"Now fate throws a curveball at the San Francisco ex-husband-and-wife legal team of Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez, when Mike picks up the phone and hears the voice of Leon Walker. This is not good news - because Walker was the one who ruined their marriage. Years ago, he and his brother participated in a stickup that left a man dead. Through a series of (some said) questionable maneuvers, Mike got the charges dropped, but he and Rosie fought about it all the time and it finally drove a wedge between them." Now a Silicon Valley venture capitalist has been found dead in a dumpster on San Francisco's skid row, and the new murder has been pinned on Walker. Not only does he tell Mike he is innocent, he says he is a dying man and doesn't want to go to his grave proclaimed a murderer. Taking the case could be a disaster in all kinds of ways, but something about it niggles at Mike, and he can't let it go, even after Rosie says she will have nothing to do with it, and the politically ambitious DA makes it clear there's no way she's cutting a deal, and the pile of evidence against Walker seems only to get higher and deeper. Dogged investigation, courtroom nimbleness, and a healthy dose of luck have helped Mike before, but it looks like it'll take more than that to prevail in this case, and time is running out - both for his client and, just maybe, for his partnership.

It starts with a phone call Mike Daley never expected to get, from District Attorney Prentice Marshall Gates III, San Francisco's chief law enforcement officer and front-runner candidate for California attorney general. Friends they're not; Skipper Gates had led the charge to get Mike fired from his job as a partner in a prestigious law firm. But Gates needs Daley now - and needs him badly. He's just been arrested. It seems that a couple of hours earlier he woke up in an armchair in his hotel room and found the dead body of a young male prostitute in the bed. The details that continue to emerge from the crime scene are tabloid heaven. The SFPD is certain Gates did it. The prosecutors are already talking the death penalty, and there's nothing in the mounting evidence, and certainly not in Gate's unpersuasive denials, to convince Daley and his partner (and ex-wife) Rosie of his innocence. But even if he's lying, it's their job to defend him, and that means finding out what really happened. Sure enough, the deeper they dig, the seamier their findings. An array of influential power brokers is all too ready to cover questionable activities that may - or may not - connect with the victim. There's a campaign manager with his own dirty secrets, a shady Internet entrepreneur who trades flesh for cash, a prominent businessman who uses muscle to keep his enterprise prospering. Mike and Rosie chase down trails that take them from the lowest depths of the Mission District, where drugs and bodies are always for sale, to the gated mansions of Pacific Heights, all the while contending with a trial that gets under way even as they are frantically trying to piece together what is really at stake in the case against Gates.

Sheldon Siegel has jumped onto best seller lists and into readers' and reviewers' affections with seven extraordinary novels featuring San Francisco defense attorneys Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. He now returns to write about his hometown of Chicago in his electrifying new thriller, THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR. He's Homeland Security's biggest nightmare. Someone is setting off fire bombs in Chicago in stolen cars using untraceable cell phones. The international terror channels are silent. A group calling itself the Islamic Freedom Federation demands the release of Hassan Al-Shahid, a graduate student whose plan to set off a bomb at the Art Institute was thwarted by Detective David Gold and his long-time partner, Detective Paul Liszewski. Their heroic efforts had cost Liszewski his life and put Gold in the hospital. The FBI and Homeland Security believe the bomber is a freelancer operating off the grid. Meet Detective David Gold. He's a third generation native of South Chicago, the hardscrabble neighborhood of steel mills, smokestacks, and steeples near the Indiana border. He's one of Chicago's most decorated detectives. Meet Gold's new partner, Detective A.C. Battle. He's a native of Mississippi whose family moved to Chicago to escape the Jim Crow South. He grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes across the Dan Ryan Expressway from Mayor Daley's house and Comiskey Park. Gold is still suffering from the aftereffects of Liszewski's death when he receives a Medal of Valor on the steps of the Art Institute. During the ceremony, a car bomb is detonated across the street, killing a passerby. Gold soon receives a cryptic text : "It isn't over." It's just the beginning. Untraceable car bombs detonate at the Wrigley Field El station, Millennium Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, O'Hare, Hyde Park, and the upscale Rush Street area. Chicago PD, the FBI and Homeland Security can't trace the bomber. As bombs continue to go off, Gold and Battle are drawn into a desperate cat-and-mouse game against a brilliant mind. From its opening scene to its stunning denouement, Siegel writes a lightning paced thriller capturing the complexity and fears of the post-9/11 world. Along the way, he provides an insider's look at Chicago's neighborhoods-from the Magnificent Mile to century-old churches where mass is still celebrated in Polish to gritty seafood shacks next to the ghostly expanses where the steel mills once stood. "David Gold and A.C. Battle are strong entries in the police-thriller sweepstakes. Sheldon Siegel's THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR is a smart, surprising and bloody take on the world of Islamic terror. As a crazed bomber threatens to shut down American's third-largest city, the Chicago cops, the FBI, Homeland Security and even the military desperately sift through every clue, reaching for a climax that is both shocking and credible. Siegel tells a story that is fast and furious and authentic." John Sandford. NY Times Best Selling Author of STOLEN PREY. "Sheldon Siegel has outdone himself in his first true thriller. The rough underbelly of Chicago is evoked and comes to life as poetically and profoundly as in Carl Sandburg's insider view. The scariest, most thrilling portrayal of what can happen to life in a normal city if one cog goes haywire. A real power play." Katherine Neville. International Best Selling Author of THE FIRE. "Sheldon Siegel blows the doors off with his excellent new thriller, THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR. Bombs, car chases, the shutdown of Chicago, plus Siegel's winning touch with character makes this one not to be missed!" John Lescroart. NY Times Best Selling Author of THE HUNTER. "Sheldon Siegel knows how to make us root for the good guys in this heartstopping terrorist thriller, and David Gold and A.C. Battle are a pair of very good guys." Thomas Perry. NY Times Best Selling Author of POISON FLOWER. "A terrific thriller. Robert Dugoni. NY Times Best Selling Author of THE CONVICTION.From BooklistSiegel steps aside from his Mike Daley series of San Francisco–set legal thrillers to tell a story about a Chicago homicide cop, David Gold, who becomes the reluctant leader in a race to uncover the identity of a terrorist bomber who’s targeting well-known Chicago landmarks. Moments before he’s to receive a Medal of Valor (for his actions in foiling an earlier terrorist bombing attempt), a car bomb explodes, and Gold’s cell phone receives a text message: “It isn’t over.” As the unknown terrorist sets off one car bomb after another, he continues to taunt Gold via text messages, and soon Gold is forced to confront the frightening possibility that this might not be your “usual” terrorist but someone with a more personal agenda. Siegel, who hails from Chicago, makes the most of the setting—the book is a sort of frantic, panic-filled guided tour of the city—and, as a protagonist, Gold is at least as compelling as Mike Daley. Put this one on your Windy City crime-fiction list. --David Pitt Review“Action packed from beginning to end. THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR is a ‘can’t put it down’ novel. Read it for the suspense, but also read it for the introduction of a new fascinating hero.”--Huffington Post. ""Siegel, who hails from Chicago, makes the most of the setting…. Put this one on your Windy City crime-fiction list."" --Booklist “Chicago Detectives David Gold and A.C. Battle are strong entries in the police-thriller sweepstakes, with Sheldon Siegel’s new THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR, a smart, surprising and bloody take on the world of Islamic terror. As a crazed bomber threatens to shut down America’s third-largest city, the Chicago cops, the FBI, Homeland Security and even the military desperately sift through every available clue to the bomber’s identity, reaching for a climax that is both shocking and credible. New York Times bestselling author Siegel tells a story that is fast and furious and authentic.”--John Sandford. New York Times Best Selling Author of STOLEN PREY and the Lucas Davenport Prey Series. “Sheldon Siegel’s THE TERRORIST NEXT DOORhas all the indicators of a bestselling thriller –  fast action, characters you think you’ve met in real life, bold storytelling and clever plotting.  The great city of Chicago comes alive under his spell, and the woes of that city in THE TERRORIST NEXT DOORturn out to be the woes of our republic.  Excellent.”--T. Jefferson Parker. New York Times Best Selling Author of THE JAGUAR and THE BORDER LORDS. “Sheldon Siegel blows the doors off with his excellent new thriller, THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR. Bombs, car chases, the shutdown of Chicago, plus Siegel’s winning touch with character makes this one not to be missed!”--John Lescroart. New York Times Best Selling Author of THE HUNTER. “Sheldon Siegel knows how to make us root for the good guys in this heartstopping terrorist thriller, and police detectives David Gold and A.C. Battle are a pair of very good guys. We’d like to see them again.”--Thomas Perry. New York Times Best Selling Author of POISON FLOWER. “Sheldon Siegel has outdone himself in this, his first true thriller. The rough underbelly of Chicago is evoked and comes to life as poetically and profoundly as in Carl Sandburg’s insider view. THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR will go down as the scariest, most chilling portrayal of what can happen to life in a normal Midwestern city if one small cog goes haywire. A real power play.”--Katherine Neville. New York Times and International Best Selling Author of THE EIGHT and THE FIRE. “THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR is a terrific, old-fashioned thriller. Sheldon Siegel again demonstrates why he is considered a master story teller with the likes of John Sanford and Scott Turow. THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR is a taught, tense, action-packed thrill ride that starts on page one and puts a stranglehold on the reader to the explosive end.The tension is palpable as Detective David Gold races through the streets of Chicago to stop an unknown terrorist before the next bomb detonates. I love Siegel’s Mike Daley series, and David Gold is destined to be just as addictive. I’m already waiting for the next book in the series!”--Robert Dugoni. New York Times Best Selling Author of THE CONVICTION. “Sheldon Siegel’s tale of cataclysmic terrorism is so realistic, well-drawn and deliciously chilling, I wanted to send the book to all my friends—especially those who work in Homeland Security. Women will lose their hearts to Detective David Gold. THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR kept me up late into the night, frantically turning the pages to get to the dramatic conclusion. A terrific thriller by a master of the craft.”--Allison Leotta. Best Selling Author of LAW OF ATTRACTION. “I hate Sheldon Siegel. He makes it look so easy. Deftly turning his attention from courtroom battles to terrorist plots, he delivers a page turner with a heart, and the love affair is with the great city of Chicago and the people who call it home. Great fun and a terrific read, THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR  delivers a killer story at a breakneck pace with characters you won’t forget. How does Siegel get away with it? Seriously, I hate the guy.”--David Corbett. Award-winning author of THE DEVIL’S REDHEAD. “From the first page—when the blind, smelly, homeless man turns out to be a young, physically fit terrorist who is determined to blow up Chicago—I was hooked. THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR moves through Chicago at a fast pace. Now I happen to love Chicago, and I thought I knew it, but as I joined Detective David Gold in the chase, I got to look behind the facades into the soul of the Windy City.Gold is a marvelous character. He’s smart, brave, and conflicted. But Chicago is also a major character and as the action moves from The Art Institute to the South Side, from the cop cars to the churches, from the smallest take out joint to the fanciest spots, the terrorist keeps taunting Gold and the reader.I can’t wait to start telling my customers about this gem. It will keep you up nights and keep you thinking about David Gold, Chicago, and THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR all day long.”--Elaine Petrocelli. Book Passage. Corte Madera, California.

Here's one of the pleasanter surprises of the newly arrived millennium: a courtroom drama by first-time novelist Sheldon Siegel that is written with the style, savvy, and narrative ingenuity of a seasoned professional. The novel is called Special Circumstances, and it's one of the numerous progeny of Scott Turow's landmark legal thriller, Presumed Innocent. While it isn't as impressive as its primary model, it does bear comparison to some of the more memorable products of the post-Turow boom in legal fiction, novels such as John Lescroart's The 13th Juror and J F Freedman's Against the Wind. That, in itself, is no small compliment.Special Circumstances is an account of murder, corruption, and corporate malfeasance in the San Francisco law firm of Simpson and Gates. (Think about that name for a minute.) The narrator -- and hero -- is Michael Daley, a former priest turned criminal defense attorney who has spent the last five years working for Simpson and Gates and has just been fired for failing to meet the firm's stringent standards of productivity. Daley's wry, caustic observations form the bedrock of this immensely entertaining novel, which effectively illuminates the inner workings of a high-stakes, high-pressure corporate law firm with "a license to print money."As Special Circumstances opens, the Simpson and Gates fiscal year is winding down, and ominous signs are beginning to appear. A number of scheduled promotions are suddenly canceled. Bonuses for all employees below the rank of partner are summarily withheld. Rumors of financial instability begin to proliferate. Against a backdrop of innuendo and corporate unrest, an unexpected tragedy occurs. Two of S & G's attorneys -- one an attractive young woman, the other a senior partner with a reputation for philandering -- are found shot to death, apparent victims of a classic murder/suicide.Subsequent investigation indicates that both attorneys were, in fact, murdered. For a number of reasons, suspicion ultimately falls on S & G associate attorney Joel Friedman, who had argued violently with both victims just hours before their deaths and who -- according to various sources -- had been sexually involved with one of them, the beautiful -- and pregnant -- Diana Kennedy. When Prentice "Skipper" Gates, former head of S & G and newly elected district attorney of San Francisco, charges Friedman with the killings, Mike Daley comes to Friedman's defense, inaugurating his career in private practice with a controversial, high-profile murder case.The bulk of Special Circumstances -- a phrase, by the way, that is legal shorthand for crimes punishable by death -- describes the convoluted progress of the ensuing trial, which evolves, inevitably, into a first class media event. Deliberately, with great authority and an instinctive sense of drama, Siegel shows us the step-by-step process by which a highly circumstantial murder case is slowly, incrementally developed. Forensic evidence; eyewitness testimony; personal, sexual, and financial histories; corporate politics; hidden agendas; windows of opportunity; a variety of motives both theoretical and real -- all of these elements, and many others, are presented, dissected, interpreted, and disputed in one of the most persuasive, rigorously created fictional trials of recent years, a trial whose outcome remains uncertain until the closing pages.Special Circumstances is simultaneously a courtroom drama, a murder mystery, an examination of the legal profession at its best and worst, and a complex presentation of characters caught at critical moments in their personal and professional lives. At the heart of it all stands Michael Daley: a decent man, a gifted advocate, and a chronic underachiever who has drifted aimlessly through the central passages of his life. After unsuccessfully adopting a series of identities -- as priest, husband, public defender, corporate attorney -- he finds, in the Friedman trial, an occasion he can finally rise to. The movement of the trial toward its dramatic, hard-earned resolution parallels Daley's own progress toward a coherent, if provisional, accommodation with the circumstances of his own life.Special Circumstances marks the debut of a notably gifted new writer. Siegel writes with passion, intelligence, and an easy good humor that move his complex narrative forward at breakneck speed. He is, on the evidence available so far, a natural storyteller and a welcome addition to the constantly expanding ranks of Lawyers Who Also Write. Readers who admire Scott Turow and John Grisham should take this novel to their hearts. Special Circumstances is the real thing, and comes highly recommended to anyone with an interest in legal thrillers, novels of suspense, and involving, expertly constructed fiction of any sort.--Bill Sheehan

"You can pick your friends, they say, but you can't pick your family. And lately, Mike Daley's family has been keeping him very busy. An ex-priest, ex-public defender, and ex-corporate lawyer, Daley and his former wife, Rosie Fernandez, run their own San Francisco criminal defense firm - they weren't so good at being married, they discovered, but they are a pretty good legal team. Most of their cases are fairly small-time, which is why it is surprising for the person accused of murdering movie director Richard (Big Dick) MacArthur to be calling them - except that the accused is Rosie's own niece Angelina." That case is bad enough, but the family problems don't end there: Rosie's brother, Tony, may be on the wrong end of a strongarm graft proposal; the son of one of the firm's lawyers has just been busted on a drug charge; Mike is having a clandestine affair with a woman judge...and Rosie herself has a dark secret that may make all of it seem irrelevant.

Confessions abound-some of them quite unexpected-in Sheldon Siegel's new legal thriller. Mike Daley doesn't go to confession much since he left the priesthood twenty years ago and became a lawyer, but that doesn't stop his old friend, Father Ramon Aguirre, from trying to get him there. "It wouldn't kill you to go to church once in a while," he tells Mike. But it does kill someone. For several months, a ruinous sexual harassment suit has been building against the San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese, and when the plaintiff's lawyer is found dead, an apparent suicide, an almost audible sigh of relief is heard in certain quarters. But that is before the police find evidence of murder. Even worse-the evidence points to Father Aguirre. Mike and his ex-wife law partner, Rosie, jump in to take the priest's case, but what started out as difficult soon appears impossible as forensics, witnesses, and secrets from Father Aguirre's past all incriminate their client. Soon, their wits are the only things keeping the priest from a life sentence or worse, and wits simply may not be enough-unless they can conjure up a miracle of their own. Of Siegel's most recent book, Publishers Weekly said, "The verdict is clear; another win for Siegel." And so it is again.

New York Times best-selling author Sheldon Siegel returns with a dramatic new case for the San Francisco law firm of Daley and Fernandez. As husband and wife, Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez couldn t make it work. Luckily for Bay Area criminals, they didn t let that stop them from joining forces to open San Francisco s most tenacious law firm. As defense attorneys willing to take on the biggest and trickiest cases, Daley and Fernandez make one hell of team. 'Judgment Day' finds the ex-spouses tackling their most compelling case yet. Called in at the last minute to try to stop the execution of Nathan Fineman, a former mob lawyer convicted of murdering three people in the backroom of the notorious Golden Dragon Restaurant, Mike and Rosie must race the clock in a desperate attempt to prove their client s innocence - an impossible task, given the wealth of forensic evidence pointing to his guilt. At the same time, Mike must battle his own personal demons when the reputation of his father - a San Francisco cop who was one of the first officers at the Golden Dragon on the night of the murders - is called into question. As the plot hurtles toward its stunning denouement, 'Judgment Day' is fast approaching not only for Nate Fineman, but for Mike s father and for the law firm of Daley and Fernandez as well.

Judge Jack Fairchild is found in his home, murdered by a hammer blow to the head. His son is the prime suspect, but young Bobby was out that evening with his girl-friend, Grace Daley, daughter of the legal partners Daley and Fernandez. Grace was with Bobby all evening, and would not lie to her parents, so she provides Bobby with the Perfect Alibi.