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The #1 Lawyer

A Thriller

The #1 Lawyer Open the full-size image

Contributors

By James Patterson

By Nancy Allen

Formats and Prices

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

Price

$19.99

Price

$25.99 CAD

Format

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

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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. 

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:

  • “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 world’s bestselling author, best known for his many enduring fictional characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Middle School, I Funny, and Jacky Ha-Ha. Patterson’s writing career is characterized by a single mission: to prove to everyone, from children to adults, that there is no such thing as a person who “doesn’t like to read,” only people who haven’t found the right book. He’s given over a million books to schoolkids and over forty million dollars to support education, and endowed over five thousand college scholarships for teachers. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Learn more at jamespatterson.com

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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