BW23: Legal Thrillers by Brad Meltzer

The Tenth Justice

You know how they say a writer's first novel isn't always the best.  Whoever they are, aren't always right. I'm a huge fan of thrillers ones that get your heart pounding, fingernail nibbling, break out in cold sweats action type of stories.  From John Grishman to Lisa Scottoline to Jeffrey Deaver to Dan Brown (hush now) to Dean Koontz and all those in between.   A few years back I picked up Brad Meltzer's first novel The Tenth Justice and it totally blew me away.  I couldn't put it down. 

Synopsis:  Twenty-six-year-old Columbia Law grad Brad Meltzer makes a firecracker debut with a novel that will challenge your expectations of the legal thriller. With dialogue as true as it is sharp-witted, characters as likable as they are familiar, and a plot so addictive it will keep you reading into the night, The Tenth Justice is the one thriller you and your friends won’t be able to stop talking about this year—from an undeniably original writer you’ll be following for years to come.

Fresh from Yale Law, Ben Addison is a new clerk for one of the Supreme Court’s most respected justices. Along with his co-clerk, Lisa, Ben represents the best of the fledging legal community: sharp, perfectionistic, and painstakingly conscientious—but just as green. So when he inadvertently reveals the confidential outcome of an upcoming Court decision, and one of the parties to the case makes millions, Ben starts to sweat. Big time.

Ben confides in Lisa and turns to his D.C. housemates for help. They offer up their coveted insiders’ access—Nathan works at the State Department, Eric reports for a Washington daily, and Ober is an assistant to a leading senator—to help outsnake the blackmailer who holds Ben’s once-golden future hostage. But it’s not long before these inseparable pals discover how dangerous their misuse of power can be, even when accompanied by the very best of intentions. And when a suspicious leak develops from within their own circle, Ben and his friends find themselves pitted against each other in a battle of shifting alliances and fierce deceptions that strikes to the weaknesses in their friendships, threatens to ruin their careers—and ultimately may cost them their lives.

Which then lead me to The Millionaires

The Millionaires

It started as the perfect crime. Then it took a turn for the worse.

Charlie and Oliver Caruso are brothers who work at Greene & Greene, a private bank so exclusive you need two million dollars just to be a client. But when the door of success slams in their faces, they’re faced with an offer they can’t refuse: three million dollars in an abandoned account. No one knows it exists, and even better, it doesn’t belong to anyone.

It’s a foolproof crime. More importantly, for Charlie and Oliver, it’s a way out of debt and the key to a new life. All they have to do is take the money.

But when they do, they discover they’ve got a lot more on their hands than the prize. Before they can blink, a friend is dead—and the bank, the Secret Service, and a female private investigator are suddenly closing in. What invisible strings were attached to that account? How are they going to prove they’re innocent? And why is the Secret Service trying to kill them? Trapped in a breakneck race to stay alive, Charlie and Oliver are about to discover a secret that will test their trust and forever change their lives.

Which of course then lead to The Zero Game:

Zero Game

Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are playing a mysterious game. It’s a game almost no one knows about—not their friends, not their co-workers, and certainly not their bosses, who are some of the most powerful Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill.

It’s a game that has everything: risk, reward, mystery, and the thrill of knowing that—just by being invited to play—you’ve confirmed your status as a true power broker in Washington.

But as Matthew and Harris quickly discover, the Zero Game is hiding a secret so explosive, it will shake Washington to its core. And when one player turns up dead, a dedicated young staffer will find himself relying on a tough, idealistic seventeen-year-old Senate page to help keep him alive…as he plays the Zero Game to its heart-pounding end.

  So, if you love thrillers and books about law and lawyers and judges, be sure to check out Brad Meltzer. In addition to writing books (including nonfiction, children and comic books), he also hosts Lost History on H2 and Decoded on the History channel.

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History of the Medieval World

Chapter 26 - Invasion and Eruption pp 180 - 185 

Chapter 27 - The Americas pp 186 - 192 

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