Name: The Cross
Series: Eddie Flynn #0.5
Author: Steve Cavanagh
Publisher: Headline
Format: Kindle
Genres: Adult, Legal Thriller, Crime, Contemporary, Suspense
Spice Rating: None
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
Cross-examination isn’t a war of words. It’s not a legal battle. It’s not about who shouts the hardest or loudest. Cross-examination is daylight robbery; you go in hard and fast, grab what you need, and get the hell out.
Eddie Flynn, ex con-artist-turned-defense attorney, has an impossible choice to make. His client, the widow of a man who died in a confrontation with a police officer, is seeking justice for her husband. The victim himself was accused of killing a man in a robbery gone wrong outside the St. Regis Hotel—his widow swears it’s not true, and the story’s not adding up to Flynn, either. But with his small and scrappy law firm on the brink of financial collapse, taking this to trial and losing could put them under for good.
As Flynn digs deeper into the case, a complex web of deceit and corruption begins to emerge with farther-reaching implications than he ever imagined. After a whirlwind twenty-four hours chasing leads all throughout New York City, it all comes down to the cross-examination: will he risk his life to expose the truth?
Review:
I’ll admit, I was missing my monthly dose of Eddie Flynn. That’s the downside with catching up or finishing a series – missing the characters! Luckily for me, I discovered that there was a prequel novella that I hadn’t yet read. The Cross, I thought was going to be the case that is referenced early on in the series as the one that changed Eddie’s stance on being a lawyer. It caused him to switch to only taking on a client if he knew they were innocent.
I was wrong – it wasn’t that case. But it did allow us to meet Jack! Jack was Eddie’s partner prior to ‘the case’ that changed everything. Though honestly, whilst reading The Cross I wondered how Jack didn’t jump ship sooner. Eddie and Jack take on a case that means they’re essentially taking on the NYPD. And the NYPD don’t particularly like it when their own are being investigated (even if it’s by the internal team).
I really liked the cast of The Cross, even if I missed the crew I’d come to love after having read 9 Eddie Flynn books already. But seeing Eddie without the cast of characters we’ve come to expect as of Two Kinds of Stranger felt like returning to early Eddie Flynn… which is exactly what we were doing by going back and reading the prequel – but the point is, it didn’t feel weird or wrong. Felt like visiting an old friend… if that old friend has a habit of putting himself in danger constantly.
Cavanagh may have written a story that is less than half the size of the main books, but it felt just as well put together as they did! If it was just a bit longer, it could have easily slipped into the main series and been a fully fledged member in its own right. It could have benefitted from being a bit longer – if for no reason than the way everything wrapped up felt a bit rushed. That being said, I was definitely put in the same mental headspace as some of the other Eddie Flynn books have done to me – even though I knew that obviously Eddie was going to make it out in one piece because this is a prequel novella to the main series… I was still nervous!
I am now officially caught up on Eddie Flynn – and I am very excited for book 10 that is due to release in 2026! For now, I suppose I’ll have to dive into some of Cavanagh’s other work and see if his Eddie Flynn series is a fluke or if I just love his style of thrillers!
Reading With Tyler 
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