Publisher: Bantam Dell

ISBN: 0440242738

The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW  Norm Goldman's Reviews

Best selling mystery author and winner of several literary awards, Paul Levine, continues to churn out another one of his zany novels with Solomon vs Lord.

Levine is living proof that following the “write about what you know” edict can lead to some very interesting fiction, as he was a newspaper reporter and a trial attorney, practicing law for seventeen years, prior to becoming a novelist.

Our cockamamie story begins when an obnoxious shyster defense lawyer, Steve Solomon, finds himself in a Miami court holding cell with a rookie prosecutor, Victoria Lord. Both were thrown into the slammer by a judge who was not too appreciative of their antics during a trial. Prim and proper Lord abhors the lawyering shenanigans of Solomon, particularly his craziness or as Levine terms it in Yiddish , his “mishegoss.”

Focusing on the age old adage that opposites seem to be attracted to one another, the two eventually become law partners, when they manage to convince a widow, who is accused of murdering her wealthy husband, to engage them as her defense attorneys.

The case, if successful, will parlay Steve into the big leagues, as up to now his clients have been small time criminals. As for Lord, this will be her baptism into the world of defense attorneys, as she had been fired from her position as a prosecutor in the State Attorney's Office.

Parallel to the murder trial, Solomon finds himself personally embroiled in another legal entanglement pertaining to the guardianship of his eleven year old nephew, Bobby. Apparently, Steve has been the unofficial caretaker for his nephew, who is a mentally challenged child manifesting traits of both autism and profound savant syndrome. His mother, Janice, is a drug addict and petty thief, who had kept her son locked up in a commune until Steve came along and kidnapped him.

Solomon lives by his own rules of ethics and whatever he may be lacking in his knowledge of the intricacies of the law he makes up with his street- smart abilities when it comes to defending his clients. For example, he believes that “when the law does not work, work the law” or, as he maintains, “in law, and in life, sometimes you have to wing it.” The whole mix of events is at times hilarious, as Solomon exploits the idiosyncrasies of some of the judges in order to effectively defend his clients. On the other hand, Lord goes by the book and would never dream of bending the law, even if the law is sometimes “an ass.”

No doubt, the final scene of the book clearly sets up a sequel that is soon to be released and that I am sure will surely please Levine's fans.