- Attorney, Ph.D. and Author -
TOM BLEAKLEY
Tom's works
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Tom Bleakley's legal thriller If I Should Kill, released in 2018, is the third offering in a collection of titles of fictional novels based on his years of experience as a trial lawyer specializing in representing cases against the pharmaceutical industry as well as pro bono cases involving constitutional issues and matters of public interest.
If I Should Kill
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Obtaining FDA approval to market a drug is knowing the right people and taking good care of them. It has nothing to do with good science. It s a matter of form over substance and it s good form to take care of your friends. When an unfaithful husband headed toward an unwanted divorce takes a drug noted for its effects of causing bizarre behavior and winds up killing his wife, who is to blame? Is it the killer or the avaricious drug company making huge profits and trying to hide news of the drug s terrible effects? A jury decides guilt or innocence . . . or does it? Lawyer Bob Riley can t stand the thought of how this is going to end. He has to let the world know what this company did. . . . He promised himself that whatever time he had left he was going to spend telling this story. He got out of bed, put on his street clothes, and walked to the nursing station and signed himself out of the hospital. AMA they called it. Against medical advice. He went home and started writing. *"If I Should Kill" is an updated revision of the previously published title Serenity.
- Inspired by True Events -
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Available on Amazon Kindle ($4.95) or Paperback ($11.95)
(ISBN: 978-1981885367)​
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Tom Bleakley's legal thriller "Safe Nowhere", released in 2016, is the second in a collection of titles of fictional novels based on his years of experience as a trial lawyer specializing in representing cases against the pharmaceutical industry as well as pro bono cases involving constitutional issues and matters of public interest.
(ISBN: 9781523920846)​
Safe Nowhere
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In 2011, law school graduate Katie Hornsby gets a job at the firm of Riley and Newton. Her first case involves multiple clients and a drug called Lorital, a testosterone pill whose generic version has been linked to fatal heart attacks and strokes. Lorital creator Orex Laboratories, however, is making a substantial profit as the owner of Enpact Pharmaceuticals, the Indian company responsible for the drug’s generic form. Orex is more than willing to use its connections, including a circuit court judge and the Michigan Supreme Court’s chief justice, to steer clear of a trial. Katie and her boss, Gary Newton, combat coercion, blackmail, and a possible spy or two to take their fight to court. The novel effectively highlights its exemplary lawyer protagonist; Katie’s deposition at Enpact, in particular, shows her poise and resolve as she questions Dr. Elizabeth Barrett, the company’s director of clinical medicine, and remains steadfast despite opposing counsel’s constant interruptions. The initially slow story gradually develops an impressive tempo as it adds new elements, such as a client who refuses to cooperate with Katie and an anti-Lorital report that the Food and Drug Administration apparently neglected. Likewise, Bleakley’s introduction of the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council adds intrigue and a touch of suspense; the organization is dead-set on protecting Orex, and has the money to keep certain people quiet. Katie’s love of baseball augments her personality as well as her history; her grandfather was even named after a legendary baseball figure. However, she endlessly recites baseball statistics and speaks in sports analogies both in and out of the courtroom, which adds little to the story and wears thin around the novel’s halfway point. Fortunately, the final act zeros in on the civil case in which Katie and Gary try to make Orex and Enpact pay—financially or otherwise.
- Inspired by True Events -
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Available on Amazon Kindle ($4.99) or Paperback ($15.95)
ALL WORKS BY TOM BLEAKLEY
