Unconvicted Blog Tour – Who is Jack Kowalski?

It’s been a long week but it’s finally the weekend and I’m delighted to be able to share a guest post from Olly Jarvis with you all as part as the blog tour for his new legal thriller Unconvicted.

Who is Jack Kowalski and what made you choose him for this series?

Jack is a newly qualified barrister in his twenties, shy, full of nerves and lacking in self-confidence. But he’s a complex character who can rise to the occasion, driven by a strong moral compass.

I’ve always been drawn to underdogs and misfits, that is certainly Jack. He is the son of Polish immigrants and finds it hard to fit in with his more egotistical colleagues.

So many crime thrillers feature a male character in his forties with a trail of ex-wives. I wanted to do something different and fresh. Someone at the beginning of his career.

The modern Bar and wider criminal justice system has changed so much in the last twenty years. It’s more diverse now, full of characters like Jack and Lara Panassai. Young legal aid lawyers who are devoted to their profession, working seven days a week.

The reality is that posh, champagne drinking lawyers, described so brilliantly by John Mortimmer in the Rumpole books are from bygone age. Now it’s all about survival. It’s a highly competitive, cut-throat world full of people giving all they’ve got in the pursuit of justice.

That’s what Jack Kowalki is all about.

My aim was to write legal thrillers that tell readers not just a great story but to bring to life the pressures that young criminal lawyers are under on a daily basis. The fear of the courtroom,  the challenges and the burn out.

About The Book

In a razor-sharp legal thriller, Jack Kowalski must win two challenging trials to save his reputation and his career

Junior barrister Jack Kowalski is crushed. His client Timothy Smart appears to have committed a monstrous crime while on bail – a bail application Jack fought hard to win.

When a high-profile Polish footballer is charged with rape and demands a fellow countryman represent him, Jack must overcome his guilt and get back to work. Before long he takes on a second case, a GBH for instructing solicitor Lara Panassai, who Jack remains desperate to impress. But neither case is what it seems, and Jack will face an extraordinary uphill battle to see that justice is done…

Unconvicted is published by Canelo and was released on 29th January. It is available from Amazon, Apple Books and Google Books

About The Author

Olly Jarvis is a writer and criminal defence barrister, originally from London but now working in Manchester. Drawing on his experiences, he writes both fiction and non-fiction with a particular understanding of the pressures and excitement of life in the courtroom. He wrote the highly acclaimed Radio 4 drama Judgement, and wrote and presented the BBC documentary Mum Knows Best. He is also the author of Death by Dangerous. Olly has two children and lives in Cheshire.

I’d like to thank Olly for taking the time to write this guest post for me. I can’t wait to get stuck into Unconvicted a little bit later on this month! Does this sound like something you’d like to read? Let me know in the comments below!