Although best known for his long-running legal thriller series starring defense attorney Ben Kincaid, William Bernhardt has also written a second series featuring an ex-police profiler in Las Vegas, a historical novel about Eliot Ness , assorted stand-alone novels, short stories, poetry, and a biography. The popular Kincaid, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, defense attorney who employs his extensive skills to save underdog clients, appears in fast-paced, suspenseful, twisty tales, filled with fascinating and authentic courtroom scenes.

Atlanta native William Diehl wrote legal thrillers and spy thrillers. His prose is fast-paced, compelling, and suspenseful. Diehl's legal novels are filled with cops, thugs, crooked pols, vicious murderers, and unsolved crimes. Lawyers, crooked or otherwise, also figure prominently. Diehl throws in plenty of atmosphere, sex, and violence to keep things rolling along. His spy novels, populated with ruthless Nazis, Southeast Asian drug traffickers, and trained assassins, are equally as frenetic and bloody, only with a slightly different accent.

Whether it's a legal thriller or a fast-paced stand-alone, James Grippando's suspense novels feature likable heroes battling contemporary evils (corrupt politicians, lawyers, greedy corporations) in dangerous-to-near-impossible situations from which they must extricate themselves and often others. The inclusion of true-to-life investigative details makes the conspiracies and corruption chillingly believable. With strong language and explicit violence, growing unease that builds into a nail-biting climax, and multiple plot twists, not to mention the real-world settings, Grippando is a provocative writer.

John T. Lescroart is best known for Legal Thrillers that offer readers the best of two worlds: catchy police procedural details and edge-of-the-chair courtroom action. Lescroart creates vibrant, relatable characters, like the glib attorney and dour police detective who star in his Dismas Hardy series. Complex plots treat provocative issues of law, corruption, politics, and personal issues; secondary characters are pulled into multiple cases, exhausting investigations, and outstanding courtroom drama. Surprising humor also emerges, despite a gritty urban setting. 

Retired criminal defense attorney Phillip Margolin draws on his experience in the courtroom to create gripping, high-octane Legal Thrillers. With a keen sense of pacing and suspense, he draws in readers from the first page and keeps them racing through the chapters. Populated by a variety of characters including police, lawyers, criminals, and victims, the stories center on a violent crime and the ensuing police investigations and legal work. Margolin's use of realistic details makes for a believable read; be warned that the descriptions of violence are not for the faint of heart.

Steve Martini has built his reputation on the Paul Madriani series of "legal procedurals," dramas written in the police procedural tradition, in which courtroom scenes are often integral. He is also the author of several standalone thrillers. California native Martini's past practice of law and journalism in that state gives his fast-paced and twist-filled plots the weight of veracity, in turn sharpening the keenness of his observations. Martini often ventures outside the courtroom to other arenas, like publishing and counterterrorism, typically exploring legal aspects as his characters evade danger, untangling the central mystery.