A dark, riveting thriller set in the cracks between law and lawlessness.
Johni’s high-stakes series opener pits a veteran trial lawyer against a conspiracy that stretches from city streets to the military base, exposing a network of dirty cops and ruthless criminals. Just as attorney Nick Justin secures a multimillion-dollar verdict, tragedy strikes: his wife, Andrea, is nearly killed in a violent crash on the Gandy Bridge, the very place where his friend, Major Slovin, died days earlier in what now looks like more than coincidence. Nick doesn’t believe in coincidence. Neither did Slovin, who had spent months investigating a criminal smuggling operation. He didn’t live to deliver the evidence, but Andrea might have if she survives.
The novel opens with a bang (literally) and never lets up, guiding readers through a labyrinthine plot where personal tragedy and institutional corruption collide. Nick’s arc is driven by grief, rage, and a fierce, unrelenting loyalty that burns beneath his polished exterior. Around him, a cast of well-drawn characters, such as Addison, José, Sarah bring dimension and urgency, anchoring the conspiracy in deeply personal stakes.
Pulsing with relevance, the novel captures the slow, insidious creep of institutional corruption and the personal cost of exposing it. Johni’s background knowledge of legal procedure and law enforcement culture adds realism, but it’s the emotional stakes: love, grief, rage that keep the reader hooked. Nick Justin may be built for court, but out here, the rules are different.
A propulsive, sharply rendered conspiracy thriller that shows justice, when it comes, won’t be clean. Nor will it be quick.
Pub date June 6, 2025
ISBN 979-8998854729
Price $24.99 (USD) Hardcover, $14.99 Paperback, $0.00 Kindle edition
