The Law Partners (Michael Gresham #4) by John Ellsworth

The Law Partners (Michael Gresham #4) Reviews

• 
  Gail Jorgensen

  another good book #3 in the series.
• 
  Judy Churchill

  More of the same. This was a little more upsetting as some of the good guys got killed. In the end the bad guys got put away and the good guys went on about their lives - minus those who were killed in the process. It’s time to shift genres again!
• 
  Tulay

  Another great book.
  
  Read every book that was written by Ellsworth, starting with Thaddeus Murfee and Sisters in Law series. Interesting courtroom thriller, but most of the action takes place outside the courtroom. Politics behind the election of Chief county prosecutor.
• 
  Chaplain Stanley Chapin

  So so story
  
  I have read better novels by Michael Gresham, this on was pretty good the first half. It then had some beyond normal believe areas and redundant and contradicting parts that should have been picked by editing.
• 
  Robert Quirin

  A sneaky gotchya
  
  1st half was a great turn pager --got me hooked, so I stuck with it through the half as good 2nd half in which some plot turns & twists were just too much of a stretch and the warm & positive sudden ending just did not fit.
• 
  Tere Fredericks

  Heart Wrenching
  
  For those who have never read one of my reviews before, I review as I read, making sure I leave no spoilers. Because of this, my reviews may be weird, until you read the book, but I hope afterwards, you can say, ooooh, that's what the frog meant!
  
  This is a case that will, again, take all of Michael's skills as a person and as a lawyer to prove the accused not guilty. As Michael explains, just because the state has to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant did not commit the crime, that the defense should give some other direction to focus the jury's attention.
  
  As readers of this book, we know things the characters do not. Where I am in the book? That is about to change in a way that will shock all of Chicago.
  
  Since I can feel what's about to happen, my thoughts turn to a certain assistant district attorney. There's a reason why she is in the story. Have to figure out why.
  
  And Michael did make a huge mistake. But that isn't what is going to be catastrophic for him.
  
  The anticipated catastrophe hits. We now learn Michael had a friend with benefits a while back. And Michael throws himself at her mercy. This is going to be very interesting.
  
  There is a positively awful...I can't even say it. My heart is in ruins.
  
  The ending is almost anticlimactic. Justice is definitely served, but is not sitting well with anyone involved.
  
  Even though my heart is in tatters, I have to say that this is the most wrenching legal thriller I have ever read. Hands down. And I include all the usual suspects in the writers in this genre. I can read books by the "greats" and forget what they were about as soon as I have written the review. This one will resonate with me for a long while.
  
  This is a must read. I wish I could give it more than five stars.
  
• 
  Randee

  The Michael Gresham stories have a formula - a seemingly un-winnable case is won with perseverance and cleverness. This book sticks to that same formula which is fine. Except for the touches of sheer misogyny. I was reminded of fiction in the 1980s where the only way the female attorney can win or can be powerful is by extracting a confession with her vagina. Ellsworth uses that exact plot - she wore a dark wig though so the guy who would actually recognize her couldn't (dumb bad guy!). She got her comeuppance though as she is shot and dies. Yeah, and her name is Harley Sturgis. Nickname or not, insert eyeroll and roll 'em hard.
  
  The hero, Michael Gresham, though guilty of a shit-load of bad deeds (none of which consist of seduction), swoops in from jail(!) to save the other helpless attorney accused of killing her lover.
  
  Lazy plot work "celebrates" the "strong" women by overcoming their "flaws" with Truth, Justice and literary slut shaming.
  
  And Helpless Attorney then hires Michael to help her put away other bad guys. So a truly happy ending for the hero and the opportunity to show just how helpless those pesky females are.
• 
  Ruth Tillery

  My first spoiler alert
  
  I had major problems when Mr. Ellsworth used a fictional name for Richard Speck. I was only in elementary school when he killed those nurses but his real name was on my lips. As I read along I kept saying, that didn't happen until it finally dawned on me that Richard Dotty had to be created to embellish the story and thus Speck could not be used. I was happy to see that he did get his digs in with this book. Don't stop writing John Ellsworth. I totally enjoy your stories.
• 
  Donna J

  Good book and recommended
  
  I love legal thrillers..’The Law Partners’ Book 3 is great! Sometimes these series can jump around in the beginning, but after you realize what the lawyer ‘Michael Gresham’ has done or who he is defending, they are excellent plots...a little out there, but who cares, I don’t read legal thrillers that are fiction to read a bio. I read Book 1 & loved it! Now onto the next one.
  
  Highly recommended, especially for legal eagles!
• 
  Dianne

  While entertaining to a point, this book is not believable in so many parts and in so many ways. Husband and wife lawyer-team skipping up the courtroom aisle hand in hand? Ummm cheesy much? What mother of a newly delivered ONE week-old baby, leaves said baby on a weekend jaunt to Mexico? Unrealistic and doesn’t happen in ‘normal’ life/world. I won’t go on - just feels like these people live in a parallel universe - more fantasy than fiction with unnecessary murder by the ‘good guys’.
• 
  Barbara

  I was introduced to John Ellsworth as a writer with another of his series, the Thadeus Murfee ones. Interestingly, I did not begin with the first of the series. I was new to Kindle unlimited and found it "borrow for free". The end result though, was that I got hooked anyway, and then I found this other protagonist, in Michael Gresham, and here I am picking these off, as well.
  
  
• 
  Mary Barrett

  5🌟
  
  Wow! I never saw that ending coming. Having had experience in district court I have always enjoyed a good courtroom drama and John Ellsworth did not let me down. He excels at writing a fast moving, action packed court drama that draws the reader in. Well written and well edited. I highly recommend this series of legal thrillers.
• 
  lynda

  I really enjoyed this one. While certainly fiction it doesn't conflict with my idea of Chicago politics at all. Gresham and his cohorts are immersed in a life and death battle against a powerful machine and have to pool all their resources to figure a way out that leaves them alive. Spoiler alert! Not all of them make it.
• 
  ELIZABETH ELLIS

  I give this book.
  
  I give this book 5*. This really has to be the very best book I have read in a better long time. This is the main reason I read legal thrillers to be totally enthralled as I certainly was with this book. The first John Ellsworth book that I have read it certainly will not be the last.
• 
  Monroe Bryant

  A Super Thriller
  
  Couldn’t put it down. Breath taking, but at one point the characters became confusing. Then it all fell in place. Too bad one had to die but….. can’t wait for the next one. As the author was a defense attorney, I wonder if any of the shenanigans he writes about actually occurred. Hmmm.