"Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales" by Randy Singer

ISBN: 978-1-4143-7558-8
Softcover $13.99

About the book:  Landon Reed is an ex-quarterback convicted of organizing a points-shaving scheme. During his time in prison, he found forgiveness and faith and earned his law degree. Now he longs for an opportunity to prove his loyalty and worth. Be careful what you ask for.

Harry McNaughton is one of the founding partners of McNaughton & Clay—and the only lawyer willing to take a chance employing an ex-con-turned-lawyer. Though Landon initially questions Harry’s ethics and methods, it’s clear the crusty old lawyer has one of the most brilliant legal minds Landon has ever encountered. The two dive into preparing a defense for one of the highest-profile murder trials Virginia Beach has seen in decades when Harry is gunned down in what appears to be a random mugging. Then two more lawyers are killed when the firm’s private jet crashes. Authorities suspect someone has a vendetta against McNaughton & Clay, leaving Landon and the remaining partner as the final targets.

As Landon struggles to keep the firm together, he can’t help but wonder, is the plot related to a shady case from McNaughton & Clay’s past, or to the murder trial he’s neck-deep in now? And will he survive long enough to find out?


My thoughts:  Most of us have no idea how the legal system works or how attorneys navigate that system to get at the root of the cases they are either prosecuting or defending. Randy Singer knows and Randy Singer weaves a tale intriguing and fascinating to his reading audience. That is because first of all, Mr. Singer is a story weaver of the finest caliber and because he is a practicing attorney.  The icing on the cake is that Mr.Singer writes good, clean books that a Christian can read and enjoy. But they are not missing that exciting element of conquering evil and how the legal battle is fought.

The background of the story spans more than a decade of incidents that lay the foundation for the characters and their part in the story. So the reader must pay close attention to these events that lay out the past in order to understand the current story. The characters that flesh out the story are lawyers, the government, the CIA, a no-holds-barred security firm with far reaching tentacles, and a faithful spouse and sweet child.

Characters who can lie faultlessly, seemingly move mountains, or who can remain pristine in their above board behavior are the backbone of Lawyers Tell No Tales being navigated through the story by a master storyteller.

Mr. Singer's easy going style of straight forward wordsmithing reads easy but the depth of plot will keep the reader on his/her toes. I always look forward to a new read from the pen (computer) of Randy Singer and again can highly recommend his book.  Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales was a delight to read and I look forward to more from Mr. Singer.

About the author: Randy Singer is a critically acclaimed, award-winning author and veteran trial attorney. He has penned more than 10 legal thrillers and was recently a finalist with John Grisham and Michael Connelly for the inaugural Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction sponsored by the University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal. Randy runs his own law practice and has been named to Virginia Business magazine's select list of "Legal Elite" litigation attorneys. In addition to his law practice and writing, Randy serves as teaching pastor for Trinity Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He calls it his "Jekyll and Hyde thing"—part lawyer, part pastor. He also teaches classes in advocacy and civil litigation at Regent Law School and, through his church, is involved with ministry opportunities in India. He and his wife, Rhonda, live in Virginia Beach. They have two grown children. Visit his website at www.randysinger.net.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy of Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales from Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest review. No compensation was received and opinions expressed are solely my own.