King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: The Life O'Reilly

author: Brian Cohen

pages: 266

genre: fiction

published: 2009

first line: "There has to be a better way," I muttered, as I replaced the phone receiver on its cradle.


rated: 4 1/2 out of 5






The Life O'Reilly is a touching and emotional book that has become a new favorite of mine. It's a story about life, love and finding oneself.



Nick O'Reilly leads a decent life. He has always been a workaholic, and has sacrificed having a personal life in order to get ahead in his career.
He lives in a New York apartment overlooking Central Park. His career as a criminal lawyer is thriving. However, when he is assigned a pro bono case representing a battered woman, his life is forever changed.





Dawn Nelson is fighting for legal custody of her son. She suffered abuse at the hands of her ex husband, and now that she has left him and taken her young son with her, he is stalking her and threatening to kill her.




Nick takes the case very seriously, and after meeting Dawn and her son Jordan, he wants to make sure he does everything in his power to help them.





Things don't go quite as planned, and Nick finds himself looking at the choices he has made in his life, especially his career. As the story flows Nick realizes he wants to find someone to start a family with and grow old with.

What was I doing with myself? I couldn't help but think about my unsavory corporate clients, off in their weekend cottages and vacation homes, water-skiing behind yachts and diving in Grand Cayman, basking in the comfort of knowing their misconduct was easily being covered by directors and officers liability insurance, boasting about how royally they screwed their own shareholders.

I liked Nick right away. He's a nice guy, with a good heart. I enjoyed reading about his journey in realizing that there's more to life than just immersing yourself in work.


Dawn is a great character also. She's a good mother and just wants what's best for her son.


The relationship between these two was sweet. Nick and Dawn felt like real people to me. I was curious to see where their story would go.




Author Brian Cohen does an excellent job of drawing the reader in with an interesting storyline and well written characters. There's plot twists and turns, and this one was hard to put down.



I enjoyed The Life O'Reilly from page one. I laughed, I was teary eyed while reading and when I turned the last page, I just sighed contentedly. This is the kind of book that you need to discuss after reading, it's an emotional story. It's the kind of book that you don't soon forget.

So, when all is said and done, my life will not be defined by merely a collection of professional or artistic achievements. It is a story of love, family, and friendship...

Special thanks to author Brian Cohen for sending me a copy of his wonderful book.





About the author:

A native New Yorker, I was born in Queens and raised on Long Island. I attended George Washington University, where I earned a Bachelor of Accountancy from GW’s School of Business and Public Management. After graduation, I attended St. John’s University School of Law, where I was a member of the Law Review. I have been practicing law for twelve years, specializing in complex litigation with an emphasis on corporate, securities, and commercial law. I live in the suburbs of New York City with my wife and our two daughters, and am working on my second novel.

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Suko