The Cause of Action (Devlin)

“A compelling, realistic legal thriller.”
—Publishers Weekly (Editor’s Pick)

IT’S 1998: WELCOME TO Y2K HYSTERIA, AND A HISTORY-MAKING LEGAL CASE.

When a high-profile church leader gets arrested, his lawyer looks for help from an old friend: Connor J. Devlin, who’s reluctant to dip back into the criminal defense world. Especially in a case making headlines around the world—for all the wrong reasons.

Almost three decades into his career, with his own caseload already bursting at the seams, Devlin doesn’t want or need the spotlight, or the notoriety. Simultaneously, the onetime barely prepared law-school student has become the erstwhile teacher::Shelby Cannon, a thirtysomething Ivy League rising star, rents an office at Devlin & Associates to learn firsthand from the master how to take on—and beat—the goliaths: big government, big business, and big medicine.

As Devlin inexorably gets reeled back into the defense-lawyer game, unlikely clients emerge from his past—including one with disturbing news of a wrongful death. Everything hangs in the balance: As the entire world barrels toward Y2K and a potentially explosive conclusion to the century, so too does Devlin’s career.

PRAISE FOR The Cause of Action

“A convincing and exciting portrayal of high-stakes litigation. A realistic depiction… The Cause of Action narrative sets an impressive pace as the author builds a moody environment that reflects the era.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Landon J. Napoleon remains one of my favorite writers. With The Cause of Action, he is at the top of his game. A little bit Grisham, a little bit Pelecanos. Rich in crime and character. A wonderful and welcome return to the Devlin Series.”
—David S. Goyer, executive producer, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation

“If you have ever wondered what it is actually like to be a trial lawyer—from the time the client walks into the office, through the painstaking preparation and detailed strategizing, to the culminating anxiety of the live theater of a trial—then you must read The Cause of Action. Landon J. Napoleon is a masterful storyteller, and he weaves this story together with an impressive understanding of the highs and lows experienced by those who do battle in the courtroom in seeking justice for their clients. Devlin is the real deal.”
—Jeffrey Leon, past president, American College of Trial Lawyers

“Landon J. Napoleon’s Devlin Series has charted his goliath-challenging trial attorney's brushes with history in the 1970s (taking on corrupt nursing homes) and 1980s (facing Wall Street scams). This bracing third entry, set in the run-up to Y2K, finds Devlin older but still in the thick of it. In a stark departure from his usual civil cases, Devlin is asked to aid in the defense of a notorious client-Phoenix Bishop Patrick William Ryan, already accused of covering up sexual abuse in churches, now charged in a deadly hit and run. (A sign of the times: the bishop stars in a “local version of the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase.”) Devlin is reluctant, unsure of his feelings towards the Bishop, but few can lead a jury through dry technical information like Devlin, and his mantra—or, he sometimes thinks, his “curse”—is a belief in service.

While the central case is sensational, Napoleon again immerses readers in the everyday labor of lawyering, drawing a compelling, lived-in portrait [of] Devlin...

While court and investigative action is exciting, Napoleon emphasizes the “time and work, and the grind of both” that Devlin puts into his work... Readers who have a deep interest in criminal law will appreciate Napoleon’s demystifying of shoe-leather investigations, criminal proceedings, and deliberations... A compelling, realistic legal thriller of defending a notorious bishop."

—Publishers Weekly (Editor’s Pick)