Cruel Sentence

He started the fire.

Nate Shepherd’s client didn’t intend to kill anyone. That doesn’t matter.

After an old friend recruits him, Nate Shepherd heads north to defend a teenager charged with igniting a blaze that killed a toddler and a firefighter. When he arrives, Nate finds a neglected case and a looming trial date for double murder.

As he scrambles to discover what happened, Nate is resisted by a stonewalling prosecutor and a grieving town, each bent on punishing his client. Worse, every fact Nate uncovers confirms that his client started the tragic Mission Road Fire.

As trial approaches, Nate finds nothing but hatred for his client and growing anger toward him. Facing naked hostility and escalating violence, Nate must go to trial in a town that’s become a tinderbox. And without a defense, Nate’s teenaged client faces life in prison for a crime he didn’t mean to commit.

Cruel Sentence is the eighth book in the gripping Nate Shepherd Legal Thriller series. If you like razor-sharp dialogue, captivating characters, and riveting trials, you’ll love this fierce courtroom drama by Michael Stagg.

Since Michael Stagg broke onto the legal thriller scene, readers have been enthralled by his courtroom dramas, keeping his books on Amazon bestseller lists for months at a time. Known for authentic dialogue and compelling courtroom scenes, Michael Stagg breathes humor and realism into legal thrillers that are populated with characters that readers can’t wait to return to again and again.