Raw Deal

A Coverup Turns Deadly

Fiction - Thriller - Conspiracy
155 Pages
Reviewed on 05/22/2024
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Lee Fishman arrived in Philadelphia as a college student, fell in love with city living and stayed. Even after traveling to Italy, Greece, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Turkey, England, Belize, Guatemala, Columbia and other beautiful countries she still can’t think of anywhere else she’d rather live.


    Book Review

Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite

If you enjoy conspiracy thrillers, Lee Fishman's Raw Deal is just the book for you. After the untimely death of her brother, Joe, at a military base in Saudi Arabia, Sandi Brennan, who is in her second year at Temple Law, accepts an offer for a job at a Philadelphia law firm headed by Len Krause and Dave Nielson. When Lorraine, the office manager, is off on medical leave, Len puts Sandi on to research his new client, Mark Ricklin, a former employee of Vectelon Corporation arrested on drug smuggling charges. With the help of a PI named Garrett, Sandi investigates Vectelon, only to inadvertently embroil herself in a deeper conspiracy involving weaponized viruses made in the Manoaka Reservation. With people being assassinated left and right, will Sandi be able to bring the culprits to justice?

Raw Deal is a gripping thriller that subverts your expectations all the way through until the end. Lee Fishman has crafted a gritty and realistic tale of corporate greed, corruption, murder, and injustice that keeps you on the edge of your seat for prolonged periods throughout the story. Fast-paced and thoroughly absorbing, the narrative draws you in from the very first few pages and keeps you hooked with unexpected twists and turns of the plot you never see coming. Every character is well-developed and has their own agency in their actions and motives. As a reader, you find yourself rooting for Sandi to get back at those whose actions led to the death of her brother. This is a must-read for thriller enthusiasts who love stories with suspense, intrigue, and compelling character work.

Jennifer Ibiam

It was Sandi’s second year in law school when her brother, Joe, died in the Middle East. Joe returned in a sealed coffin, and the military told his family that he had died in an auto crash. Sandi tried to move on and started working part-time at a law firm. When the firm received the case of a whistleblower who exposed a company producing bio-agents, Sandi’s boss asked her to do research. She discovered that Joe died under different circumstances than what the military told her family. Sandi also thought his death may have a link to the bio-agent story. Unfortunately, people close to the case started dropping dead, and Sandi’s life was on the line. Who killed Joe? Is Sandi courageous enough to fight for justice? Read Raw Deal by Lee Fishman for the details.

Raw Deal by Lee Fishman is a book that kept me on the edge of my seat. It will appeal to lovers of crime, suspense, mystery, and sleuth novels. This story intrigued me because it was a classic case of looking more and seeing less. We do not know what happens in large corporations and government parastatals. I thought about pandemics like COVID-19 and Ebola and the conspiracy theories behind them. Were the diseases natural or synthesized? I also connected with Sandi’s character. Her bravery and recklessness excited and scared me. Yet, she always took advantage of Ned. Dave was my least favorite character. He received things on a platter for so long that he became entitled. Ken Daly had a beautiful ending, but Tony, Greta, and Len deserved better. Thank you for a brilliant plot, storyline, and characters. Keep writing, Lee.

Jennie More

Raw Deal: A Coverup Turns Deadly by Lee Fishman is the story of the sudden and unexpected death of a young soldier, Joe, who had a promising life ahead of him. Upon finding out about his death, reported as an accident while on duty, his family is devastated. With Sandi as the only living child and her father working fewer hours, she wants to step up and cover her expenses and lift her family’s burden. She accepts a job from a family friend and criminal lawyer, Len Krause. After starting to work for Len and meeting her brother’s best friend, Tony, she learns that the government was not honest about the cause of her brother’s death. Before his death, Sandi was just a second-year law student scraping by, but now she wants nothing more than to avenge her brother’s death and plunges headfirst into a deadly mission.

Raw Deal by Lee Fishman is exciting, gripping, and suspenseful. I enjoyed the fast pace of the narrative and how well the author thought through every detail, ensuring these were all connected. The book starts with Joe's death and immediately I felt connected to this well-loved character. Lee did an incredible job of developing memorable characters. Evidence of this is the impression characters like Joe and his best friend Tony had. Even though they were featured only briefly, I still remembered them until the end. Though Sandi had no exceptional talents, she managed to maintain my interest because I could relate to her desire to find out the truth about her brother’s death. The book is well-written and entertaining.