Reviewed by Lorraine Cobcroft for Readers' Favorite

A Thoroughly Bad Individual by Michael Biehl introduces us to a few characters we might consider bad, though he manages to give all of them redeeming qualities. But corporate attorney Stanton Florey might be well advised to avoid the former college buddy whose conduct reflected a complete lack of an acceptable moral code. So how far will Stan go to help his friend when a crooked business deal lands him in hot water? When Stan’s marriage fails and loyalty to his friend costs him his job, he becomes a beachcomber. Then his troublesome best friend gets him into strife again. Stan isn’t without flaws either, but unlike his friend, he battles with his conscience. With his friend’s life now on the line, either loyalty or guilt compels him to return to lawyering, but criminal law is a discipline with which he is completely unfamiliar. Saving his friend will test his physical and moral strength to their limits and challenge his legal knowledge. Can Stan solve the mystery of how his friend’s father died and save his friend?

Set against the background of the Great Recession and the real estate scams that harmed so many, A Thoroughly Bad Individual blends the best of criminal drama, mystery, legal drama, and psychodrama, but features a twist that only an extraordinarily creative writer could conceive. Despite the very satisfying ending, I hated closing this book. What a deliciously entertaining story! The quirky characters are delightful, and their antics and dialog are such fun. The story is a little incredible, but it’s fiction. It is everything fiction is supposed to be: almost believable and delightfully entertaining, but with a strong, unstated but clearly conveyed moral message relevant in today’s society. I could cheerfully reread it, relishing the vivid imagery that takes readers right into the scenes. The witty dialog brings the characters to life so that the reader hears their words, sees their expressions, and knows them as intimately as they know the real people closest to them. Michael Biehl presents characters who should be intensely unlikeable in a way that makes us love them for their fallibility and for the redeeming qualities that he highlights with the occasional cleverly placed remark or action. He makes us love the good guys even more for the flaws they display in ways that increase our fervent desire to see them win. Biehl transports us to the picture-postcard South Florida coast and into the underbelly of corruption, cleverly mixing suspense, compassion, and dark humor. If you love a great novel, and especially if you love a brilliant crime story or legal psychodrama, this is a must-read. I guarantee you will love it. Now I really am off to read it again!