Review by Booklist Review
TV veteran Cowan's debut begins with a bang. An unknown assailant kills Rich Kaplan, law school friend of Jake West, and Jake is the primary suspect. Jake looks into the case Rich was working on and is encouraged to take the deal the DA's office is offering defendant Tiana Walker. After Tiana proclaims her innocence, though, Jake decides not to take the deal. This angers ADA Austin Bell and Jake's own firm's managing partner. Then Grace, a paralegal, tells Jake that Rich had found something in Tiana's case that could implicate one of the firm's biggest clients. At this point, Jake recruits another law school friend, Javi, disbarred and working as a PI, to investigate the case along with Grace, detective McFadden, and ADA Bell. With a fast, edge-of-your-seat pace, Proof is a rollercoaster ride that fans of John Grisham and Scott Turow will enjoy. Beyond the thrills, though, Proof also looks at the impact of alcoholism, strained father-son relationships, and how the criminal justice system often takes advantage of the poor and powerless. Highly recommended.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Suits producer Cowan debuts with a terrifically tense legal thriller. Forty-something L.A. attorney Jake West has hit rock bottom: he's an alcoholic; he's estranged from his wife, Cara; and he's just been censured at work for an ethical breach. After West gets into the passenger seat of his friend and colleague Rich Kaplan's car one afternoon, someone knocks on the window and shoots Kaplan in the head. The killer leaves their .44 Magnum at the scene, and West picks it up just as the cops arrive. Those circumstances alone make West a suspect; when it comes out that Kaplan and Cara had been sleeping together, the optics worsen. Hoping to clear his name and avoid arrest, West digs into the last case Kaplan was handling. Despite having no experience in criminal law, he'd been defending Tiana Walker, who was accused of setting a fire that killed two of her three children. West decides to take over the case, and soon discovers that Kaplan's bizarre handling of it raises more questions than answers. Cowan manages to make his deadbeat lead easy to root for, and pairs nuanced characterizations with a deliciously serpentine plot. Readers will hope this is the start of a long-running series. Agents: Emma Kapson and Liz Parker, Verve Literary. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Cowan, a writer on TV's Suits, shows off his knowledge of power dynamics and politics in this debut legal thriller. Lawyer Jake West has been on a downward spiral. Disgraced professionally after accusing one of his firm's biggest clients of corruption, Jake is on the outs with his boss (who happens to be his own father). He's also struggling with alcohol addiction and a personal life that's in shambles. Then Jake witnesses his former best friend, Rich, being shot and killed by a hooded man who immediately vanishes, and no one believes Jake's account of the events. The police treat Jake as a suspect in Rich's murder, and his recent history means that just about everyone in his life is side-eyeing him as well. Jake can live with being suspected, but he can't let Rich's killer get away with it. So with the help of a few friends and colleagues, Jake sets out to identify the real murderer--and finds a larger story of political cronyism and violence. VERDICT Flawed protagonist Jake, driven to do the right thing, centers this complex, gripping thriller. Fans of Michael Connelly's "Lincoln Lawyer" novels should jump on this one.--Jane Jorgenson
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