In her typical fashion, Lisa Scottoline weaves a tale of family drama and the secrets and lies that come out to tear them apart. TJ Devlin is the black sheep in his family of lawyers, having just gotten out of jail and still struggling with his alcoholism. He's proud of being sober for almost two years, but his family is still suspicious of him. He got a job as an investigator for his family's law firm...a do nothing job his parents created for him. When his perfect older brother John admits to murdering a client, TJ did into the case to try and save him. Secrets then come out about his family that put them all in danger.
I love TJ's character and how he's trying so hard to change himself despite his horrible family putting him down. He's always been the outcast in the family and I just wanted to shake them all for the way he was treated. I loved all the twists and secrets and lies in this story, never knowing what would happen next. I highly recommend to anyone wanting a good thriller with a lot of family drama thrown in.
Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam through Netgalley for the advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are my own and given voluntarily.

Oh my gosh!!

Lisa Scotline knows how to do family drama!
This book had me hooked from the start.
It was fast paced, mysterious, and was not lacking in the family drama department.
I was so pleased when I finished!!!

Thank you so much for the ARC @netgalley

Where to begin…first of all this is not really much of a thriller and more of a legal procedural which I enjoy but the tend to lose my attention when we get way too much legal jargon!
I found myself really invested in the characters and their lives & journeys but found myself bored with the storylines outside of the characters personal lives and family dynamics. The book wasn’t bad but wasn’t great!! Thankful for the opportunity to read it!!

TJ Devlin, after rehab and prison, is the black sheep of the Devlin family. When his older brother confesses he may have murdered a client, TJ gets sucked into an investigation to prove his worth and save his brother.

A fun, thrill packed family drama. I do enjoy when thrillers meet family drama, and this one has the best of both. It’s very fast paced and rooting for a character with flaws. Although he has flaws, he’s learning and he also has a cat that he loves. I wasn’t as much into the business aspect of the story, but there was a lot of action

The Truth About the Devlins comes out 3/26.

A POWERHOUSE author and novel!

Please bring back T.J.! My vote for 'best character' of the year!

Lisa Scottoline dazzles with her latest highly impressive addictive suspense legal crime thriller, THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS—her best yet! The Devlins, a family of legal royalty, turn into a dysfunctional family of white-collar crime, murder, and mayhem. Top Books of 2024!

Brilliantly executed, THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS is a wild ride, so buckle up and get ready!

An emotional and powerful character-driven story of redemption. T.J., the bad sheep of the family, will be the one you will be rooting for to the explosive conclusion in this fast-paced legal/crime suspense/family drama with well-developed characters and enough action and suspense to keep you frantically turning the pages into the wee hours of the morning.

The Devlins live in a McMansion on six acres of perfect landscaping in Philly's exclusive Main Line, with fancy cars and everything money could buy. They are lawyers at the prominent Devlin and Devlin family law firm, a powerful family with deep connections. They make unpleasant things disappear, but how far will they go to protect their own?

John, the firstborn, is considered the most valuable Devlin. Greedy and competitive, he is an attorney at the family firm, waiting for his dad to retire so he can take over. John is married to Nancy, and they have one son, Connor.

Gabby is also an attorney; however, unlike her greedy older brother, she is out to save the world, representing the innocent worldwide. She works pro bono. She does much good and is currently involved in an essential, timely case. She is married to a doctor, Martin.

T.J. is the youngest black sheep of the family. (Loved him)! He is a recovering alcoholic and spent time in prison. (this is so sad). The dad controls him and gives him the investigator position at the family firm. He always seems to be a convenient scapegoat for the family. Can he finally get beyond his past to a future?

As the novel opens, the family is celebrating their Dad's birthday. John shocks T.J. by confessing he murdered someone. TJ is astounded the golden boy could be asking the bad boy for help. He, of course, does not want him to tell anyone. He is loyal and off to devote his time and energy to help him in this alleged crime.

What comes next is a complex, multi-layered web of secrets, lies, and coverups of white-collar crimes. However, when they go to the spot, John says the murder took place, and there is nobody.

Are there co-conspirators? What is going on?

TJ is tenacious and works diligently to find out what happened that night, but the plot thickens as John is not honest and throws TJ under the bus, making him look like he fell off the wagon of his family and lies, and TJ prides himself in being sober for the last 4 years. Is he trying to frame him?

John says there was an accounting embezzlement with one of his clients. However, the story goes deeper into a complex web of secrets, lies, and murder. Of course, John blackmails JT to keep quiet and not tell the parents.

In the novel, there are two different action storylines:

~John's case: The murder and case with John's client. T.J. continues to investigate even when his brother says to stop.

~Gabby's lawsuit case on behalf of former inmates related to illegal drug testing on inmates in multiple prisons that were coerced with payment, which later turned into terminal diseases and death. (based on a true story —more on that below).

T.J. is also helping his sister interview the victims for her case, which is heartbreaking. Some do not have long to live, and they are fighting the big Pharma companies and their coverup.

T.J. gets caught in the middle of John's misdeeds, must prove his innocence, and dig deeper to find out what is going on with his brother as he attempts to put the puzzle pieces together. John may not be as golden as his family thinks, putting them all in harm's way.

Will the Devlins be able to save their reputation? John hides much more than they know when all spirals out of control. Nothing will stop T.J. as he fights for his continued sobriety, his family, and the demons of his past on the road to redemption!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I have been a huge long-time fan of this gifted author; however, this is one of my favorites!

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS checks all the boxes for everything you want and expect from Lisa. It has all the thrills, action, and suspense of a first-rate legal crime thriller and all the compelling, gripping complexities of a riveting family drama. Fantastic character development and superb writing. I loved T.J. and Gabby and disliked John and the dad as they continued to put down T.J.

Scottoline is a pro at anything she writes, and I enjoyed her Author's notes immensely. From T.J.s recovery story, her research and her expertise in law and justice are apparent throughout as a former trial lawyer and adjunct law professor.

TRUE STORY: In addition, I enjoyed reading more about the true Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia and the horrifying events with the inmates at the prisons used as human subjects of medical experimentation from the early late fifties to the early seventies, the era before informed consent.

The Holmesburg Prison experiments conducted by Kligman raised many questions about the ethics of using prison inmates for medical research. There were issues of informed consent since the prisoners weren't made aware of what substances were being tested on them at the time. While the plaintiffs in the novel are fictional, the case they brought is founded on actual historical facts as described in the novel with these horrific medical experiments.

BRAVO to the author for creating such an admirable and compelling character in T.J. (a huge fan) and his tenacious battle. I am happy he found happiness and would LOVE to see him again in a future book! Get this gem on your list now—Scottoline fans will devour it.

A special thank you to Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putman's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review of this outstanding novel for my honest thoughts.

I have also ordered the audiobook narrated by Edoardo Ballerini (a favorite) and cannot wait to listen!

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: March 26, 2024
My Rating: 5 Stars +
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The family screw-up saves the day! I love that TJ really grew into his own in this book even though his family was intent on keeping him in the screw-up box. His brother, on the other hand, even though he had an addiction, was a total jackass, period. I was not sad to see him get into trouble!

Lisa Scottoline once again hits it out of the park - she is on my always-read list!

#TheTruthabouttheDevlins
#NetGalley

TJ Devlin is an investigator, an ex-con, and an alcoholic. He works for his family's law firm, and one night his brother comes to him with a confession - he thinks he killed a man. But when the two go back to check, no one is there. Soon TJ is investigating what happened to the man, embezzlement, conspiracies, and he's trying to keep his family alive before their time runs out.

Sadly, this was not my favorite Lisa Scottoline book, and I've read many of them! I have a hard time personally with books with no redeemable characters to root for. It seemed like everyone was bad news except for the cat, Mango, who I loved. I also didn't love how much of this book revolved around TJ's alcoholism.

I thought this one was just okay and probably wouldn't recommend it to a friend.

Devlin & Devlin is a family-run law office comprised of the Devlin family- all except TJ, the charming son in recovery from alcoholism who is working as the company investigator. When his brother, John, confesses to murdering a client, TJ is shocked, but throws himself into a dangerous investigation which puts his, and family's lives at risk.

This was a fun book! It was my second by this author and I enjoy her writing style. I thought TJ was a great character and I loved seeing him charming his way out of trouble while battling his addiction and horrible family. On the other hand, I hated John and rooted against him the whole book.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Truth About the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline is a crime/lawyer novel. I am always intimidated by Scottoline, without cause as her books are always relatable. This one in particular is about a family of lawyers, the Devlins, father, mother, son, daughter. The final son is a little bit of a reprobate, an alcoholic who made a mistake, but went to prison and has been sober since that day. His family, except for his sister, Gabby, who seemed to believe in him, were just waiting for him to screw up. His brother, John, had needed help and TJ helped. Then his brother threw him under the bus. But, it was far more complicated than it appeared and those complications make up the story this book has to tell. It was complicated, with many missteps on the parts of all of them, but they came out of it as a family, if there were now a few cracks.

This story kept me wondering. Sometimes it was hard to tell who the bad guys were. TJ was a good investigator but his parents had little faith in him until he was able to prove it all, naturally. That’s the thing about a mistake, they are always waiting for you to make another. The world had changed while TJ had been in prison, even thought it had only been a year. This is a book about family, about addiction, and about faith. Sottoline, as always has given us a book the reader can relate to despite the fact the subject matter is foreign to most of us. Excellent read! Hard to put down! Thanks, Lisa Scottoline.

I was invited to read The Truth About the Devlins by Penguin Group Putnam. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #PenguinGroupPutnam #LisaScottoline #TheTruthAboutTheDevlins

3.5 stars. Part thriller, part family drama, this is a fast-paced novel about the black sheep of a prestigious family of lawyers, who is recently out of prison and trying to stay sober. Family dramas are not as much to my tastes as thrillers are, so I enjoyed the latter aspect more, but if you love both, this might be a great book for you. I enjoyed reading it, especially about TJ grappling to maintain his sobriety, but it won't be a book that's very memorable for me.

In her new novel, “The Truth About the Devlins,” Lisa Scottoline returns to the worlds she knows well—the legal profession and family drama.
Devlin & Devlin is an elite law firm, helmed by parents Paul and Marie, and joined by children John and Gaby—all lawyers. The self-described “black sheep” of the family, TJ, is employed as an “investigator.” He did a few years in prison and is a recovering alcoholic, sober now for two years. When his older brother, John, lands in a serious heap of trouble, TJ loyally jumps in to help his brother. Along the way he uncovers secrets and cover-ups that shake the firm and the family to their united loyal core.
The criminal investigation is fast-paced, and ensures plenty of action as the reader follows John’s convoluted activities and a disturbing side plot involving a pharmaceutical company’s shenanigans.
TJ is a sympathetic protagonist, as he tells the story from his point of view, in a sometimes smart-alecky voice, that covers up his sadness and regret for past mistakes. The rest of the family members, their personalities and interactions, make this a fascinating study of family dynamics and the way parent and siblings can support or destroy each other in certain circumstances. So while the criminal investigation and courtroom drama are compelling and feel authentic, the real core and heart of this novel is the study of a family, with all its strengths and vulnerability.
Lisa Scottoline is a skilled storyteller and a master at writing about family—“because that’s what matters most to me,” she states in the author’s note. And that’s what matters most to me, also!
Grab this novel if you like an exciting crime/legal thriller, and love a family-centered drama.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

I love this author and will read anything that she writes. This story is another hit for her. A legal thriller, white collar crime, family drama story with twists and turns. The black sheep of the very successful family, the Devlins, TJ, is very likeable and one to root for. Love his family made job of investigator!

Lisa Scottoline does it again! Nothing better than this author and a Legal Thriller! I will read anything that the author writes!

The description / blurb describes this story very well. TJ, an recovering addict (alcohol), the screwup and main character of the book struggles to prove to this family that he is not addicted anymore and has changed. Once he takes on his trying to help his brother get out of trouble we find he is absolutely the best main character and easy to root for him during this story.

This is a great story line and trying to figure this out is great. Another 5star for me.

Absolutely love this will keep recommending this author. Read in one day!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

Thank you NetGalley and Ms.Scottoline for giving me the opportunity to review "The Truth about the Devlins." This book is a great recommendation for fans of Harlen Coben and John Grisham. It is what I would consider a fast and light read. For those who just want a pretty straight forward book,with some mystery this would be the book for them.

The blurb does a great job of describing the story line. TJ, the recovering alcoholic, the ex-con, the screw-up is the main character of the book. He struggles with being the least favorite child of a very successful family, his alcoholism, his lost chance at a family of his own, and low self esteem. But he's actually the best of the best.

This is a great thriller. Who's doing what and why? Who is working in the shadows? Who are the really scary people?

Loved the book and read it in one day.

Legal thrillers aren’t my usual genre. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read more than a few. However, after reading The Truth About the Devlins and enjoying it immensely, I’m eager to read more of Scottoline’s books. She’s a former lawyer herself who, in her own words, hews “as close to the law when there are legal situations in the novels.”

In this story about a family of lawyers and TJ (the narrator, the youngest sibling, the college dropout, and the recovering alcoholic), the plot revolves around the mysterious death of a corporate accountant and how TJ and his older brother John are caught up in the mystery, to the point that they’ve put themselves and their entire family in the criminals’ crosshairs. However, it’s also about addiction and the lengths those afflicted will go to chase the high, the selfish actions they take that put people at risk, and the toll it takes on their loved ones.

Daughter Gabby Devlin, who is dedicated to her pro bono work, elicits TJ’s help as the family firm’s investigator on an actual civil case involving men incarcerated in Holmesburg Prison between 1951 and 1974. Without informed consent, they were subjected to legal, but unethical medical experimentation led by Dr. Albert Kligman, a dermatology professor at UPenn, that left them with horrendous scarring and often fatal illnesses as well as PTSD. Although the men in the book are fictional, the horrors the actual former inmates faced and the lengths the complicit corporations (who benefitted from the experiments), doctors, and our military and CIA went to avoid any civil or criminal liability are as appalling as what the Nazis did to concentration camp prisoners. You can read more about this in the novel Acres of Skin by eyewitness Dr. Allen Hornblum who believes these experiments violated the Nuremberg Code.

The pacing of this story is perfect, keeping you on the edge of your seat while trying to figure out how all the puzzle pieces fit together. TJ’s narration is charming, vulnerable, and honest, and you can’t help but hurt for him while also cheering him on. Whether or not you’re a legal thriller fan, I highly recommend you read this story.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from G.P. Putnam's Sons through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PenguinGroupPutnam for the book #TheTruthAboutTheDevlins by #LisaScottoline. This book is about the Devlins and the secrets they all have. It contains murder, conspiracy, secrets and money that lead up to an explosive ending and how they pay for their crimes. I love it and read it in one sitting!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam GP Putnam Sons for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by an all-time favorite, Lisa Scottoline - 5 stars!

TJ is the black sheep of the Devlin family. His parents, brother and sister are all lawyers in the family firm, Devlin & Devlin, while he is an ex-con only working in the firm because he is family. Everything gets turned upside when his older brother, John, comes to TJ and tells him that he needs his help. John has accidentally murdered one of his clients that he had accused of embezzlement. TJ throws himself into the investigation to help John, but soon realizes that trouble runs very deep and he's in the middle of it.

Another fabulous thriller by Scottoline - I couldn't put this one down because I was so invested in TJ! I kept rooting for him to be okay, to stay sober, and to do the right thing. This is family drama at its best, with sibling and parent turmoil aplenty. I was also horrified by the medical experiments inflicted on inmates at the Holmesburg Prison. and loved Gabby's passion towards social injustice. This book addresses this issue, along with addiction issues, sensitively but truthfully. Highly recommended!

The Devlins - at least on the outside - have a perfect family. Lawyers by profession, except for TJ (the younger son) who got himself in a bit of trouble. But, he's working his way out - and working for his family's legal firm as an investigator. His brother, John, comes to him begging for his help - he believes he killed a man. Of course, since Lisa Scottoline's writing this book, nothing goes as planned and TJ is in deep - trying to save his sobriety, as well as his family. Ms. Scottoline is an absolute master of legal thrillers, Each one is very different, but they carry her characteristic sharp and smart narrative, as well as wonderful twists! The Truth About the Devlins will keep you up well past your bedtime. It's simply fantastic! Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for an advanced reader of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

The Devlin’s as a family infuriated me and the overall plot was a little slow, but a 3.5 rounded to 4 stars for TJ and how endearing he was as a character. I was rooting for him from the first second, and even as he made mistakes and let his heart lead him astray, he was so sweet, I had to see him through. I thought the rawness in his portrayal of his battle with alcoholism was really impressive and emotional and I kept thinking how positively this addiction is handled - a nice change for fiction that I’d definitely feel comfortable recommending to people struggling/recovering. There’s a lot of law speak (of course, it’s scottoline) and the police are mostly very unlikable - especially toward TJ who’s on parole. I don’t want to give spoilers, so I’ll just say that this book is good. A nice standalone with some unique plot points and interesting characters. I didn’t have a hard time following anything and I was pleased with the ending. I’d recommend whether you’re a longtime fan of Lisa Scottoline or not.