Bum Rap.

• Author: Conception, Joe

Bum Rap

By Paul Levine

"My name is Jack Lassiter, and I'm a grinder. I am not called to speak at fancy conventions in five-star hotels. The governor has not offered me black robes and elevated me to the bench. I am not interviewed by CNN to comment on the latest trial of the century. And I am not rich."

That is your introduction to NFL linebacker turned lawyer, Last Chance Lassiter. Jaded, ornery, and more idealistic than he would really like to admit, Jake is burned out and seriously thinking about retiring to coach boys football at a prep school in Vermont. He is yearning for a factually innocent client when Victoria Lord retains him to represent her law partner and paramour, Steve Solomon, against the eponymous bum rap for first degree murder. Solomon--like so many--has failed to exercise his right to remain silent and tried to outsmart the investigators, creating a messy and unsustainable story despite his own experience as a criminal defense attorney. Solomon and Lord star in their own series by Paul Levine and he seamlessly brings the two sets of characters together.

Lord and Lassiter are motivated by their belief in Solomon's innocence and do everything they can to sort things out and get to the heart of what happened that night. They find danger and more questions along the way, leading to a lot of second-guessing and revaluation. Facing multiple threats, they meet these challenges head-on, while maneuvering shady negotiations offered when an overly eager federal prosecutor gets involved with the elected state prosecutor who is too...