The Associate audiobook

4 Stars. Intriguing, but a little - an intended pun - far fetched. Intriguing, but there are a few improbables. Plus it feels simplistic when dealing with a terrorist threat from a part of the Middle East. People are just as complicated there as they are here. Yet it's an enjoyable story. The serial killer we met in Dana Cutler #1, Clarence Little - do I need to explain the pun? - reappears. With some good but unfortunate legal help, he is able to persuade the appeals court that, because he wasn't guilty of murdering the future President Farrington's babysitter, he should be retried on his other murder convictions. He escapes on his way to court. The other hero from the first two Dana Cutlers, Brad Miller, is now legislative aide to Oregon Senator Jack Carson in Washington. Miller and the wonderful Ginny Striker have just married. Lurking in Carson's background is a beautiful but mysterious woman, Jessica Koshani who represents questionable interests. Does she have anything to do with a threat to blow up Fedex Field during a Redskins football game? Watch while Dana, Brad, and a few other regulars, Keith Evans and Maggie Sparks, do it again! (May 2021)

Fast PacedVery happy with how this book turned out. I was a little nervous because it was booked three in the series in my library did not have the books. With much joy, it was good to see that this was very much a standalone.The from different angles, tremendous book. I liked it a lot. The reason I didn’t give it a five was I thought they were a little bit too many actors going in the middle of it, but it gets a strong 4 from me.

This was an interesting legal thriller. Parts were somewhat unbelievable, but made for a good plot. Very similar style to John Grisham, this was the first book by Phillip Margolin that I have read.

Full review originally at Fantasy Book Critic OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Phillip Margolin is a favorite of mine, I started reading his books nearly a decade ago and since then I have enjoyed his Amanda Jaffe books as well as his standalone titles. He began a trilogy with a set of characters in 2008 with Executive Privilege; he followed it up two years later with Supreme Justice and last year he capped off the trilogy with Capitol Murder.Like all of his books, Capitol Murder has quite a few plot threads and a large character cast as well. The story begins after a few months after the events of Supreme Justice and Brad and Ginny are well settled of sorts in their routines. Dana Cutler is facing an ironic turn of events due to the newfound celebrity status that she has achieved. One of the main threads of Executive Privilege is carried forward in the form of Clarence little who is now obsessed with Brad as he owes him for his current situation. There’s also Ali who is a new migrant and planning to shake the USA by trying to be a jihadi martyr. Lastly there’s the plot-thread involving Jack Carson, the Oregon senator for whom Brad works for and is now undergoing quite a situation thanks to some shady dealing on his part. There’s a lot more but this is the basic gist of this complicated plot and once again Margolin proves why he’s one of the best thriller writers who’s is equally under-appreciated.This book is more tuned to the events of the first book than the second one and I appreciated this aspect as we get to see a continuation of events that were such a major plot point in Executive Privilege. In this book the significant others to Dana and Brad get more page time as well and in Ginny’s case she actually plays a crucial role in the events that play out. With a such large character cast, the author’s characterization skills often come in to play and with a writer like Phillip Margolin, its almost second nature to him. The book’s pace and plot twists are top notch and keep the reader thoroughly engrossed. From the start the reader is introduced to a multitude of characters as well as multiple plot threads. Teach of the plot threads start separately and will have the reader vexed in trying to figure out how they all come together.The plot is characteristically twisted and comes together in the end in a very cohesive fashion and in this category; it overshadows Supreme Justice by being the better thriller and possibly is the best one of this entire trilogy. Not having any drawback to it is another plus point and so this is another winner from the incredible mind of Phillip Margolin. This book comes very recommended for thriller fans and for those wanting to read a good story with terrific mystery threads.

Private investigator Dana Cutler and attorney Brad Miller have been partners on several challenging and high-profile cases together. They have had to overcome countless difficulties and have made a variety of extremely powerful enemies over the course of their careers. Against such tremendous odds, Dana and Brad have always done their best to see that justice prevails. Now a series of wicked threats old and new are about to reunite them once again.Brad Miller is distressed to learn that the death penalty sentences of a convicted serial killer have recently been reversed. As a result, it seems that Brad's former client Clarence Little may be able to appeal his multiple murder convictions. However, Brad is absolutely certain that any judge who hears the trials could not possibly overturn any of his convictions; that just would never happen.Brad is currently living in D. C., working as the legislative assistant to Senator Jack Carson, a high-ranking member of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence. When several hand-addressed letters are delivered to Brad's office as well as to his apartment, he is horrified to discover that Clarence Little has begun writing to him. Although none of his letters are overtly threatening, they still contain just enough personal information about Brad and his family to be genuinely disturbing. It seems that even from an Oregon jail cell, Clarence Little has somehow found a new way to torment people.Brad becomes utterly terrified for himself and his new wife when a dead body is found in Senator Carson's upscale Georgetown home. The body exhibits all the hallmarks of someone who is a victim of Clarence Little, and the senator himself has disappeared. If this isn't actually the gruesome handiwork of Clarence Little, who could possibly be doing all this?Meanwhile back in Oregon, where Dana Cutler is investigating the senator's shady background, a terrorist cell is poised to destroy a packed professional football stadium in one of the largest attacks on American soil. As the senator's personal life begins to dovetail with the terrorist cell's evil plan, Brad and Dana find themselves in danger once again. They must risk everything to uncover the truth and save their country.I must say that although I may have read some of Phillip Margolin's novels in the past, I know that I haven't read books from any of his series. That being said, I still found this book to be surprisingly well-written. I enjoyed it very much, even though this isn't necessarily the typical genre that I would choose to read for myself. The story was still intriguing and fast-paced; I would definitely give this book an A!

This is another fast paced book that grabs you from the first page and keeps you going until the end. Dana Cutler is only part of this book as there are a lot of different things going on in this book. Mr. Margolin knows how to build characters and you will either hate them or love them. I like that this one took place in Oregon, where I am originally from and then in Washington DC. Some of the places I recognize and I like that I can identify with places or have been there.I am giving this 5 out of 5 stars.

I received this book as a give away from Goodreads. I really enjoyed this book, the story is suspenseful and interesting. The characters are likable, so likable that I'm planning read his other stories about them. If you enjoy intrigue and crime novels, you will enjoy this one. On the surface the story is about an attempted terrorist attack, it's really about the interactions and motivations of the various characters.

A good Daniel Ames & Kate Ross book with a smattering of Amanda Jaffe thrown in for good measure. Rogue lawyer tries to implicate a major drug company in a lawsuit by doctoring test results and killing to keep those results from being considered bogus. Daniel Ames & Kate Ross figure it out while Amanda keeps Daniel out of jail. Recommended.

I just finished "Capital Murder" by Phillip Margolin and loved it! This is the first book of his I've read, but my roommate has read every book he's written, beginning with Heartstone." She told me not to start it unless I had nothing else to do and WOW, she was right. Thank you for allowing me to read your book; I'm putting you on my list of favorite authors.

Don't expect a lot of Amanda Jaffe because she is barely in the book. Beyond that, the book was great anyway. I am hoping the introduction of new characters will lead to further books in whatever series Margolin writes. The suspense continues to keep me entertained.

I worked hard to follow all the elements of this thriller but it was still a surprise when it all came together.

The Associate is a book about a law firm associate named Daniel who is defending the Geller pharmaceutical company that is accused of manufacturing a drug that causes birth defects. Daniel is forced to test his own morals and figure out who his true friends are, solve the case, and clear his own name from murder. Daniel usually neglects to think about his future consequences of his actions. For example, when he is asked to go to a cemetery in the middle of the night to talk to a murder suspect, Daniel chose to only think about the benefit of the extra evidence he’d be getting for the murder case, and not about the high possibility of it being a trap. Daniel is also too nice for his own good, like when he agreed to help Susan when asked him to review and proofread thousands of documents over night and deliver them by 8:00 in the morning. Phillip Margolin (the author) didn’t use a ton of figurative language and not much of it stood out and forced you to think about what he is truly trying to say. Most of the figurative language was casual like “Briggs just continued to stare at him as if he were some mildly interesting insect. (Margolin 97)” which isn’t bad and allows for a more easygoing read. The overall style of the writing is very casual, realistic, and down to earth. No book is without flaws, including this one. During part 4, the main plotline is put aside for almost 60 pages. This event is hardly related to the rest of the book and doesn’t have any of the main characters. It could have easily been summarized in just a couple of pages and additionally would be more entertaining. An additional blemish is this author has a potty-mouth. The writing includes several swear words, including the F-word several times. Fortunately, the author does use the words in an intelligent way, unlike how middle schoolers would use them as sentence enhancers or for immature humor. This book is very realistic and accurately portrays how a real murder investigation would go, including both the good and the bad. Daniel is put under arrest and jailed for murder, even though there is no solid evidence other than a single witness. This takes a spin on “innocent until proven guilty”, which turns into “guilty until proven innocent.” In an ideal world, the police would investigate Daniel and look for motives and evidence. When sufficient evidence is collected, they send him to trial and if the jury decides he is guilty then he goes to jail. Unfortunately, we, nor Daniel, live in a perfect world. Instead, we live in a world that thinks it is morally justified to send an innocent person to jail for no reason other than somebody said so. If I had to rate this book, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars. It is interesting with many plot twists, but it really drags during part 4. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone sensitive to foul language. Some events aren’t suitable for anybody younger than a high schooler. However, this is a captivating book, and if you are mature enough, I am sure you’d enjoy it.