REVIEW: Conflicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy

Conflicts with Interest
by Michael Ruddy

Copyright: 2009
Pages: 333
Rating: 4/5
Read: Dec. 28-30, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; Countdown Challenge 2010
Yearly Count: 73

First Line: The river card snapped to the felt.

T.R. Morgan of Morgan Homes has had a successful life and business. But it’s all threatened by one little thing: a lawsuit. And who else is he going to be going up against but Steve Sanderson – a ruthless and feared attorney in the Bay Area. Not knowing much about what he is about to be involved with, he’s optimistic that his insurance company will come to his rescue and a quick settlement will be reached. But not with Steve Sanderson – even the insurance companies fear Sanderson. How far will this go? Will he lose his business? His home? Everything? Everything will have to play itself out before it will come to an unbelievable end. An ending that no one would have expected. Will T.R. bring Sanderson down, or will Sanderson bring T.R. down?

I was contacted by Rebecca Brown of The Cadence Group about reading and reviewing this ARC. Scheduled to be published in late January, 2010, this book was quite interesting. It was not a mystery, which is what I’m used to reading. But it was more of a general fiction book. It also dealt with the building industry, something that I am somewhat involved in being employed by a concrete company. Overall I think that this was a good debut novel. However, I had some reservations about it as well. First of all, the legal descriptions that are involved in this book can be a little overwhelming to the lay person. I also felt as if the chapters going back and forth were a little choppy. There were a few grammatical errors (but it was an ARC, hopefully they’ll catch that before final publication – I hate being such a stickler for grammar, but I am!) Overall though, this book kept my interest. It was an enjoyable read for me, and I’m glad that I was contacted about this book because it probably would not be something that I would pick up in a bookstore or library. I am interested to see where Mr. Ruddy’s writing will take him next based upon his background. He definitely has the skill to come up with new and interesting topics and I hope to see that in the future.