#legal thrillers

[irelandindc]

This show is good!!

[zippocreed501]

AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

'The purpose of narrative is to present us with complexity and ambiguity.'

'I tend to start with a kernel, a vague concept, and just begin to write things down – notes about a character, lines of dialogue, descriptive passages about a place. One idea fires another. I do that for about a year. By then there’s a story, and I’ll go on to a complete first draft that sews many of those ragtag pieces together.'

'All my novels are about the ambiguities that lie beneath the sharp edges of the law.'

'I adore the company of other writers because they are so often lively minds and, frequently, blazingly funny. And of course, we get each other in a unique way.'

'The truth of the matter is that the people who succeed in the arts most often are the people who get up again after getting knocked down. Persistence is critical.'

Author Extraordinaire Scott Turow

[snidhy]

I just have to express my love for the Eddie Flynn series. I started with The Devil’s Advocate and thoroughly enjoyed the courtroom drama and fell in love with the legal team (Harry, Kate, Bloch, and Eddie of course). Eddie is honestly one of the coolest characters ever. He’s haunted by his past so does everything he can to ensure that he helps people even if it means sacrificing his own happiness. And him being a con artist is the cherry on top for me. I loved the Devil’s Advocate so much that I started reading the series from the beginning. So far I’ve read The Defense, The Plea, and The Liar. And none have disappointed. I definitely recommend this series and am constantly surprised as how small the fanbase is. So people, READ IT READ IT READ IT. (I apologize, I just finished The Liar)

[kpgresham]

THE NAME OF THE ROSE IS—wait, how do you pronounce that?

BY HELEN CURRIE FOSTER April 1! It’s spring, with a riot of bluebonnets this year. Plus paintbrush! Winecup! Verbena! Prairie celestials (so lovely)! And within the fence, safe from our marauding burros, the roses are opening their petals and sharing their beauty.  Humans have been growing and hybridizing roses for millenia. I favor those with deep rose fragrance. This year the sniff prize…

[chaoticlad]

*throws this at you as I try to run away but I trip on an ant and break my spine*

[pharawee]

The Laws of Attraction Teaser finally dropped and it's so so good!

[cljordan-imperium]

14

Chapter 13

“You know we might want to get in there pretty soon, kitten.”  Kase’s voice sounded a little hoarse to his own ears before he chuckled.  He had a pretty good idea that was partly because of the thoughts and emotions he was having at the moment, the ones that had led him to a spur of the moment decision he was hoping she wouldn’t make him regret anytime in the near future.  As much as he wanted to stay in the garage and keep kissing her, or talking about what this meant for the two of them, he knew that they were being waited on.  It was better to end the moment now, than have his partner, or Spencer, interrupting.  Not to mention that there was an eye in a cooler down next to his leg.

“Not that I want to let you go.” He added, one side of his mouth lifting.  Why did his timing have to suck for shit like this?  He could have waited till he took her back to her car after the examination of the eye.  But, as Kase knew all too well, some moments never happen again and he wasn’t wanting to chance this being one of them.

As Serena nodded, she couldn’t take her eyes off of his sparkling crystalline blue ones.  As she felt drawn into him, she wondered if he realized how open his emotions were in that moment.  It was like his feelings were flowing through his expression.  She didn’t regret even a second of what happened, but they both knew that it was going to complicate things for them.  At the moment, she was not really caring about that, but they would have to talk about it eventually.  Now, however, was not the time.

“I don’t want you to either, but I think you’re right.”  Finally Serena answered, her voice soft as the butterflies in her stomach took flight again.  “There’ll be time later, Karsten.  All the time we want.”  That both excited her and scared her.  How did she end up in this situation again?  Abandoned by Rob, only to now be torn between Keegan and Karsten.

Giving him one last, quick and soft kiss, her hands slid down his back as she pulled away.  She was dreading going into the morgue, and dealing with things; but it could only be put off for so long. The faster she got to work with the examination of the eye, the faster that they would be done and able to focus on other things. Now it was time to get to work.

“Look alive!  Boss lady and your partner incoming!”  Spencer called out with a laugh as he spun his chair away from the monitor, then stood to start to get everything organized for the examination of the eye.  Things would have to be done with meticulous attention to detail and documentation. Everything would have to be recorded via video, audio, and written records, backups of backups made. No detail of the exam would be too small to be recorded in the record.  For the next few days, Spencer and Serena would be a team working in tandem to accomplish only one goal: to ascertain as much information from that one small eye as they could.  Technically there had been no breach in protocol, and as long as no one ever looked at that security tape, there would be no questions regarding the chain of custody and transportation of the eye.  Even then, the eye was never really out of sight or reach of the ME and the lead detective, even if they were paying absolutely no attention to it for a few minutes.  Spencer was certainly not going to be the one to make mention of it.  Sometimes you just knew to employ discretion.

“I will avoid embarrassing your boss, but I’m going to bust Kase’s balls over that one.”  Declan pointed at the screen where he could see Kase and Rena heading in.  There was no way he could pass that up.

“Just don’t cause a fight in the morgue and I honestly don’t give a shit.  He needs to have them busted for taking so long.”  Spencer chuckled then grew serious.  “Time to look like we’ve been doing something other than standing and watching what they were doing.”  He gave a brief chuckle then hit the button that started the video and audio recording in the room for evidentiary purposes, “beginning recording of examination of the human eye and attached partial ocular nerve that was delivered to the offices of the Cook County Assistant District Attorney Colin Masterson’s office….”  Spencer went on to record all the pertinent case information and details as he laid out the surgical instruments that Serena would need to perform the post mortem on the eye.  There was a great deal of procedural information that had to be recorded in just the right order and with just the right verbiage that Spencer could almost do it from memory except for the parts that changed.

When he heard the click of Serena unlocking the door to her private suite where the eye autopsy was to take place, he made a note of the time to the second, and paused the recording so that any chit chat wasn’t about to become public record. 

support banner - @cafekitsune

[bendingthelaws]

12

The last time we saw Karsten & Serena

The drive to the morgue is over, now what...

There was a slightly awkward silence for the last few blocks to the morgue.  Karsten was kicking himself for being too forward, or at least he felt he had been.  He knew she had been hanging out with Keegan at Kelleher’s, and he couldn’t pretend he didn’t know how his friend felt about the woman.  Keegan knew how he felt too, and it hadn’t stopped him from trying to have a relationship with her.  Regardless, Karsten wasn’t about to say or do anything more that would make her uncomfortable. Finally they pulled into the underground parking at the morgue.  Parking between two of the removal vans, he turned the engine off.  “Hold on, I’ll come around and help you out with that.”  He gave Serena a smile before unlocking the truck and hopping out of his side.  As if the morning hadn’t started bad enough, he’d just made it suck more and be uncomfortable at the same time.  Way to go Karsten!

Opening her door, he offered to take the cooler again.  “Here, we’ll do it reverse.  What do you say?”

The look in Karsten’s eyes when he’d said he wouldn’t hurt her had stopped Serena’s heart.  He meant it, but not just as a friend.  Not that she’d been oblivious to how he’d felt before, but it had been so clear that she couldn’t ignore it.  Just like she couldn’t ignore how Keegan felt either.   She was so messed up in the head and heart, there was a part of her that wanted both of them.

The silence had killed her those last few blocks, so when they pulled in, she’d been relieved that it would be over.  She just hadn’t known what to say, and she was sure that Karsten probably thought that she was blowing him off.  It was all such a mess, and it was all her fault.  It just made her hate Rob more for what he’d done, his deception, and his sudden disappearance.

Looking down at Karsten after he’d opened her door, she handed the cooler over, and started to get out.  This is when their height difference became apparent and slightly humorous.  “Good lord, Karsten, I feel like I’m going to have to jump down.  You need a step or something for those of us with short legs.”  She looked over at him and laughed as she tried to figure out the best way to do this without falling.  The last thing she needed was to jump down and end up falling, possibly hurting herself. That would really make the morning complete.

“Hold on, doc.”  He laughed and had her turn sideways as he slid the cooler into the floorboard of the passenger seat.  “It’s not that high, Rena.  You’re just not used to it, yet.”  The last word was a wish of his, but he kept his tone light so it didn’t seem like he was hitting on her again.  “Here, I’ll help you down.”  He reached up and put a hand on each side of her waist, picking her up out of the truck and taking a step back before setting her down on the ground.  “See, not that bad.” He gave her a wink and a smirk, but how close they were wasn’t lost on him. 

For a moment it was hard for him to breathe, their bodies brushing seeming to send an electric charge over him. Looking down into her dark eyes that seemed to pull him in had him transfixed.  His mouth seemed overly dry, his lungs tight, and he wasn’t sure if he could have pulled away if he wanted to.  She certainly had some effect on him, and he wondered if he even had a drop of that kind of effect on her.

A soft blush rising to her cheeks as she could feel the weight of his gaze, Serena gave a soft laugh. “I should have known that I could count on my favorite detective to help me out of a jam.”  She didn’t move back from him, though.  Their sudden closeness like this was acutely noticed by her, and she too was struggling by the feelings it was evoking in her.  Feelings that she had been fighting and trying to find places for. In her chest, her heart was thudding and she had butterflies.  Since Rob had left, she’d avoided being close to either of the two men that she knew there were mutual attractions building between.  Even at Kelleher’s she kept space between her and Keegan.  At the moment she didn’t want that space with Karsten, just the opposite.   As she looked up at him, her teeth caught the corner of her lower lip while she tried to figure out if they were thinking the same thing and what that meant.

Well, now wasn’t this something?  Maybe that silence hadn’t been as awkward as he thought it had been.  He found his arms going around her waist, and he smirked down at her.  His fingers played with the fabric of her shirt, waiting to find out if she was going to push him away or welcome his touch.

When he spoke, his voice had lowered some, taking on a slightly husky tone as well. "Favorite detective, huh? You know, I like the sound of that!" Damn he couldn't keep the grin off of his face if he tried.  He thought he’d completely blown it by touching her face like that in the truck; but she wasn’t pulling back and he wasn’t being hit, so there was hope he wasn’t misreading things now.

Serena could feel the heat of his touch through the thin fabric of her dress shirt and it caused her skin to pebble and ache for that fabric to be gone.  As close as they were, she wanted to be closer.  Where had these thoughts and desires come from?  She wasn’t quite sure, nor was she sure when they had started, but she was tired of closing herself off to try to keep from being hurt again like Rob had done.  Karsten wasn’t Rob, and he wouldn’t be like him either.

Moving slightly closer, her hands landing on those slim hips of his, her eyes raising up to meet those intense blue ones of his, one brow slightly raised. "Do you now? I thought you knew." Tease was laced through her voice, but there was a slight nervousness as well.  He had to know about Keegan, the two men were practically best friends after all.  Yet here they were.  There could be no way he could miss the attraction she felt to him, it was written all over her face.  She just hoped he couldn’t tell how tight her chest was and the amount of butterflies she was feeling.

A soft chuckle came from him at her tease.  Damn, she was relaxing and that smile of hers could stop his heart.  When had he become such a sap?  "After your last experience with cops, gorgeous, I wasn't sure you'd want to be this close to any of us." He pulled her in closer.  All she had to do was tell him to stop and he would, but he was hoping she wouldn’t.  "I had my suspicions,” he winked at her with a grin.  The way she was looking up at him was making him a little sure of himself, “but it's always good to know for sure."  One of his hands rose to gently caress her face, his expression softening.

"I don't paint everyone with the brush of one who hurt me, Karsten." Her head tipped back a little more to look up at him.  Not wanting to be in Mulligan’s didn’t equate to not wanting to be around Karsten.  She wasn’t sure he would understand.  "I do know a good man when I see one."  There could be no missing her meaning of those words, her expression and tone made it clear.  He was a good man, a good cop, and one she’d realized she had feelings for in recent times when they’d worked together on the Rakeovich case and trial prep.

"You know flattery will get you everywhere with me, doc." He grinned slowly, lowering his head, bringing his forehead near hers as he looked in her eyes.  "As will that smile of yours." His hand started to barely caress the skin along her jaw and then neck.  The feel of her skin under his rough fingertips was something he could get used to, and wanted to.  "Absolutely everywhere." His lips met hers softly, slowly, deepening as his fingers found the back of her neck to pull her into the kiss.  He’d waited for this, and if it was the only one he ever got, he’d make it one to remember.

The second their lips met there was a strong spark between them, one that Sereba hadn't seen coming but wasn’t going to fight. As the kiss deepened and their tongues danced together, her hands found his back to pull herself to him. She’d deal with whatever there was between her and Keegan later, she wasn’t going to dull this moment at all.   Serena’s focus was only on the handsome detective that had her in his arms at the moment.  His kiss was doing a good job of removing all other thoughts from her mind. As she kissed him back as passionately as he was kissing her, her hands found their way under his jacket and up the back of his shirt.  There was something about the way that his muscles reacted to her touch that had her pressing fully against him and melting more into their kiss.

Hot damn! She was kissing him back, and fuck did she do it well. There was no missing now that she was as attracted to him as he was to her.  He’d meant what he said in the truck, he’d never hurt her.  Karsten wanted her, but he wanted her happy more. It wasn’t just lust, he genuinely cared about her, and he had a feeling she knew it.  Watching what Rob did to her had gutted him.  Those sparkling eyes had dulled, her smile never reaching her eyes - not till she’d looked at him right before their kiss. He’d never let it be dulled again.  

In the past he'd been respectful that she was with a brother in blue, but when that had ended he'd seen an opening. He’d been patient and supportive, tried to be a good friend to her, but he’d also hoped she’d see him more than just a coworker and friend.  Now it was clear she had, he wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize that.

When their lips finally parted, Serena found herself a little breathless. Eyes rising to meet his, she spoke slowly with a breathy voice "is that why you were wanting to help me out of the truck, detective?" Tease and temptation danced in her words and eyes.  Her head slightly spun and she knew that she was in trouble.  It would be too easy to fall for Karsten, and she was still kind of scared of falling for anyone.

His thumb grazed her jaw, "no, but I’ll help you out of the truck, your car, hell even your office chair if I get more of those.”  Karsten’s hand came up to caress the side of her face again.  Rob was a fool, but he wasn’t.  As much as he wanted to take her out, make her his, and be only hers, he wasn’t going to rush a damn thing.  Some things were worth waiting for, she was one of them.  “No pressure though, doc.  I can be a patient man when it comes to waiting for something I want, and I want this.” His forehead rested against hers, she had no clue how bad he wanted this.

"Who says you have to wait?" Mischief swirled in her eyes as she brought her lips to his this time. Her hands ran up his back, bunching the fabric of his shirt under her fingertips as they pressed harder against his back. Again she melted against him, losing herself in his arms and his kiss.  Never had she felt anything but safe with Karsten, and that was very true now only it was her heart she was trusting him with as much as her life.  

He was a goner, a flat out goner for this woman, and he didn't give a fuck about it.  He knew how his friend felt, and it would have to be dealt with eventually.  Right now was not that time.  Karsten had never hid how he felt towards Serena from Keegan, and it hadn’t stopped his friend from making his own moves from what Karsten had heard.   Keegan might think he had a lock on the gorgeous doc, but it clearly wasn't the case. Karsten was going to make sure it never was.

[writereleaserepeat]

tfw you wanted to write a fun whumpee for a prompt but you're overly invested in the career opportunities of the throwaway caretaker.

[johntorrington]

you need to get weirdly obsessed with a book that sucks horrendously. for your health.

[agentnico]

Tetris (2023) Review

Not going to lie, but using “The Final Countdown” as a song for your movie trailer immediately means the marketing team from Apple TV+ deserve a raise! That song slaps!!

Plot: Henk Rogers discovers Tetris in 1988, and then risks everything by travelling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov to bring the game to the masses.

You hear a movie titled Tetris is coming out and one has to wonder if we have another Emoji Movie on our hands, where we’ll get little tetra shaped characters goofing about in some animated mathematics world trying to force an unfunny joke upon our poor heads. Then we get a random celebrity cameo like Orlando Bloom voicing an L-tetromino and making a joke that his character’s full name is Legolas. Actually, wouldn’t mind seeing that last part, just saying. Regardless, Tetris isn’t actually some ridiculous animated affair based on a pop culture phenomenon, but instead is the backstory for how the game was brought to the world masses. So no talking tetrominos, but instead we have ourselves a legal drama.

Look, before you all shut your eyes away upon the news of another legal drama, this movie is actually surprisingly engaging and the story of the battle for the licence of worldwide distribution of this little game is filled with twists and turns, as well as an element of spy espionage, due to the original game owners being Soviet Russia. That’s right, there’s an element of the Cold War in these proceedings, with Henk Rogers and others trying to persuade the Russians to sell them the rights, however as known the Russians don’t trust anyone. Speaking of the Russians, the communist backdrop is handled really well, with this idea that when in Moscow you’re always being watched, as well as digging into the corruption of the Soviet regime. Even Gorbachev shows up at one point, thought that element I imagine didn’t happen in real life and was more so added to up the ante of this film. 

Speaking of upping the ante, even though many scenes revolve around characters sitting in rooms discussing legal stuff, the movie also involves car chases. That’s right, the writers definitely added a bit of a fictitious element to this story to make it more exciting for the casual viewer. I enjoyed that. It made this movie stand out more from others of its genre, and of the said car chase as well as other sequences, there are visual moments where the screen turns into this very early shonky computer graphic pixelated look, which I found to be quite the clever little gimmick. This backed up with an 80s techno soundtrack as well as various renditions on the classic Tetris theme made for an overall exciting watch.

Taron Egerton as always is super likeable and charming as Henk Rogers, in some ways channelling a young Gary Oldman, although maybe its just the Jim Gordon stache. The character of Rogers himself is the typical underdog one loves to root for. He’s the reckless entrepreneur who bets his entire house and life on this one game that he believes has the power to become something massive. He’s described by one of the other characters as “stupid but honest”, as Egerton leans into that heavily. His friendship bond he builds with the Tetris game creator Alexey Pajitnov (played by Russian actor Nikita Efremov in a very endearing way) is also really delightful, and a scene where the two of them go to a Soviet nightclub is a highlight. Roger Allam and Igor Grabuzov relish their villainous roles, and Toby Jones pops in doing some kind of European accent, though hard to pinpoint exactly which one.

Overall I really enjoyed Tetris, and was surprised at how the creative team managed to make this story as engaging as it is. Also naturally there is an element of nostalgia, as like many back in the day as a kid I used to enjoy rinsing Tetris. I even had a little handheld console that was designed specifically for Tetris. It wasn’t the branded stuff like the GameBoy (though I had that too for Zelda and such); it was literally this little Tetris console my dad got me in Russia, and that was the beginning of my screen addiction, which later turned into my smartphone....dark times. Regardless, a solid watch and currently my favourite film so far this year, though that’s not a difficult feat seeing as thus far this year’s movie releases have been really average. I look forward to the inevitable Rock, Paper, Scissors movie!

Overall score: 7/10

[womenusingwords]

Staying the Course

The details… Title: Staying the Course  Author: Rebecca K. Jones Publisher: Bella Books Publication date: October 31, 2024 Available formats: ebook, paperback   Print length: 306 pages Genre: legal thriller   Themes: women loving women, strained family relationships, sapphic romances, secrets, abuse, murder, lies, courtroom drama, suspense, The blurb from the publisher… Tucson…

[str0yberries]

Work in progress

After yesterday’s poll, the fifth au was the winning one!! Basically, Aoi is a writer who has been obsessed with true crimes, and so, her work falls under murder mysteries. A dedicated fan takes the credit for her work by accomplishing it for her. Police are unsure who the criminal is, none of them would have ever suspected Chief Minamoto to be responsible for reproducing those horrific scenes. Aoi gets wrongly accused, and Teru is the only one who believes she's innocent. (A lot of backstabbing in this AU, and he obviously manipulates everyone to blame an innocent person by the end of it.)

Here is what I’ve written so far:

Aoi Akane knows three things for certain in this world: socialization drains her until there is nothing left but the typical human flesh and bones, pickled vegetables are the best food in the world unless it's zucchini, and finally, that she’s going to murder whoever decided to spread their virus, making her sick on such a beautiful snowy afternoon. Her mother is away due to society's pressuring need of her in this instant with something called work so she’s been fueling on random things she found in the older lady’s pantry until she seriously wonders if she should simply get this over with and uber eat whatever she was craving. Her throat is growing dry but just the thought of escaping her cocoon of blankets seems more exhausting so instead she contemplates how long she could go without fluids before dying. She’s certainly halfway there by now, the purple haired girl guessed.

Aoi taps her fingers nervously on the couch as her computer lays on her lap. She has one more closing paragraph in her essay before she never has to stress about paying rent again, but she’s been staring at the blinking cursor for over an hour. It’s a summary paragraph for her first book. She’s already done the worst. But he can’t bring herself to concentrate. The date is covered in colorful stickers and the sight makes her stomach acid rises up in her throat. She doesn't want to deal with her assistant or her editor, both of them disgusting her slightly. Her big translucid glasses slide down her nose, she tries to fix them with her index, only to realize her effort was useless as they slid down once more. She gives drinking coffee a chance, hoping it'll cloud her brain instead of sharpening it. It’s a pathetic fail, it brings her back to her boyfriend’s situation. Fingertips fleeing over the rough surface of the leather couch, her earbuds were catching onto each glimpse of sounds. Phone in hand, her fingers traced the screen as she typed away into the research browser, trying to find any solutions to elevate her writing as a way of improving her mood.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Undercover (2021)

[hollywoodoutbreak]

After running for two seasons on Showtime, Your Honor has become a big winner on Netflix, getting more streaming minutes than any other content on the service in its streaming debut last month. Not only has this drawn new attention to the show, it's also opened up discussions for a potential third season, though any such decision won't likely come soon. Unsurprisingly, one of the factors helping drive the show's popularity is its star, Bryan Cranston. After all, with Breaking Bad still drawing big binge numbers, people are clearly drawn to Cranston and his characters. While he was making Your Honor, a big part of his role -- similar to Breaking Bad-- was the physical transformation of his character over time; in Your Honor's second season, the character looked radically different, as the show's story arc had taken a deep physical toll on the character. While it made things a little more difficult for Cranston, he said that both he and the show's producers were adamant about the physical changes.

Your Honor is currently streaming on Netflix.

[stuff-diary]

Anatomy of a Fall

Movies watched in 2024

Anatomy of a Fall (2023, France)

Director: Justine Triet

Writers: Justine Triet & Arthur Harari

Mini-review:

Damn, that was good. I was a bit worried about its extended runtime, but the film managed to keep me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Legal dramas/thrillers tend to be hit-or-miss for me, and this one is definitely a hit. Anatomy of a Fall is a masterclass in directing, writing and acting. Justine Triet's directing is both complex and naturalistic, while Sandra Hüller's performance is nothing short of astonishing. Also, the dog (from what I've read his name is Messi) might just be the best animal performer I've ever seen in a movie. As for the script, I loved that it stays ambiguous until the very end, cause at the end of the day, the truth isn't what this story is about. Anyway, I can perfectly understand all the hype surrounding this film; it truly is breathtaking.