to realise that the Finches had many enemies. From mother, Margaret, who had been doing some legal work for the Russian mob; father, Nathan, who has racked up many debts with his gambling addiction; and Ryan, the ne’er-do-well son, selling designer drugs that are supposed to be untraceable. These drugs were detected during one post-fight test and have left Mandy suspended, providing the prime motive in the case. There is also the teenaged daughter, whose calm exterior hid a vicious side that had her bullying a fellow student, who ended up committing suicide.

While Robin knows that DA has a slim case, it makes more sense than anything she can muster together. When she presents her facts to a jury, things are not as effective as she might have liked, leaving little doubt about her client’s fate. However, the legal system is full of twists and should one of them tun in Mandy’s favour, Robin and her legal team will be there to pounce. Margolin weaves a wonderful web of deception, betrayal, and legal maneuvers in this piece that is sure to keep the reader flipping pages well into the night.

I can count on a strong piece of thriller work whenever Phillip Margolin is writing. The narrative foundation is always full of keen perspectives and provides the reader with something solid on which to rely as they make their way through any legal matter. The dialogue and short chapters push things along, leaving the reader eager to see where things are headed, as the story’s excitement increases with each new revelation.

Strong characters prove to the cornerstone to this piece. Not only is there a great development of the protagonist, but those around Robin Lockwood show great resolve and flavour the story effectively. There is some development here in Robin’s personal life, though it is not overshadowed by the legal matters. The numerous perspectives presented in this piece allow the reader to see things from a variety of angles and understand how the story emerges as one of Margolin’s best.

Any legal thriller worth its salt will have some great twists throughout story to keep the reader on their toes. Legal matters turn swiftly and Margolin knows how to insert these changes at the right time to ensure maximum impact. Margolin does well to leave the best for last, as the final reveal offers up a moment that few will see coming. though the attentive reader will have seen the clues laid out through the story’s climax. I cannot wait to see what Margolin and Robin Lockwood have on offer with the next instalment in this series.

Kudos, Mr. Margolin, for keeping things sharp and exciting.

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