Accepting an offer to join a prestigious San Francisco legal firm, young Seth "Cowboy" Cameron is swept into in a political power struggle between the firm's senior and junior partners and becomes involved with a client. By the author of Partners. Lit Guild. Ace trial lawyer Martel's forgettable but entertaining first novel, Partners (LJ 6/1/88), found a home on numerous beach towels. His follow-up pits scrappy attorney "Cowboy" Cameron against a slew of bad folks who'd like to see Cowboy hang up his briefcase. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Although overindulgent and cliche{}-ridden, Conflicts of Interest , written by a high-profile trial attorney, is not a bad first novel. Small-town California lawyer Seth Cameron is a spectacular litigator with an itch to play in the big leagues, no matter what the cost. But he doesn't realize the magnitude of that cost until he is put to the test by a hot-shot San Francisco firm--he must serve a grueling 18-month probationary period before obtaining a partnership. Cameron is tough, though, and he impresses the old-boy network time after time, especially for the way he turns sure-to-lose cases assigned by the vengeful senior partner into magnificent courtroom victories. However, just a month shy of being made a partner, Cameron has the rug pulled out from under him. Little does he know that the situation that did him in would not end once he left the downtown firm; in fact, it could mean the difference between life or death for him. A mix of legal action, government secrets, high-stakes dealings, and streetwise romance makes this a competent, often exciting thriller. Mary Frances Wilkens