Billy Strobe

MEET BILLY STROBE - a lawyer and an ex-con, a man who believes in the law but always seems to be on the wrong side of it - in this "powerful [and] satisfying” (Publishers Weekly) suspense novel from the bestselling author of The Alternate. You are likely never to forget him. Ambition and intelligence carry Billy Strobe to the top of his law school class and into a stock market scam gone south. And after a stint at a high-security prison, he finally takes on the fight of his life: clearing the names of the two men he respects most. One is a soft-spoken lifer he befriended in jail, and the other his Billy's father, the best criminal defense lawyer in Oklahoma until alcoholism, allegations of fraud, and a suicide on the eve of his imprisonment ended his life. But things are not as they seem, and Billy's dual quest for justice will lead him into high-level conspiracies and vicious murders, ultimately forcing him to choose between loyalty and protecting a woman he has come to love.

Billy Strobe had always dreamed of becoming a lawyer like his father, the best criminal defense attorney in Oklahoma, until alcoholism, allegations of fraud, and a suicide on the eve of his imprisonment ended Joe Strobe’s life. But not Billy’s dream. Haunted by his belief in his father’s innocence, Billy is determined to become a lawyer, to uncover the truth, and to clear his father’s name. His ambition and intelligence carry him to the top of his class at law school, but a college stock market scam goes south and lands him in a high-security prison serving three to five years. Undaunted, Billy earns protection in prison by becoming a jailhouse lawyer, and winning the friendship of Darryl Orton, a soft-spoken but courageous lifer whom Billy soon believes was framed for a murder he didn’t commit. Upon his release, Billy immediately gets to work clearing the names of the two men he respects most in life. But things are not as they seem, and Billy’s dual quest for justice will lead him to into high level conspiracies and vicious murders, ultimately forcing him to choose between loyalty and the safety of himself and a woman his has come to love.

After serving as a U.S. Air Force pilot, John Martel studied creative writing at the University of California at Berkeley, then obtained a law degree at U.C.'s Boalt Hall. He soon became a named partner in the now-100 lawyer firm of Farella, Braun & Martel in San Francisco and is a veteran of more than one hundred trials to conclusion with only four losses. He has been hailed by the National Law Journal as one of the top ten trial lawyers in America and brings an insight and stunning realism to his four novels unsurpassed by any other writers of legal fiction. His best-selling debut suspense novel, Partners, spent 15 weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list in 1988 and drew rave reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Review, and Booklist. John’s new novel will be released in the Fall of 2012 and has garnered advance raves. John is a modern renaissance man. While writing Conflicts of Interest, he took time off to become the1997 National Masters Champion in the high hurdles, running the fastest time in the world that year. In his "spare time," John, a singer/songwriter with nearly one hundred compositions, has performed his original country-rock songs under the pseudonym "Joe Silverhound" at numerous Bay Area clubs and such venues as the Troubadour in Los Angeles and the Palomino Club in North Hollywood.