A Matter Of Will
by Adam Mitzner
Review

A MATTER OF WILL

Twenty-seven year-old Will is dreaming of hitting it big on Wall Street and trying to climb the Corporate ladder at cutthroat brokerage firm Maeve Grant. Short on his targets and perilously close to having to return to his small Midwest hometown with his tail between his legs and nothing to show for his thousands of hours at the office, Will is feeling particularly desperate when a chance encounter with wealthy businessman Samuel Abaddon and his enigmatic partner Evelyn Devereux presents an exciting new opportunity—one that seems almost too good to be true.

Winning Abaddon’s business turns Will’s life upside down and makes all his dreams come true—or so he thinks. Suddenly he is Maeve Grant’s brightest young star, bringing in more money than all his colleagues combined and living a life of luxury on his generous new client’s dime, the business rolling in so fast he can barely keep up with the paperwork as he signs his name against every seven-figure investment Abaddon sends his way. Things are even heating up in his personal life, as his relationship with ambitious fellow lawyer Gwen Lipton develops.

But every contract comes with consequences, and the dream quickly turns into a living nightmare when Will witnesses a horrifying crime that exposes the true nature of his mysterious patron.

With all revealed, Will must make a choice: Dive headfirst into hell, or face the consequences of a deal with the devil.

With its unraveling mystery and tightly-plotted suspense, A matter Of Will, will have readers racing to learn Will’s fate and leave them questioning the moral compromises they themselves would make to have their wildest dreams come true. The novel has also been optioned for film treatment by Emily Siegel and Company.

ADAM MITZNER

Adam Mitzner grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, which is about an hour outside of New York City. He graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. and M.A. in politics, and from there went directly on to law school at the University of Virginia.

After law school, he joined the litigation department of a large New York City law firm, and after a few more stops, is now currently the head of the litigation department of Pavia & Harcourt LLP, which is located in midtown Manhattan.

Adam is the author of several acclaimed novels, including the #1 Kindle bestseller Dead Certain, A Conflict of Interest, A Case of Redemption, Losing Faith, and The Girl from Home.

Suspense Magazine named A Conflict of Interest one of the best books of 2012, and in 2014 the American Bar Association nominated A Case of Redemption for a Silver Gavel Award.

Adam and his family live in New York City.

Check out all the latest news at Adam’s website

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I chatted with Adam about A Matter Of Will, join in the conversation here …

FIRST LINES

Will Matthews had never seen a dead body. Not even his parents’ – he’d chosen not to view them before the burial, knowing that witnessing them that way would haunt him. But now he was staring straight into the lifeless eyes of a corpse lying in a pool of blood on his balcony.

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TEASER LINES

“She so desperately wanted to believe that happily ever after wasn’t just in fairy tales. That it was possible for regular people too. That the moral of the story could not be that those who believed amazing things could happen for them were destined to be defeated in the end by those who take advantage of that belief”

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REVIEW

“Every man is the protagonist in the novel that is his life”

Having literally just finished reading and reviewing a previous story where the two main protagonists have both personal and business interests which overlap and have the potential to destroy them, both as a couple and individually, A Matter Of Will virtually replicates this scenario, but there the likeness ends, as this fast moving book has the potential to be adding death to the equation!

Our two main protagonists, Will and Gwen, are both vulnerable and emotional individuals, still trying to prove themselves in their respective chosen careers as investment broker and law graduate, whilst also trying to cement an emotional and physical relationship between them, which is as yet, still in its fledgling stage.

Both are being placed under enormous pressure to find outcomes to problems, which they know are not ethically good or right. When opportunities for fast track career enhancement, are handed to them both on a plate; morals, truth and a profound sense of right and wrong, seem to fly in the face of greed, desire and ‘turning a blind eye’. Both are lured into a false sense of security and seduced by the dream of success, which because of their inexperience and naivety, they fail to realise will suck them in so deep that they will be unable to escape, when the truth of the situation slowly dawns on them – which it inevitably does!

When honesty between them and a reality check finally prevails, both realise that they are opening a Pandora’s box of retribution and destruction, by continuing on their current paths, a price they might ultimately be forced to pay for with their lives.

With his seemingly effortless, skilled writing and compelling, well balanced attention to detail in the narrative and dialogue, Adam never once forgot any one of the many complex characters he introduced into the story, when it came to fleshing out all the details about them and giving them a life and personality of their own. The synergy and dynamics between each of them made for a palpable tension which lasted from the first to last page of the book.

This multi-layered storyline started off at a good pace and the suspense and intrigue never let up for a minute, only when Adam decided to ratchet things up a notch, making the adrenaline pump even faster! There were so many twists and turns in the tale, almost from the first page to the last, that I challenge any reader to have worked out the final outcome until almost the very final sentence. I thought I had it sussed several times, only to be proved wrong within seconds, as the next event unfolded.

For me personally, the only weak spot in the book were the last couple of pages. However, I seriously think that was probably me, looking for that one last twist in the tale, as if there hadn’t already been enough!

Realistically, the ending was the only plausible option I wanted for the couple, although I was in no way prepared for the way in which it happened – this was the most well kept secret of the entire story!

Very reminiscent of, and a cross between, the films The Devil’s Advocate and The Firm, this book truly deserves to be optioned for film and could definitely stand amongst them in its own right.

A Matter Of Will had just about everything going for it, so move over John Grisham, because Adam Mitzner is here to stay – and heading for my Goodreads ‘Favourites’ list!

A complimentary download of this book, published by Thomas & Mercer, was kindly made available by Little Bird Publicity and supplied by NetGalley

Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article.

I personally do not agree with ‘rating’ a book, as the overall experience is all a matter of personal taste, which varies from reader to reader. However some review sites do demand a rating value, so when this review is posted to such a site, it will attract a 5 out of 5.

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