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The #1 Lawyer

A Thriller

Coming Soon
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Contributors

By James Patterson

By Nancy Allen

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Dec 16, 2025
Page Count
464 pages
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN-13
9781538753125

Price

$19.99

Price

$25.99 CAD

Format

  1. ebook
  2. Hardcover
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged)
  4. Trade Paperback (Large Print)

Format:

  1. Trade Paperback $19.99 $25.99 CAD
  2. ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
  3. Hardcover $30.00 $39.00 CAD
  4. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $31.99
  5. Trade Paperback (Large Print) $31.00 $40.00 CAD

Buy from Other Retailers:

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Biloxi’s best criminal defense attorney has never lost a case—then his client’s beautiful wife is murdered, and America’s #1 lawyer suddenly becomes its #1 suspect in this thriller from the world’s #1 bestselling author.

Stafford Lee Penney is a small-town lawyer with a big-time reputation for winning every case he tries. In his sharp suits and polished Oxford shoes, Penney is Biloxi, Mississippi’s #1 Lawyer and top local celebrity.   Just as Penney notches his latest courtroom victory, his wife is scandalously killed. He spirals into a legal and personal losing streak, damaging his reputation and ruining his career.   

That’s when Penney makes a bold decision. He stops trading on his power-lawyer identity and creates a new one: lawyer lifeguard. Moonlighting at the beach, showing up to court in flip-flops, mentoring a law student, the new Penney is at first unrecognizable.   

It’s said that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. But when Penney is accused of murder, the #1 Lawyer will find a way to triumph. 

Genre:

  • Mystery & Thriller
  • Fiction
  • Thrillers
  • Legal

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

​Nancy Allen practiced law for fifteen years in her native Ozarks and served as a law instructor at Missouri State University for sixteen years. She is also the author of the Ozarks Mystery series.    

  • “Excellent legal drama… Courtroom scenes are top-notch, and Patterson & Allen have once again hit a home run.”
    Red Carpet Crash
  • "Patterson knows how to entertain readers ... [will] keep your head spinning right up until the end."
    Bookreporter

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James Patterson

About the Author

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Effing Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Princess Diana, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, told the story of his own life in James Patterson by James Patterson, and received an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Learn more at jamespatterson.com

Learn more about this author

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Nancy Allen

About the Author

Bestselling author Nancy Allen practiced law for fifteen years as Assistant Missouri Attorney General and Assistant Prosecutor in her native Ozarks, trying over thirty jury cases. She served on the faculty of Missouri State University for fifteen years, teaching law classes. She is the author of the Ozarks Mystery series. With James Patterson, Nancy is co-author of New York Times Bestsellers Juror #3 (2018) and Jailhouse Lawyer (2021). Renegade is the first book in her Anonymous Justice series.

Learn more about this author

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