James Patterson teams up with Mike Lupica for the third entry in their unique and highly suspenseful Jane Smith series.

The book’s title, THE HAMPTONS LAWYER, may be quite matter of fact, but the circumstances are not. Defense attorney Jane Smith, a resident of Long Island’s famous East End, has been fighting a mostly losing battle with throat and neck cancer. She realizes that she could die at any moment, yet she continues to throw herself into her work. No case has confounded and challenged her more than her defense of Long Island’s rich bad boy, Rob Jacobson.

"THE HAMPTONS LAWYER is a great beach read that is unpredictable and hard to put down.... [T]he novel ends with a terrific cliffhanger that hopefully will open the door to a fourth installment in this engaging series."

This is the third time that Jane is defending Jacobson, who is on trial for yet another triple homicide. He swears he is being framed, and being in the pocket of mob boss Sonny Blum --- in much the same way that his father once was --- does not make this an easy task for Jane. However, Jacobson claims that Blum and his influential colleagues are setting him up to be the fall guy for the murders of a married couple and their teen daughter. It is for this reason only that Jane is continuing on as his counsel. She is determined to see that justice is done for this family and that the actual killer goes down for it, even if it ends up being her own client.

Assisting Jane, as always, is Hamptons bar owner and ex-NYPD detective Jimmy Cunniff. He has direct experience with Blum and his entire racketeering organization and provides much-needed backup, security and detecting aid to Jane. While she is mentally zoned into this case and also dealing with her terminal illness, her veterinarian boyfriend, Ben Kalinsky, proposes to her. Jane gives him a firm no, indicating that a wedding needs to be a happy event, not a sad one where everyone knows the bride has a short expiration date.

Meanwhile, a hitman for the Blum family is out there and waiting for the green light to take out Jane and Jimmy. We witness a trail of bodies that have been left behind from his various hits, and he indeed means business.

As the case begins to ramp up in intensity, with several verbal battles between Jane and the prosecution, events outside of the courthouse continue to provide more reason for her to worry as some individuals either directly tied to the proceedings or potential witnesses unexpectedly die. And adding fuel to the fire, Jimmy personally serves Blum a subpoena to appear at the trial. It’s a dangerous ploy that may come back to bite Jane and her defense strategy.

THE HAMPTONS LAWYER is a great beach read that is unpredictable and hard to put down. Even though Jane is gambling with the Grim Reaper, the novel ends with a terrific cliffhanger that hopefully will open the door to a fourth installment in this engaging series.