I think at this point Pushkin Vertigo can do no wrong when I want a crime novel and Joey Hartstone's debut novel is no exception. A gripping mystery and courtroom novel set in a small town that had so many twists and turns that I was enthralled up until the very last page.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was a phenomenal thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Oh boy! This was wild ride. The world of legal and thriller collides and comes crashing in, delivering you a power packed book with intriguing plot and characters beyond your imagination. Taut and interesting, this book took all my attention and was worthy of reading..

I would like to thank Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC of The Local by Joey Hartstone in exchange for my unbiased review.

The city of Marshall in the Eastern District of Texas has been the epicentre of Intellectual Property law in the US for twenty-odd years, thanks to the reforms implemented by esteemed Judge Gerald Gardner. Anybody wishing to sue anybody for patent infringement in the US almost invariably finds themselves in Judge Gardner’s court where the trials are blitzed through with clinical efficiency in front of juries largely sympathetic to the plaintiffs. An important cog in this fine-tuned machinery are the Locals—a community of homegrown patent attorneys who are retained by the big-city firms to act as a bridge between them and the unfamiliar court in an unfamiliar place.

One December afternoon, Amir Zawar, son of a Pakistani immigrant and founder of Medallion—a revolutionary rideshare company that is the defendant of a patent infringement lawsuit—loses his cool, insults the judge and assaults his own Local counsel, and gets sent to prison for contempt of court. On the same night, Judge Gardner is found knifed to death in the courthouse parking lot and Zawar, barely hours after his release on bail, is found nearby under suspicious circumstances. It doesn’t take long for the police, with negligible experience investigating a homicide, to arrest and charge him with first-degree murder of the judge. Vehemently denying the charge, Zawar stuns everyone by asking that his Local counsel—whom he had assaulted in the court just the previous afternoon—represent him in the oncoming murder trial.

The Local, James Euchre, is the last person one would expect to be defending Zawar: he has never fought a criminal case in his career and Judge Gardner has been like a father to him—which makes Zawar his enemy. But Zawar is adamant in his stand and Euchre prepares for his first—and probably last—murder trial albeit being unconvinced of his client’s innocence. His troubles are further compounded by his ongoing spat with the son of the judge who will be presiding over the trial, and his own demons from the past. For Euchre, the only way to save Zawar—provided he is indeed innocent—is to find the real killer before his own inexperience dooms the client in court.

Being a big fan of John Grisham, I can’t help weighing any legal thriller I read, by any other author, against his blockbusters, and The Local by Joey Hartstone is something I’m sure Grisham would be proud of. Hartstone brings forth all his talents as a screenwriter to deliver a crisply narrated thriller. Each of the characters of The Local are superbly crafted and I would love to see all of them in action again. The female characters—former prosecutor Layla Stills from the firm representing Medallion and the resourceful investigator Lisa ‘Leg’ Morgan—are fantastic. The plot is perfectly paced, with each ingredient in the right measure, holds the reader in its grip right until the apt ending. The little doses of legalese and the lifelike descriptions of Marshall lend a great deal of authenticity to the tale. To sum up, The Local is an excellent first novel by Joey Hartstone and I am looking forward to reading many more from this promising author!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Pushkin Press and Joey Hartstone for the opportunity to read and review The Local.

Oh. My. Word.

It's been a while since I have been this invested in a mystery. Three months, actually. Wholly entertaining, well written, fleshed out characters, great representation, amazing research. Fabulous.

I'm not super invested in legal matters, so at times some of the information and happenings did go over my head. But holy moly, I'm mind blown. This is one of those books that will have you questioning every single character in the book. I actually have a headache from all the tension now. My heart is racing.

I will be recommending this book to everyone!

A straight on court drama with an interesting starting premise in terms of locale and character. Euchre, A lawyer specialising in patent cases in deep in the heart of Texas, Marshall, takes on his first murder case: defending the man accused of killing his friend and mentor.
I enjoyed the basic concept and approach to this (and basic isn't meant as an insult: what I mean is the focus is on the case rather than throwing in any 'adventure' elements a lot of popular legal thrillers do.
There are parallels to some of John Grisham's work: small time lawyer facing seemingly certain facts, even if Hartsone keeps it all 'small town'. It's all pretty domestic in terms of the characters and the prosecution.
The author comes from a TV/ Movie background and it shows in the story. You could see this being made into either and equally, can see it being turned into a series.
There's a throwaway moment in the first couple of chapters that anyone who's familiar with the genre will know is going to come back into it later in the book, and the relatively in your face discovery of key elements to solve everything meant the climax didn't come as a huge surprise to me, but the book is well written with interesting key characters and a real sense of tone and atmosphere.

really enjoyable, bright and breezy legal thriller. Well written, punchy with great plotting and characterisation. I sped through this book which captured my interest from the start and never let go. Written in the first person, this was a real discovery. Highly recommended.

I absolutely loved reading The Local by Joey Hartsone.

James Euchre, aka Euch, is a successful patent trial lawyer in Marshall, East Texas. On the surface, life is good. James is very good at his job and makes a lot of money. Then his great friend and mentor is murdered and he finds himself changing lanes and becomes the first chair as a criminal defence lawyer, defending the man alleged to have murdered his friend and mentor.

Firstly, Marshall as a place fascinated me. It’s a small town in a remote part of Texas with a static population and not without its issues. Major US and international companies fly in to Marshall to try their intellectual property / patent cases due to the system in place for quick jury trials. Hartstone really made the patent litigation process in Marshall very easy to understand for the layperson, and he peppered it with real-life corporation cases. It piqued my interest to such an extent that I went on to read more newspaper articles about Marshall and the Federal Eastern District of Texas courts.

I enjoyed reading James’s journey from patent lawyer to criminal defence lawyer. I completely bought into the fact that he was driven to uncover what really happened to his friend and mentor.

I was kept guessing as to who the murderer was and was really surprised with the reveal.

I hope that there will be more James Euchre books to follow! Huge thanks to the publisher, Pushkin Press, and NetGalley for making this ARC available to me for a fair and honest review.

A patent lawyer as hero is an interesting concept and I was intrigued as to how a thriller would be crafted from what at first thought would seem to be a dry topic, but thrills and twists abound. Joey Hartstone tells a gripping tale of small towns, divided loyalties and family ties. Fans of Steve Cavanagh will warm to James Euchre whilst appreciating the different direction the character has been taken. Hartstone makes the law understandable be it criminal or patent and I hope there is another outing planned for Jimmy and his associates.
Thanks to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for an enjoyable read in return for an unbiased review.

This book is not like many others I’ve read. A lot of the legal world is new to me.

I did however enjoy the mystery and how it all unfolded. The mentor/mentee relationship is one I always find enjoyable.

A slow burn mystery, good ending, overall enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the style of writing, the pacing and the character development. It wasn't the most unpredictable book that I have read but I liked it more because of that.

This book put me in mind of Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn series, this was due to the main character being a lawyer who really wants to know the truth about his client and willing to expose them if they are guilty. This book was outstanding and I liked the fact that the main character made all the same decisions about the murderer as I did along the way. I truly could not put this book down, and devoured it as fast as I could. I hope that this is the first of a new series as I for one would love to read more about James and which way his career decides to go.