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Author: Susan Schaab

Publisher: Galavant Press, LLC

ISBN: 13: 978-1-934291-05-4:  10: 1-934291-05-6 

Susan Schaab’s debut legal thriller is an intricate tale focusing on identity theft and sexual harassment that takes place in the prestigious New York law firm, Howard, Rolland & Stewart. The principal focus of the yarn centers on one of its associates, Evelyn (Evie) Sullivan, who is painted as a very competent intellectual and property rights attorney in line for a partnership.

The opening pages of the novel find Evie returning to New York from Los Angeles where she had met with some clients. On the airplane Evie sits besides a gentleman by the name of Joe Barton who is an executive with a French software company, Parapier. The couple exchange pleasantries and Evie invites Joe to an auction she was going to attend in order to gather “intelligence” for an artist client.

Once back in her office a chock full of events unfolds as Evie immerses herself in catching up with her files. Prior to a scheduled meeting with the most important client of the firm, Senator Winston Arbeson, Evie scans her email and notices a message from an unfamiliar source requesting her to do a search pertaining to the drug, Neolactin.  

A few moments later Evie is questioned by her secretary Helen about a particular accounting problem discovered in the firm’s previous month’s report.  Apparently, there were some inconsistencies in the paperwork involving a previous trip made by Evie to Dallas where the receipt indicated that she stayed at the Colonial Court Hotel yet the reservation confirmation with the expense report is missing. Helen remembers that she booked Evie at the Windham hotel although Evie notified her that she had some kind of a problem and as a result she ended up in the Euphorion hotel.

If this is not enough to put a damper on Evie’s day, she also learns from a co-associate, Jenna, that according to the secretary of one of the firm partners, Alan Levenger, her name was in the records as having negotiated an agreement pertaining to the firm’s client, Gooseneck. Evie is astounded as she has no recollection of being involved with this transaction and as she states there seems to be, “great, faulty records everywhere.”

We are next clued-in about an unpleasant encounter Evie experienced with Alan Levenger when the two were visiting a client in Chicago. It was here that Alan followed her back to her hotel room, kissed her and tried to force his way into her room. After her rebuff, Alan apologized and pledged not to repeat his behavior. Evie agreed not to report the incident, however, as we later learn, her decision will result in an unimaginable series of events that will have far reaching repercussions pertaining to her career as well as her life.   

As the book progresses we notice how deftly Schaab brings her story together with the interplay of a sequence of coincidental happenings implicating Evie, Alan and her new boyfriend Joe.  To begin with Evie becomes involved in a dispute with Alan pertaining to various agreements she was working on wherein she is accused of shoddy work and misinterpreting his instructions. All of which are far fetched. However, what really rattles Evie is when she overhears Alan conversing from a conference room telephone extension-something she finds strange. Why didn’t he use his private phone in his office? Could it be that he didn’t want the call to be traced back to him? In addition, Alan, during the course of the telephone conversation that, by the way, was conducted in Spanish, mentions Evie’s name along with reference to a “paper trail.”  Evie’s defensive instincts are awakened, particularly considering that she never trusted Alan.

As she tries to make sense of Alan’s telephone conversation, Evie asks herself, what kind of action and problem was Alan alluding to and “what was sufficient about a schedule?"  Suddenly she begins putting two and two together and realizes that she is being isolated and targeted. Evie also discovers that her email is being tampered with, her accessibility to certain files is denied, an erroneous expense report was filed under her name that had a list of Brazilian telephone calls attached, a wrong document was sent to a client that supposedly originated from her in order to make her look bad with the client and get her in trouble with the firm. Why and what will Alan gain from all of this or as Evie’s boyfriend Joe sums it all up, “so, this guy Alan, has been stepping all over you politically, hijacking your user name and generally being an asshole.”

It all meshes together in the final few pages in an ending that although may not be as satisfying as I would have liked, nonetheless does leave the door open for a sequel. If you are into legal thrillers, this is one you won’t want to miss as Schaab weaves together a riveting story.

Susan Schaab is a New York attorney who practiced technology and intellectual property law for more than eight years in New York, Texas and California. Prior to attending law school, she had been employed in the software development industry as a systems designer and consultant.

The above review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Norm is a Retired Title Attorney and now is the Editor & Publisher of Bookpleasures. Here are  Norm Goldman's Reviews       

You Can Purchase This Book From Amazon