Having read and loved Steve Cavanagh's Thirteen, I looked forward to reading Fifty Fifty with a great deal of anticipation. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat. Not necessarily because it was badly written-- it wasn't. It fell flat because it didn't meet my expectations.

What did I expect? I expected to have to work hard to deduce which one of the sisters was the killer. I knew which sister "done it" almost from the beginning, and that burst my bubble. Granted, I did enjoy watching the main character, defense lawyer and former conman Eddie Flynn, putting the pieces together, but it just wasn't as much fun as playing Sherlock Holmes for myself.

Sometimes these twisty legal thrillers work, and sometimes they don't. While this one didn't quite hit the mark for me, it was still a good read, and I look forward to reading more of Cavanagh's books featuring Eddie Flynn. ( )

“Reading clients and reading juries was my bag. This case wasn’t normal. There was nothing remotely normal about it.”

Two frantic 911 calls - one each made by Alexandra Avellino and Sofia Avellino reporting the gruesome murder of their father, millionaire and former New York City Mayor Frank Avellino. Two sisters, each of whom are blaming the other for the murder of their father. Who did it? Who is telling the truth? Is one of them truly guilty or are they both? The sisters’ relationship has been strained for years and each of them stands to gain if the other is found guilty. It has been heard that their late father was planning to make changes in his will- changes that would result in one of the siblings losing their share of a sizeable inheritance. Was it greed that motivated the killer or was it more than that?

Eddie Flynn, Sofia’s defense attorney has his work cut out for him. With both sisters on trial, each with a fifty-fifty chance of being guilty, it is up to Eddie assisted by former FBI Agent turned PI Harper and his mentor recently retired Judge Harry Ford to prove Sofia’s innocence.

“Before I was a lawyer, I had a life on the other side of the law. Sometimes I had to step back over that line.”

The narrative is shared from three perspectives – our conman turned lawyer, Eddie Flynn, defense attorney Kate Brooks who is representing Alexandra with the firm belief that Alexandra is innocent and the killer “She” who seems to be a step ahead of everyone, eliminating anything and anyone who might prove to be a threat to her. Frank is not her first victim and won’t be her last. Both Eddie and Kate believe that their respective client is innocent but as the narrative progresses and crucial witnesses begin to disappear and/or are killed, it becomes evident that one of them is being played. Will Eddie be able to figure out the truth behind Frank Avellino’s death or will the killer be successful in conning the former conman?

Steve Cavanagh’s Fifty-Fifty is a gripping legal thriller that had me hooked from the very first page. Though there are plenty of breadcrumbs strewn throughout the narrative, the twists and turns and red herrings kept me guessing and doubting my theories till the very end. Tension-filled and intricately plotted this page-turner is truly unputdownable. This series just keeps getting better and better. I can’t wait to read the next book featuring Eddie Flynn!

My reviews for the preceding books in the series:
Book#0.5:The Cross
Book#1: The Defense
Book#2: The Plea
Book#3: The Liar
Book#4: Thirteen ( )

Wasn't expecting this book to end on a cliff hanger, it's a thrilling story that makes you ponder your own life and death. I loved the characters and hope to see many of them in the next book. ( )

Another great story from a favorite author, although this one was a little more serious and not as light as the previous ones.

He kept me guessing throughout the book, right up to the end. The story was about two sisters, and one of them presumably killed their father. We get a running commentary from the killer, but we don't know which one she is. For a while, it seemed like we were being led to believe it must be one sister, so of course I assumed it was the other one. It looked more and more like the other one until it wasn't. But the book often features cons, and it seemed like we were getting conned throughout the book.

There's a new female detective that is an old friend of the opposing counsel, and helps her a lot with the case. She's a pretty interesting character, and will probably be a regular. I hope so, as my former favorite female detective won't be returning in the future. ( )

Two sisters from a privileged background in New York accuse each other of their father's murder; it's clear that one of them did it, but which of them is telling the truth and which is the killer? Eddie Flynn and a newly qualified attorney take on the cases of the sisters in a joint trial.

Coming with glowing recommendations from both the BBC's book club Between the Covers and my son, I thought this would be a tense and exciting thriller, even though I don't normally read courtroom dramas. The truth is that the writing is mediocre at best, which didn't let any tension build up. A crucial flaw in the conception of the novel, which gives far more lines to Sofia than to Alexandra, ensured that I was able to deduce the killer roughly halfway through the book, and I was more than happy to give up at that point. I definitely won't seek out any more novels in the series or by this author again. ( )