Wow, wow, wow! This was my first Steve Cavanagh book and it won’t be my last. This book was amazing and I could not put it down. I was hooked from the first page and it had me hooked all the way to the last page. The character development in this book was phenomenal and I found myself loving some characters and despising others. If you have never taken a journey with ex con-man turned attorney Eddie Flynn you are truly missing out! This book will stick with me for a long time. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege to read an ARC of this book!

Wow another great book by Steve Cavanagh! A little bit of suspense, a little bit of WTF and a whole lot of awesome!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Steve Cavanaugh and Atria bookstore publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

I went into this book with high hopes and perhaps that was my mistake. This author is a tremendous writer and has so much potential for 5 star books. I feel this book was too lengthy and it didn’t need to be. Many times I felt myself thinking parts were unnecessary and just filler.

The storyline was great but it was slow. There were too many characters to keep track of in my opinion. While the author did a great job of putting everything together it wasn’t until the last 20% and that’s a long time to wait for real action.

The chapters were short and that’s a plus for me. It takes a lot of keep my attention focused and I find that easier with short chapters. I was hoping for more thrilling aspects or more suspense. I feel the different aspects in the book could have actually been more than 1 book. The author has great thoughts just too many in one book.

The authors defence strategy and means of getting his clients acquitted is phenomenal. I love when he gets to the meat and bones of his defence!

Storyline was 5 stars
Characters were 3 stars (too many)
Ending was 4 stars just took too long to get there
Suspense 2 stars
Thrills 2 stars

Overall a 3 to 3.5 star read for me.

Witness 8 is a fast paced, hold your breath, gasp out loud book that keeps the lights on and the pages turning.

Eddie Flynn is back and does he have his hands full.

He is a target of multiple hitman, he is defending a well know surgeon Jack Johnson for murder and it does not look promising for Jack.

Jack however has Eddie and his team on his side so there is some hope.

Ruby Johnson a babysitter/maid for the Jackson's witnesses the murder and decides to frame Jack.

Ruby presents herself as charming, hard working and a caring soul which is far from the truth.

Body count is mounting , red herrings, twists that will surprise you that had me turning the pages as fast as I could.

Expect the unexpected from Steve Cavanagh .

I highly recommend that you get your copy of Witness 8 ( and any Eddie Flynn book) clear your schedule and settle in for a a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the privilege of reading and reviewing Witness 8.

I am always eager to read each exciting and twisty new book by Steve Cavanagh. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC, which is much appreciated. Witness 8 is the eighth book in the popular, clever Eddie Flynn series. The series centres around court trials where Eddie is the defence lawyer.

Eddie is a unique and brilliant lawyer who prefers to defend clients he believes are innocent. Before becoming a lawyer, he was a con man. He has an accomplished team investigating the cases before a new trial but often relies on his old con man tricks of misdirections and deception in defending accused clients. This makes the trials entertaining, surprising and tension-filled. Eddie's capable team includes his friend and mentor, Harry, a retired judge; his associate lawyer, Kate Brooks; an investigator and skilled fighter, Melissa Bloch; and former FBI Gabriel Lake. He had also called on criminals from his past for advice and assistance when he was known as Eddie Fly. The intense plot contains twists, vivid descriptions of scenes, and intriguing characters. The story was complex but easy to follow, and it could be adapted for a great TV series.


He has completed a trial in which he blamed a policeman for his illegal activities. This led to many distractions in planning his subsequent trial. The consequence was a group of crooked police officers, nicknamed New York's Finest, was out for revenge. A sizeable monetary bounty has been promised to reward whoever kills Eddie. Among those hoping to destroy Eddie is the fascinating, calm, and deadly Mr. Christmas, a hired hitman who will kill without remorse. He enjoys old movies, especially ones starring Marlon Brando. A former Seal and skilled military sniper, Angel, would like the reward but mainly enjoys the excitement of the kill. A group of Neo-nazis, the 88, are also aiming for Eddie, along with other reward seekers. His friend and colleague, Harry, lies in a coma after flinging himself in front of Eddie, taking Angel's bullets aimed at Eddie. This has interfered with plans for the new trial and added pressure on his team.

Ruby Johnson is a young woman who will become Witness 8 for the prosecution. She is a nanny or housekeeper for wealthy families in Manhattan's posh West 74th Street. Her family once lived in one of these homes, but everything was lost due to her father's gambling debts. He disappeared, and Ruby and her mother now live in a rundown apartment in a slum area. Ruby resents that her employers no longer acknowledge her as one of them. Her own grandmother remarked that there was something wrong with Ruby. She presents herself as a cheerful and charming employee, but sometimes, people catch a glimpse that 'something is wrong with Ruby.' Ruby has witnessed a woman who treated her kindly being murdered. She knew the woman was having affairs with two men in the neighbourhood and saw which one killed the woman. She places an anonymous call to the police, saying the killer was Dr. John Jackson, an innocent, popular and respected brain surgeon. She works in their home as a nanny for their little boy, and we follow with sadness the devastating effects this act has on his reputation and emotional state.

She has a scheme to place false evidence and use blackmail to obtain funds to put her mother in an upscale retirement home and to travel. She also has a more secret, devious motive. She devises a petition to force the doctor's family to move, which increases the neighbour's fear of the doctor. The family grandmother senses something is wrong with Ruby, placing the grandmother's life in danger. No one is safe.

Eddie Flynn feels the doctor is innocent and prepares for his trial while dodging attempts on his life. Dr. Jackson has become increasingly emotionally distraught and in no condition to testify. False DNA evidence and the murder weapon were found in his house, and Eddie's team must find alternate people who could be deemed guilty and explain the false evidence. When the trial begins, it falls on Eddy's associate lawyer, Kate, to conduct much of the defence. Kate prefers to follow a straight legal process but may feel compelled to follow some of Eddie's plans and con man trickery. The lack of Eddie's time in court lessens the fun of watching him operate.

This rollercoaster, tension-filled story will keep you in suspense and on the edge of your seat. What verdict will be reached for the trial? What will happen to Ruby once the extent of her crimes is revealed? Will the intriguing Mr. Christmas play any further role? Will Eddie continue to dodge bullets? Will Harry succumb to his injuries? What about the blackmail attempts? The publication of the much-anticipated book is set for March 2025 in North America.

Ruby used to live in a high end upper west side neighborhood until her father left his family and they lost everything. Ruby now works in that neighborhood as a nanny and one night she witnesses a murder and instead of going to the police, she exacts a plan that ruins the lives of her old neighbors.

Eddie Flynn is brought into the scene to defend one of the neighbors who has been accused of the murder. Eddie is an ex con turned lawyer who surrounds himself with an interesting team who help him solve this case. Eddie's way of doing business in clever, unconventional and maybe not so legal. To complicate things there is a hit out on. him so he's dodging hitmen throughout.

I've never read an Eddie Flynn novel before and will definitely being going back and reading more. This book had me guessing, engaged and wanting to see what happens next. I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Steve Cavanagh for the ARC.

I’ve read a few of the books from this series and one thing I love is that they work well as standalone. This is the newest book in the Eddie Flynn series. As always, you get more out if you start from the first book and work your way to this one, but it’s not necessary.

As usual, it’s a unique story line with a few twists and turns, predominantly in the final 25%. While I find the books to be a good read, they’re unnecessarily LONG. I feel like there is so much extra fluff that could be removed and the story would be just fine. The longer the book, the less desire I have to continue to read, especially if it’s a slow burn like this one. The plot develops well but takes forever to get there. I feel like I started this book very excited and finished it relieved that it was finally over. It wasn’t very exciting to keep my attention going, for that there’s a loss of a star.

Secondly, there is way too many perspectives! I believe there was 8 or 9 different character perspectives to follow along with. Cavanagh has a create writing ability so the storylines don’t get lost, but it’s a lot to mentally keep track of. Each chapter is a new perspective but it’s identified clearly. However, with 9 different perspectives, it’s often difficult to remember whose perspective it is. With that, there’s also quite a few names to keep track of, lots of characters to remember. To me, it was just too much. That being said, the characters aren’t as developed as they could be. The chapters are fairly short and I’m thankful for that, it’s easier to put down and take a break without feeling lost when you pick it up again.

For me, this one was just okay. I found the length and the amount of characters to be irritating. I’m giving it 3⭐️ because the writing and the plot were really well done. Had it been shorter and taken up less of my mental energy to keep track of characters, it could have been a 5⭐️.

Wow! Never saw the ending coming. Had suspicions and the first couple out of many were right.
This is my first Eddie Flynn book and I will be reading more. He’s a character everyone will love. He’s a bad guy turned good guy now fighting for the bad guy or, in John Jackson’s case, a mistaken bad guy. And what can I say about Ruby and Mr Christmas (btw, what a name). Ruby has your emotions doing cartwheels as you feel for her the wonder what she is up too. Mr Christmas has some surprises as well. Hopefully there’s a book on the horizon. Pretty please.

WITNESS 8 was another hit from Steve Cavanagh, who continues to delight and entertain with Eddie Flynn and company. This was a flat out fun novel from beginning to end, and a complete joy to read. Cavanagh is such a clever and thoughtful writer, so skilled at pulling together threads of different stories to form a cohesive and entertaining whole. It’s rare that I find myself laughing out loud and smirking with glee while reading, but Cavanagh has a way of pulling out these emotions. Already excited for the next one and will happily read anything this author writes!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review WITNESS 8.

Another winner! I felt like this one was good, but not as good as the last in the series. I’ll definitely tell my friends they should read this one. Thanks for the ARC NetGalley.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏. 𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆.

Though the blurb focused on Ruby Johnson, a cleaner who witnesses a murder, she wasn't really the main premise of the book. Ruby knew the victim, and she knew the killer; she also has been holding a long-standing grudge for being ushered out the wealthy neighborhood that she used to live in with her mother. Because of this grudge, Ruby isn't telling the truth about the murder.

Eddie Flynn, con man turned lawyer, is there to defend the accused. I expected the focus to shift to the case, but once again, another storyline was introduced. Someone has a vendetta against Flynn and will stop at nothing until he's dead.

Usually I'm not a fan of so many moving parts in a thriller; I want my action centralized and focused. However, these storylines were all connected in such a sophisticated way, and the author brought everything together with ease. I thoroughly enjoyed this installment and look forward to knocking out his backlist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this early copy. At the time this review was written, this title was expected to publish March 11, 2025 in the US.

It was so good to see former conman Eddie Flynn again. He is now a lawyer and wow does he have a complicated case. John Jackson, his client is accused of murdering his neighbor. There seems to be no reason why he would commit this crime. The evidence doesn’t lie though, or does it?
Ruby Johnson is the Jackson’s nanny. From our first interaction with her, we know that she is very different from the face she presents to the world. But does Ruby have anything to do with the crime John’s been accused of? You’re going to have to read this engaging book to find out.
Can Eddie figure out what is really going on before his client goes to prison? Heck can Eddie stay alive long enough to do that? There was a lot going on and I just flew through the pages. Great characters, a good mystery, and a terrific series. 4.5 stars.

Firstly, I didn’t realize this book was part of a series when I started so while I could follow the story I feel like I definitely was missing the backstory of all of the characters. There was a lot going on in this book and a lot of POV’s and plot lines to follow. It did all come together in the end though. Overall it was a good story, but I prefer my suspense books to have more suspense about the main plot and less of a crime mob aspect. Because of this I gave it 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

I was so excited to been given an ARC for this book!
Steve Cavanagh definitely knows how to write a story where you route for the good guys abs bad guys. Eddie was brought to life again in this novel and he didn't miss a beat or disappoint. Loved everything about this book in the series. Ending was spot on!!

Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh due to be published March 11, 2025.
Ruby Johnson is a former upper-class woman that now works as a maid for some of her past friends because of the sins of her father. When Ruby witnesses a murder, she sets out plans to frame people. Eddie Flynn has to try to stop her before innocent people are convicted. Will he get killed in the process?
I have read every book Steve Cavanagh has written so I was excited to get this one – it did not disappoint!
Ruby was evil personified, but you could understand her motives. I love all the characters – Eddie, Kate, Harry, Lake, Bloch – and how they had their own chapters with their take on everything. Each one of them could have their own series! I loved it – one of those I couldn’t wait to find out how it ended, but then the book would be over!
Definitely put this on your TBR list – and all the other Eddie Flynn books if you have not read them!
#NetGalley #SteveCavanagh #AtriaBooks #Witness8

After loving this author’s last major hit, I had really high hopes. Unfortunately, I did not feel the same way about this book as I did his last one. It felt like things weren’t fully fleshed out and I wanted more depth.

Steve Cavanagh is one of my new favorite authors. I've read all the books in his Eddie Flynn series, plus all but one of his stand alones (saving it so I'm not done with all his back log!).

While this could operate as a stand alone, it does build on the prior 7 books, so I would recommend reading them all in order for maximum effect. There are a lot of moving parts here, but tightly written. The courtroom scenes are especially fun. I even got a little emotional at the end.

I'm not sure this QUITE lived up to <i>Kill For Me, Kill for You</i> which was outstanding, but I absolutely had a fun time reading this.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Publishes March 11, 2025, so there's time to read the first 7 in the series before this is released!

Add this book to your TBR list now...i mean it. Now. It was phenomenal!!! I was on the edge of my seat, and could not put this book down. The story was so gripping and wonderfully done.

I love a good Steve Cavanagh book. Witness 8 is his latest work. It was a great book, just as you would expect.

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!