Books

Rule of Law (2017)

A failed mission. Is the President to blame?
And if so, what can be done about it?

Rule of Law

The Advocate (2014)

“Cross James Michener’s great historical fiction with a John Grisham legal thriller, and you’ve got this epic classic by Singer.” –Publisher’s Weekly

Dead Lawyers Tell No Tales (2013)

“[Singer] turns in another winner. His many fans will be lining up to read this one.” –Booklist

 

The Last Plea Bargain (2012)

Veteran attorney Singer turns out another admirable legal thriller that will again draw comparisons to the inestimable John Grisham

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“You learn early that you don’t get to prove your case with Boy Scouts and nuns. Yes, convicted felons will say anything to get out of jail, but they also know a lot.”

Plea bargains may grease the rails of justice, but for Jamie Brock, prosecuting criminals is not about cutting deals. In her three years as assistant DA, she’s never plea-bargained a case and vows she never will.

But when an infamous defense attorney is indicted for murder and devises a way to bring the entire justice system to a screeching halt, Jamie finds herself at a crossroads. One by one, prisoners begin rejecting deals. Prosecutors are overwhelmed, and felons start walking free on technicalities.

To break the logjam and convict her nemesis, Jamie must reevaluate every principle that has guided her young career. But she has little choice. To convict the devil, sometimes you have to cut a deal with one of his demons.

The Last Plea Bargain – Publishers Weekly

Veteran attorney Singer turns out another admirable legal thriller that will again draw comparisons to the inestimable John Grisham. Jamie Brock, assistant DA for Milton County, Ga., doesn’t do plea bargains. She’s about justice, but the lines blur when she faces defense attorney Caleb Tate, accused of murdering his wife, Rikki. Tate, who defended the man convicted of murdering Brock’s mother, hatches a plan that dams the system and makes Brock question all she believes about justice. As Brock and lead detective “LA” Finnegan build a murder case against Tate and, perhaps, a relationship, Brock must also deal with Mace James, attorney for her mother’s murderer and death sentence opponent. Brock must unravel the impossibly knotted strings of her mother’s death; her father’s possible malfeasance; an execution; Tate’s role and the roles of two trusted advisers: her boss and her psychiatrist. Singer skillfully loosens the strings and reweaves them into a tale that entertains, surprises, and challenges readers to rethink justice and mercy.

 

False Witness (2011)

The government can give you a new identity . . . but only God can give you new life.

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Clark Shealy is a bail bondsman with the ultimate bounty on the line: his wife’s life. He has forty-eight hours to deliver the Abacus Algorithm or his wife dies.

Four years later, law student Jamie Brock is working in legal aid when a routine case takes a vicious twist: their clients are accused of defrauding the government and have the algorithm in their possession. Now the couple is on the run from federal agents and the Chinese mafia, who will do anything to get the formula.

Fatal Convictions (2010)

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Alexander Madison is part lawyer, part pastor, and part con artist. When a Muslim imam is accused of instigating honor killings, Alex must decide whether to take the case that every other lawyer in town is running away from. He doesn’t realize until it’s too late that defending the imam may cost him the one thing in life he cares about most. Fatal Convictions is the story of a lawyer willing to risk it all and the women who must choose between faith and love.

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The Justice Game (2009)

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After the target of an investigative report storms a Virginia Beach television station, he kills one of the anchors before the SWAT team takes him down. Following the victim’s funeral, her family files a lawsuit against the gun company who manufactured the killer’s weapon of choice. The lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant—Kelly Starling and Jason Noble—are young, charismatic, and successful. They’re also easy blackmail targets, both harboring a personal secret so devastating it could destroy their careers. Millions of dollars—and more than a few lives—are at stake. But as Kelly and Jason battle each other, they discover that the real fight is with unseen forces intent on controlling them both.

Publishers Weekly – The Justice Game

Christy Award–winning novelist and lawyer Singer (Directed Verdict) lets the action sprint out of the gate with a murder in the first few pages. With murderer and victim dead, the moral issue of gun control takes center stage in the book, with a number of side dilemmas. The opposing counsels in the gun control case are young, ambitious lawyers, and both have hidden sins that could sink their careers. A law firm that both worked for further complicates the action. Singer piles the moral and plot complexities a bit too high; the backstories of main characters Jason Noble and Kelly Starling are relevant, but the tangled relationship between Jason and his cop father bogs down the action. The legal-thriller genre lends itself to the pattern of conversion that evangelical Christian novels require, and Singer offers logical character developments that aren’t heavy-handed. The only stock feature in this well-plotted novel is the generic, fakey-sounding names (Brad Carson, Kelly Starling). But that’s a quibble about a book that will entertain readers and make them think—what more can one ask?

Author’s Note – The Justice Game

This one is personal.

On December 15, 1988, a sixteen-year-old student named Nicholas Elliot took a Mac-11 assault weapon to Atlantic Shores Christian School and opened fire. He shot and killed a teacher named Karen Farley, wounded an assistant principal, and burst into a trailer where a Bible class was meeting. When he opened fire on the students who had scrambled to the back corner of the trailer, frantically praying, the gun jammed. The Bible teacher, Hutch Matteson, tackled Elliot and prevented the kind of tragedy that hit Columbine High School in Colorado several years later.

Atlantic Shores was the school where my wife taught. The school my kids attended (though they were not there that day). When I learned that Elliot had purchased the gun illegally from a gun store in Isle of Wight County (through a transaction referred to as a “straw purchase transaction”), I ended up representing the family of Karen Farley in an unprecedented lawsuit against that gun store. The verdict shocked everyone.

That was fifteen years ago — my baptism by fire into the national gun debate.

With this book, I wade back in …wiser (I hope), more cautious, and with a better understanding of both sides. My goal here is not to make converts (at least, not in the Second Amendment sense), but to fairly present both perspectives and let the reader decide. I’ve tried to create compelling characters who are gun enthusiasts and others who advocate gun control. In fact, I was so determined to be balanced that I did something I’ve never done before and, as far as I know, no other novelist has done before or since.

My readers determined the verdict for this book.

I put together an on-line video, showing a news report about the fictional case at the heart of this book and portions of the closing arguments of both lawyers. I asked readers to watch the video and render a verdict. The verdict in this story reflects the verdict of a majority of my readers.

The result might surprise you. If I.ve done my job right, the ending of the book might surprise you as well.

Whether it does or not, thanks for taking this journey with me. In a very real sense, you are always the jury. And, just like in my real trials, I’ve got a few butterflies as I submit my case to you.

For The Justice Game, the jury is out.

By Reason of Insanity (2008)

A series of unsolved murders. A woman who knows too much. Sometimes, insanity is the only way out.

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Following a series of murders, Catherine O’Rourke experiences disturbing dreams that detail each crime. After sharing them with investigators, she’s arrested as the main suspect.

Las Vegas lawyer Quinn Newberg believes in justice—and his client—but he doesn’t believe her dreams are anything other than the result of a fractured personality disorder. Though he knows insanity cases are unpredictable, nothing has prepared Quinn for this. To win, or even survive, he’ll need more than his famed legal maneuvering. On this case, he’ll need a miracle.

The Judge (Original in 2006)

A judge on trial. His life on the line.


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It’s the ultimate reality show: advocates from the world’s major religions defend their beliefs on a remote island against all challenges.

Justice Oliver Finney is “chosen” to defend Christianity, but as the show takes a strange twist and Finney realizes he’s trapped in a game of deadly agendas, he sneaks coded messages out to his former law clerk, Nikki Moreno.

Can Nikki decipher the coded mysteries in the ancient words of Christ before her boss dies defending them.

The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ (2006)

He stood accused by those who sought the truth.

They got more than they bargained for.
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The Judge Who Stole Christmas (Original in 2005)

Can a federal judge outlaw Christmas?

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A judge rules a live Nativity display unconstitutional—and a Christmas showdown ensues.

From the courtrooms of Virginia to the talk shows of New York City, the battle escalates into a national media spectacle. Caught in the middle is law student Jasmine Woodfaulk—assigned to represent the defendant as part of her school’s legal-aid clinic.

Only a surprising series of events—nearly as humbling and unexpected as the origins of the season itself—can reconcile a stubborn father, a crusading law student, and an obstinate judge.

Self Incrimination (Original in 2005)

She confessed to murder, but the evidence never lies. Can a lawyer save a client from herself?

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Tara Bannister’s abusive stepfather finally pushed her too far. To save herself, she had to kill him. Or did she?

Defense attorneys expect to catch their clients lying. It’s part of the game. But Tara’s confession doesn’t add up, and attorney Leslie Conners must overcome more than first-trial jitters to mount a credible defense. She’ll need to uncover what really happened . . . and it just may be more shocking than the crime itself.

Dying Declaration

One young boy’s tragic death sets in motion a deadly conspiracy.

When the Hammonds try to heal their son through fervent prayer, they face heartbreaking loss—and a charge of negligent homicide. Lawyer Charles Arnold believes in grace and mercy, but nothing in his colorful past has prepared him for this case, or for the dangerous conspiracy at its heart.

Charles begins to suspect that everything will hang on the traitorous testimony of a key witness . . . and on a dying declaration that will radically change the lives of all involved.

Irreparable Harm (Original in 2003)

A fight for life. A battle for right. Attorney Mitchell Taylor is trapped in a lose-lose situation.

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Can Mitchell Taylor help his client, Myrna—a young surrogate mother—and save the child she carries without sealing the fate of others?

The biological mother wants to force the abortion of the baby Mryna carries in hopes of producing a “healthy” child. Meanwhile, Mitchell wrestles with an agonizing ethical dilemma: Can he protect the remaining surrogate embryos, while at the same time helping the beautiful young surrogate save the child she carries?

Directed Verdict (Original in 2002)

A martyred missionary pits one lawyer against an entire nation.

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In Saudi Arabia, an American missionary is tortured and killed and his wife arrested on trumped-up charges before being deported.

Compelled by her story, attorney Brad Carson files an unprecedented civil rights suit. But the suit unleashes powerful forces that will stop at nothing to vindicate the Arabian kingdom.
As Brad and his brilliant co-counsel Leslie Conners navigate a maze of treachery and deception, they gamble everything to bring justice to one family and alter the course of international law.

Made to Count (2005)

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Live Your Passion (2005)

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