Tag: Michael Cordell

Conviction by Michael Cordell

Publisher: TCK Publishing

Date of publication: November 14th, 2022

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Series: Thane Banning

Contempt—Book 1

Conviction—Book 2

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound

Goodreads Synopsis:

THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL TO THE AMAZON BESTSELLER, CONTEMPT

He orchestrated a murder. Now he must defend the man charged with the crime.

Thane Banning is ready for a fresh start. He survived 5 years in Forsman Prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and now he’s started a law firm to defend the innocent. But the past won’t stay buried for long.

Kilo Miller, a violent felon who tried to kill Thane in prison, is charged with Joseph Crowell’s murder, and Thane agrees to take the case. Thane knows for certain that Kilo didn’t kill Crowell—because Thane knows who did. It’s a secret he must protect in order to keep his family safe, but LAPD’s top detective is getting closer to the truth.

When strong evidence surfaces implicating Kilo in the murder, Thane discovers that conspiracy runs deep in L.A.’s court system. But proving Kilo’s innocence could reveal Thane’s own dark history and send him back to death row.

With help from his colleagues Gideon and Kristen, Thane must uncover who is framing Kilo and targeting his associates before he loses the case—and even his freedom. His conviction to represent the innocent forces him to face the ultimate test:

Is he willing to let an innocent man go to prison to avoid his own life sentence?

First Line:

When the shiv plunged into his side, Thane didn’t even realize he’d been stabbed.

Conviction by Michael Cordell

When I read the blurb for Conviction, I was intrigued. While I read many books (and stress a lot), I rarely read legal thrillers. So, I accepted the invitation, and I am glad I did. This book is an important book to read.

Conviction is the second book in the Thane Banning series. Unlike most other books in other series, readers can read this one as a standalone. The author briefly explained what happened in book one and brought up other characters/events. But the book primarily focused the what Thane, Kristin, and Gideon were doing for their current clients.

The plot of Conviction was intriguing. Thane Banning is a lawyer who had spent five years on death row, convicted of a murder he didn’t do. After being released, he started a law firm to defend people falsely accused of crimes. Almost simultaneously, two cases come across his desk. One case involves Gideon’s nephew. Arrested after delivering a package to a house for a friend, Gus is held in prison. But a dirty cop threatens to send him to jail for a long time if he doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear. The other case involves the inmate who tried to kill Thane. He had been arrested for the murder of Thane’s mentor. Thane knows that he is innocent. Why? Because Thane knows who killed his mentor. As the lawyers work with their clients, they realize that the corruption of the police and DA’s office runs much deeper than they initially thought. Can they prove the innocence of their clients? Or will their clients go to jail on false charges?

Conviction takes place entirely in Los Angeles. The author didn’t bring Hollywood or the actors up. Instead, he focused on the everyday people that live there-the good, the bad, and the morally gray people. I enjoyed it.

The author amazingly wrote the main characters in Conviction. There was depth to them that I wasn’t expecting. And the secondary characters added an extra oomph to the storyline.

  • Thane: I enjoyed his character. He was as morally gray as a character could get. He understood what it was like inside prison. He also emphasized with the family members whose loved ones were falsely accused. I also liked his investigation style. It was a little unorthodox but never crossed the line where the evidence would be inadmissible in court.
  • Gideon: I enjoyed his scenes. I don’t know why he was in prison or how he got out (it was probably explained in book 1), but I do know, from what I read, that it was justified. Gideon had no issue using his size to intimidate people into giving him information (thinking of his nephew’s friends).
  • Kristin: I wouldn’t say I liked her character as much as the other two. She was almost too abrasive in some scenes and weak in others. She did hit her stride, though, during Kilo’s trial. Her takedown of that detective was muah (chef’s kiss).
  • Gus: I was enraged for him. He was done dirty by his friends (mostly Jamie but also Andre, to an extent). I couldn’t believe what I was reading when he was arrested and held in jail. He wasn’t even allowed a phone call, which ticked me off. And then to listen to the detective say what he did. My blood boiled. I know this is a reality of POC daily, and it sickens me.
  • Kilo: OK, so when Kilo was introduced, and Thane agreed to take his case, I had the same reaction as everyone else in the office. Why? But only some things are what it seems with Kilo, and I was surprised at what was revealed., and I was surprised at what was revealed. I loved how dedicated his wife was to him. I was rooting for him to be found not guilty.

The secondary characters, as I mentioned, were just as well-written as the main ones. I did have my favorites. I loved the saucy (and snarky) Letitia. She had me nodding my head during her scenes. So much of what she said is true. Cricket was my other favorite. She was a ten-year-old hacker Thane was representing for free and was terrific. She stole the scenes every time she appeared. I loved that she was repentant for what she did and told Thane that she would keep doing it. I hope she is made more of a main character in upcoming books.

Conviction fits very well into the thriller genre. I was kept on edge the entire time and didn’t know what would happen from one chapter to the next. That is the way someone should write a legal thriller. There was a point where I thought Kilo wouldn’t get off. I couldn’t put the book down because I wanted to know what would happen.

The author amazingly wrote the main storyline. It was a twisty, turny storyline that (along with the thriller angle) kept me glued to the book. I had doubts that Thane could keep himself from being implicated in his mentor’s death, and the author did nothing to dissuade me from thinking about that.

The secondary storylines were just as good as the main one. They added additional information and background on several secondary characters and the main ones.

The end of Conviction was a nail-biter. As stated above, I worried for Kilo and Gus. But, after a major twist (I saw it coming and relished it), the author had an ending that I enjoyed and loved. I cannot wait to read book three when it comes out.

Three things I like about Conviction:

  • The characters (primary and secondary). They were believable and well-fleshed out.
  • The social justice issues that the author addressed.
  • The storylines. They were all well-written.

Three things I disliked about Conviction:

  • Detective Malone. He was as slimy as they come, and I hope he gets what is coming.
  • Stick (Andre’s brother). He was an evil man, and I hope he gets what is coming.
  • The ex-DA. He kept showing up on Thane’s runs. It gave me stalky vibes.

I would recommend Conviction to anyone over 21. There is moderate violence, language, and sexual situations. There is also a scene where Kristin is physically assaulted in her apartment.

Our Trespasses: A Paranormal Thriller by Michael Cordell

Book Cover

Publisher: TCK Publishing

Date of publication: October 15th, 2021

Genre: Paranormal, Thriller

Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N

Goodreads Synopsis:

Deliver us from evil…

Drowning in a meaningless existence flipping burger, Matthew Davis suddenly collapses from a powerful psychic connection he shares with his twin brother, Jake. The pain is violent and immediate, and Matt knows exactly what it means… hundreds of miles away, Jake has been viciously killed. But instead of severing their connection, the murder intensifies it and Matt begins to suffer the agony of Jake’s afterlife.

Hell-bent on solving Jake’s murder in order to break the connection, Matt travels to his troubled hometown of Hatchett, Nebraska, where an old lover and savage new enemies expose the festering wounds that Jake left behind.

Matt tries atoning for Jake’s sins, but when a demon infests the connection between the two brothers, Matt must find a way to sever their bond before his world, and ours, become engulfed in the flames of hell.

Fans of Stephen King’s The Outsider, Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians, and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist will find this new paranormal thriller impossible to put down.

First Line

Ruth stood at her ironing board, working her way through a pile of clothes in the bottomless laundry basket at her feet, mindlessly sweeping the iron back and forth across a blue denim work shirt, breaking her rythmn only to fire shots of steam at particularly stubborn wrinkles.

our trespasses: a paranormal thriller by michael cordell

When I read the blurb for Our Trespasses, I knew that I wanted no needed to read this book. Being in a read/blogging slump, I wanted a book that could pull me out of it. I couldn’t put it down!!!

Our Trespasses was that book.

Our Trespasses is the story of Matthew. Matthew had left his small town in Nebraska for college in New York City. In the ten years since he left, Matthew is barely surviving and working dead-end jobs. He doesn’t visit and barely talks to his mother and brother, Jake, with whom he shares a psychic link. One night, Matthew’s psychic connection with his brother flares up, and he knows without a doubt that Jake is dead. Going back home, Matthew realizes two things. Jake was not the person he knew ten years ago and their psychic bond is as strong as it was when Jake was alive. Matthew realizes that he needs to beg forgiveness from everyone that Jake hurt, but that is easier said than done. He also needs to solve Jake’s murder. Because, before his death, Jake had made some powerful enemies, and they will do anything to keep Matthew from finding out the truth.

Our Trespasses did start on the slow side, but I didn’t mind it. The author chose to lay the groundwork for the entire book in those chapters. Once the author took care of that, then the book took off. The chapters flew by, and I couldn’t put it down.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about Matthew when the book started. He was living a blah life and seemed so depressed. He didn’t have any strong emotions when Jake died, which struck me as weird as the time (explained further in the book). But once he went home to Nebraska, Matthew came into his own. He was willing to do whatever it took to find Jake’s murderer and right the wrongs that Jake did. He wanted to make things right with his mother and Casey (the girl he left behind). By the end of the book, he ended up being one of my favorite characters.

The paranormal angle of the book was very well written, and I liked that the author took the twin bond and stepped it up a notch. What I enjoyed about that angle is that the author eased into it. First, it was the psychic twin bond, and then it ramped up from there. The scenes toward the end of the book (with the sheriff, Bone, Matthew, and Casey) were some of the creepiest that I have ever read. I still get chills thinking about it.

I liked that the author didn’t make excuses for Jake. He wasn’t a good man, and he did some pretty horrible things when he was alive. I wouldn’t say I liked that Jake’s descent into the criminal lifestyle was blamed on Matthew’s leaving. I got so angry when Ruth said that (of course, it was before I figured out what was going on). Jake was a big boy and made his choices.

There were several memorable characters in Our Trespasses. Andrew, the Catholic priest, stood out the most to me. Mainly because of what he confessed to Matthew after the funeral. I sat there and thought to myself, “WTF,” and then laughed about it. Talking about living the dream…lol.

There are a couple of twists in the plot. One I saw coming from the scene when Matthew met those two people. I had alarm bells going off in my head, which in turn ended up being true. The other twist did take me by surprise. I didn’t see it coming (but I should have, looking back on it).

The end of Our Trespasses was a bit of a surprise (see above), but I enjoyed it. The author was able to wrap all the plotlines up in a way that satisfied me.