SENECA COUNTY, MARYLAND -- In the just-released legal thriller by A. X. Foster, Gavel to Gavel: The Seneca County Courthouse Series, Book One, a wealthy business tycoon is viciously stabbed to death by his wife. The only eyewitness is their disabled young daughter. Her testimony is the key to the case. But is she telling the truth?
GAVEL TO GAVEL NEWS RELEASE
Paperback Now Available
Gavel to Gavel: The Seneca County Courthouse Series, Book One©
A Legal Thriller, Copyright 2023, By A.X. Foster472 pages. Published by Paper Raven Books LLCPublication Date: June 27, 2023Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9876997-0-6eBook ISBN: 979-8-9876997-1-3
Top prosecutor “Mac” MacIntyre is calm, confident, and hates to lose. What first appears to be an open-and-shut homicide case soon becomes a tangled web of deception and danger.
Maneuvering through a maze of office politics, the bright glare of the media spotlight, and his own ethical dilemmas, Mac relies on his courtroom cunning and wit as he navigates from crime scene investigation to jury selection to fierce cross-examination to a shocking verdict.
When explosive new evidence is discovered, Mac faces the greatest challenge of his distinguished career. He must decide… will finding or hiding the truth lead to justice?
Gavel to Gavel author A. X. Foster was himself a highly regarded criminal prosecutor for 20 years, and for the past 15 years he’s worked as a criminal defense attorney, handling thousands of criminal cases over the years on both sides of the law. As a prosecutor in Maryland, he rose to the level of Senior Assistant State’s Attorney trying many serious cases such as murder and rape and was the prosecutor in more than 100 trials decided by juries. As a criminal defense attorney, he has successfully defended individuals charged with murder, rape, and other serious crimes. As a result, Foster knows how the system works from both sides of the law – how prosecutors and defense attorneys think and how the criminal court system and jury trials work.
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Eight out of eight early reader reviews by verified Amazon book purchasers gave Gavel to Gavel five stars, the top rating allowed.
One reader called the book a “gripping legal thriller” and said, “Move over, John Grisham, there’s a new kid in town!” The reader added, “With five stars, I highly recommend Gavel to Gavel and look forward to reading more from this uber-talented new voice in the legal thriller genre.”
Another reader called the book, a “great read!”
Still another reader commented, “What a fantastic debut book! Well-written from a true attorney's perspective...the book held my interest from start to finish! Can't wait for book 2 in the series!! This is a 10 out of 10....highly recommended!”
Said one review: “Highly recommend! Hooks the reader from beginning to end! Looking forward to the next book!” Another wrote, “A classic page-turner! Very addicting!”
Still another said, “Great read! Drags you in from page one. Great characters, great plot.”
Foster imbues in his protagonist Mac MacIntyre more than a bit of the author’s own background giving him the “theatricality” that Foster displayed as a former actor on the stage and in several television soap operas and the short, impactful way of expressing himself that Foster exhibited as an advertising copywriter for the big Madison Avenue advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather.
“As I read the feedback and reviews from readers who have purchased my book, I see that my background as an actor has greatly influenced my writing. People keep mentioning the characters and the dialogue, and parts of the book read more like a play than a novel. Maybe that's what's called my ‘style,’ I don't know. I also see the influence of my Madison Avenue advertising days, because I tend to favor short sentences, snappy headlines, easy to read scenes, crisp dialogue, action, and keeping the story moving … what happens next?”
“What happens next” for A. X. Foster and “Mac” MacIntyre? Foster says he is already about two-thirds of the way through his manuscript of the novel Double Blind, “Book Two” of Foster’s fictional “Seneca County Courthouse Series.” Four pages of the first chapter of Double Blind are previewed at the end of Book One, in Gavel to Gavel.