I will never get tired of the Eddie Flynn series. I truly feel no one writes legal/crime thrillers like Cavanagh. The twists and turns are always so well plotted and he creates the perfect level of suspense with every high stakes story. He's an autobuy author for me by this point. Also, I'm a Bloch Stan. I love her. Hated Korn so much, and he was a textbook example of how evil disgusting people can find their way into positions of power. This was a heavier read at time. So, there is a wide range of emotions felt with this book. I'm

In a small Alabama county, a sadistic District Attorney named Randal Korn has built a terrifying reputation. That every single one of his murder cases ends in a death sentence. His latest target is Andy Dubois, a young man accused of brutally murdering his co-worker, Skylar Edwards. Despite questionable witnesses and a likely coerced confession, Korn seems determined to send Andy to death row. But when defense attorney Eddie Flynn and his loyal team arrive in town, they’re met with hostility and a legal battle that feels impossible to win. As they dig deeper, the evidence against Andy starts to look suspiciously convenient, but in a town where everyone believes Andy is guilty, can Eddie secure a fair trial?

I wanted more courtroom scenes and more of Eddie’s clever legal maneuvers, but the story still delivered plenty of tension and drama. This book has heavy themes like the death penalty, corruption, and white supremacy. It’s chilling to see how easily innocent people can be railroaded into prison or even execution.

Thank you to Steve Cavanagh, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a bit more difficult to get into but nonetheless I still enjoyed it a lot! I love Steve Cavanagh's writing style!

Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn series is quickly becoming my favorite crime/legal series. I rank Eddie Flynn as high as Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent, which is the highest praise I can give. The Devil’s Advocate introduces one of Cavanagh’s most diabolical villains - Randal Korn, the King of Death Row. Eddie is called in to defend a young man accused of murder. The entire town believes he is guilty, but Eddie and his team are convinced he is innocent. Set against the racist backdrop of the deep South, Eddie works to save the young man from execution. It may be my favorite book of the series. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy!

The Devil’s Advocate is a fast-paced legal thriller that offers all the twisty suspense fans love from the Eddie Flynn series, with a deeper, darker edge this time.

In this installment, former con artist turned defense lawyer Eddie Flynn heads to Alabama to defend a young Black man accused of killing a white girl. The district attorney, Randal Korn, known as “The Devil,” has a notorious reputation for securing the highest death penalty conviction rates and sending many to death row. Korn is skilled at manipulation, exploiting the justice system to serve his own interests through coercion, lies, and intimidation. As Eddie Flynn uncovers the truth behind the case, it becomes a struggle not only for justice but also for discovering the real story amidst evil.

Cavanagh excels at pacing, maintaining razor-sharp tension from start to finish. The courtroom scenes crackle with intensity, and Eddie’s morally driven crusade is both compelling and timely, reflecting real-world discussions around wrongful convictions and systemic racism. His dedicated legal team, which includes attorney Kate Brooks, retired judge Henry Ford, and investigator Bloch, adds emotional depth and legal expertise to the story. Meanwhile, DA Korn, the villainous prosecutor, remains chillingly unforgettable.

Although the plot occasionally pushes believability, it never loses its energy. I finished this book in less than 24 hours, juggling work and other commitments. It's a high-stakes chess game with real lives at risk—an engaging, provocative fight for justice that’s both entertaining and thought-provoking. If you enjoy clever, fast-paced, fearless thrillers, this book is perfect for you! It is part of a series but also works well as a standalone read.

Be sure to preorder your copy; it's set to release on August 5th!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for my eARC!
Posted initially on BookshelfbyTori on Instagram!

The Devil's Advocate by Steve Cavanagh, a harder read than most by him, as it delves more into politics than usual. Still a good read but I felt there was some possible bias showing thru.

👿 T H R E A T E N I N G T H U R S D A Y review 👿 featuring “The Devil’s Advocate” by Steve Cavanagh!

District Attorney Randal Korn is known to be ruthless and shameless, and has a sick obsession with securing the death penalty in every case that he is given. He enjoys seeing prisoners suffer … even if they aren’t guilty of their charge. He makes sure of it.

Eddie Flynn and his team show up in Buckstown, Alabama to defend a young man who has been unjustly accused of murdering a young woman. His life hangs by a thread as the days count down to his execution. Eddie must race against time to secure an innocent verdict for his client … but forces so evil and corrupt are getting in his way and putting all parties involved in grave danger!

💭 Even though I have been reading the Eddie Flynn series completely out of order (by accident), I have had no problems and find that each book can totally be read as a standalone! Steve Cavanagh sure knows how to write a highly addictive legal thriller that is deliciously dark and devious, as well as calculated, evil, menacing and corrupt to its core!

Thank you kindly to @sscav @atriabooks @simonschusterca @netgalley for my digital copy of this re-release from 2021 in exchange for my honest review! Grab your copy on August 5, 2025!

The Devil’s Advocate is a multi POV legal thriller that centers around Eddie Flynn. Flynn is a conman-turned-lawyer who is brought in to represent an innocent man in a death penalty case in Alabama. His client is being railroaded by a corrupt system, with so much going on behind the scenes that even Flynn’s legal expertise might not be enough!

This one took a bit for me to get into but I ended up enjoying it a lot! This is the sixth Eddie Flynn book and I’m definitely considering going back to read the rest. Plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and guessing!


Read dates: 07/08/2025 - 07/09/2025
Goodreads review: 07/09/2025
Instagram review: 07/10/2025
Blog review: 08/05/2025

Incredible book!!

Small town drama. Hatred. Racism. Corrupt law enforcement. This book had it all!

Sadly, the storyline was extremely believable in today's society in small town, southern America.

Eddie Flynn saw through so many people's bs and fought hard for freedom for a wrongly accused black kid. This book was non stop and so, so good!

Thank you, Atria Books, for providing a copy of The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh. I was late to Eddie Flynn books, because I didn’t love the first one I read. I’m glad I got this one though. I loved the perfect mix of action-packed investigation and explosive court scenes. The characters were well-written, and even though there were so many it was easy to remember who they were. Randal Korn was a diabolical antagonist and he haunted me for the whole book. Even scarier was the reason Andy was being prosecuted. If you’re looking for an exciting read that’s impossible to put down, this is it! 5 stars

The sixth book in Steve Cavanagh’s Eddie Flynn Series has our conman-turned-lawyer traveling out of state to represent a young black man Andy Dubois, accused of brutally murdering a young woman Skylar Edwards in Buckstown, Alabama, where corruption runs deep in the small town as does racism. With the intelligent plots, the nerve wrecking suspense and the intense courtroom drama, my favorite gritty detective, Eddie Flynn, delivers another stunning performance with the requisite sharp and witty banter that I just love. Reading about racism and white supremacy and their psyche hurts my brain. They are filth like no other and this story did an incredible job at highlighting the danger that is racism when its supported by media, law enforcement and your ordinary folk. It becomes a plague. On the flip side, it emphasized their stupidity, their pathetic and weak mindset. They’re fueled by hate, never by intelligence or facts. The whole thing is manipulative. Steve Cavanagh knows how to write a compelling story and I enjoyed it.
I rated this installment with four stars. Overall I did enjoy this novel – it is fast-paced, thrilling and suspenseful- but not as much as the previous installments. I am a fan of this series and do look forward to reading more from Steve Cavanagh in the future.
DO READ the author’s note at the end of the book which talks about “The Fair Punishment Project” and America’s top Five deadliest prosecutors and the personalities that drive the death penalty.

Any time I see a book by Steve Cavanagh, it is an automatic read for me. It is very rare to find an author I know will captivate me from the first page until the very last. This book is every bit of page turner I have come to expect from a book staring Eddie Flynn. This book us set in the hot and humid climate of Alabama, and I was in the edge of my seat reading what mess Eddie would find himself in and how he would masterfully work his way out.

He did it again! Wrote a book that I binged and had me experiencing all the emotions. I was hooked from page one.

This book centers around a sadistic, death penalty happy, D.A. Korn and a town that has already determined the fate of an innocent man, Andy. Eddie Flynn and his team have seven days to prove Andy is innocent. The odds are severely stacked against them in a community that has made them know, in no uncertain terms, they are not welcome.

In a town where money exchanges hands faster than you can go through a Chick-fil-A drive through, how can you prove a man is innocent? You'll have to read the book to see if that happens, but be warned once you start reading you will not be able to put this one down. Murders start stacking up and you'll wanna see what happens next.

Chapters 28 and 29 highly upset me so be prepared if you're a fan of the series, but kudos for mentioning another favorite author's series in the book! This book will be released August 5, 2025 and I highly recommend reading this one!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

What an eye opening read about death sentence, especially the Author’s Note regarding real life events! I was thoroughly entertained with how realistic Eddie’s thought process and ways of working are. Very well written!

The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh is one of the most compelling and emotionally charged legal thrillers I’ve read in this series so far. From the anxiety-inducing prologue to the final pages, this book gripped me not just with suspense, but with anger. This book takes readers deep into a small Southern town where corruption, racism, and injustice are deeply embedded into the legal system.

As someone who did their senior project on capital punishment, this story hit especially hard. The exploration of wrongful convictions, systemic racism, and the abuse of power in the justice system felt all too real. Korn, the district attorney, is one of the most vile and disturbing characters I’ve encountered in a legal thriller. The way he manipulates the law for his own gain, at the expense of human life, made my blood boil.

Cavanagh didn’t just tell a story here… he pushed me to reflect, question, and feel. It wasn’t just entertaining, it was thought-provoking. This is a book that should make readers uncomfortable. And that’s exactly the point. It shines a light on the very real, very ugly truths of the justice system. Highly recommended for fans of legal thrillers with substance and edge.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book for review consideration and am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.

In this tense legal thriller, defense attorney Eddie Flynn heads to Alabama to take on a deeply troubling case. A young Black man, Andy Dubois, is on death row for the murder of a white girl, and Eddie believes he’s innocent. But the town is steeped in corruption, and Eddie finds himself facing a prosecutor who’ll do anything to secure a conviction, even if it means burying the truth.

I was so happy to be with my buddy Eddie Flynn once again, but that happiness didn’t last long because this was no feel-good tale. It’s not supposed to be, but wow, this one buried me in its darkness. Along with the gut-wrenching injustices, there are horrific murders and an absolutely vile district attorney named Randal Korn, who I hated so much I could practically smell his disgusting scent coming off the pages.

Thankfully, Eddie doesn’t face this nightmare alone. He’s joined by his rag-tag gang that we’ve come to know and love over the past five books, and I was genuinely glad to see them working together on this one. These characters feel like my good friends at this point, not just because of how familiar they are, but because of what they stand for.

Cavanagh’s skill with this series just keeps climbing. Every time I crack the spine of a new Eddie Flynn novel, I say there’s no way it can top the last one. And then it does. I almost rated this one four stars because of how deeply uncomfortable the subject matter made me, but that’s exactly why it earned all five. I felt the emotions vividly and viscerally. When the character work is this good, the plot this tight, and the feelings this intense, there’s no question about it. Five uncomfortable yet absolutely deserving stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I couldn't put "The Devil's Advocate" down—Cavanagh literally handcuffed me to the narrative and threw away the key. Each page pulsed with an urgency that transformed my innocent "one more chapter" into a midnight reading marathon.

Eddie Flynn and his crew—Kate, Harry, and Block—became my literary companions through this legal labyrinth. Their chemistry crackled with such authenticity that I found myself mentally joining their strategy sessions. When every conceivable card was stacked against them, watching this dream team find daylight through impossibly narrow legal cracks gave me a satisfaction that bordered on physical relief.

The villain chilled me to my core—malevolence distilled to its purest form. Cavanagh crafted evil with such precision that the tension coiled inside me like a spring, tightening with each revelation.

What elevated this installment above its predecessors for me was how seamlessly it wove courtroom drama with psychological suspense. The legal maneuvers felt authentic without drowning in procedure, while the thriller elements raced with perfect pacing.

The themes—corruption, prejudice, power—echoed uncomfortably with today's headlines, giving weight to what could have been merely entertaining fiction. This wasn't just escapism; it held a mirror at an angle that revealed ugly truths about systems we're meant to trust.

For anyone seeking that perfect sweet spot where legal expertise meets heart-pounding suspense, Eddie Flynn's latest battle delivered with the impact of a closing argument I'll never forget.

Special thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing the advance copy, though all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I fear I’m on a courtroom thriller kick!! eddie flynn does it again - solving the unsolvable cases and being a complete bad ass while he does it!

but arguably, the best characters are kate and bloch, two kickass women lawyers and investigators who know how to get it done better than the men!!! we love to see women dominating in predominantly male fields!!!

this case was a clear hate crime to everyone except for the racist town that it was taking place in - and while it was so bingeable and addicting to find out whodunnit, it was a lot to read for a popcorn thriller 🫣 I absolutely love the remarks on society today and the ability to set prejudice aside, but as a courtroom thriller, it could have done a bit more to focus on the racial aspects rather than throwing the blame on a white supremacist group instead of discovering the town’s heart of racial tendencies…

that being said, I did enjoy the high stakes, fast paced book - and I’m looking forward to reading more in the eddie flynn series!

thank you to atria books for the advanced copy! steve cavanaugh knows to write spooky stories!!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: walla walla valley pinot noir

The best courtroom drama that I have read this year! Steve Cavanagh’s The Devil’s Advocate is packed with punches plus lots of crime and evil. Breathtaking at times, this was a fantastic story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Devil’s Advocate 👨🏻‍⚖️

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Legal Thriller
Pub Date: August 5, 2025

Eddie Flynn is back again, this time with a death row case bringing him down to Alabama. He and his team have been brought down to prove the innocence of Andy Dubois. The local DA holds a record for the most death town convictions and kills in the US, and he plans to keep this going. Whether the defendant is guilty or not.

Steven Cavanagh just doesn’t disappoint. I can always rely on him to provide a solid and satisfying story that I know will give me a nicely wrapped up finale. While this wasn’t my favorite Eddie Flynn book, I still enjoyed it, especially all the characters that make up his legal team. This one had a good mix of both being in the court room, as well as out on the pavement trying to find proof of his clients innocence.

I did feel like this was a little too long. While the ending really satisfied me and surprised me, I just think it could have been tightened up to keep a better pace going. As always, the Eddie Flynn series truly can be read as standalone book. I certainly haven’t read them in order and it hasn’t affected my enjoyment one bit!