first novel. Chosen as one of the best mysteries of the year by the Los Angeles Times,
sitelinkTO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD on Amazon Kindle here,
sitelinkTO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD on Barnes amp Noble Nook here,
“Move over Scott Turow, To Speak for the Dead is courtroom drama at its very best, ” Larry King, USA Today
"Just the remedy for those who can't get enough Spenser and miss Travis McGee terribly, " St. Petersburg Times
"Jake Lassiter is attractive, funny, savvy, and brave, " Chicago Tribune
"Irreverent, . . genuinely clever great fun. " The New York Times Book
“Genuinely chilling, ” Washington Post Book World
“Wildly entertaining, ” “St. Louis Post Dispatch
“Take one part John Grisham, two parts Carl Hiaasen, throw in a dash of John D, MacDonald, and voila! Youve got Jake Lassiter, ” Tulsa Sun
Product Description
A sterling beginning to a great series, You can sense the author, South Florida lawyer Paul Levine, feeling his way through his first novel but you can also see themes that he'll polish repeatedly for better results in later volumes: the wackiness of South Florida life, the contrast between the thuggish city and the colorful natural areas, the wild fights involving wildlife, the strange twists and turns that the law can take.
The only real misstep here is the bizarre ending, which seems made for a movie adaptation that never came, Can't wait to work my way through the other books that followed so far I've read two of them, A great first book in a series from Paul Levine, The narrator was fantastic in bringing these characters to life and giving each their own identifiable voice, Jake Lassiter was a lovable character, failed to make it as a pro baller and so studied law to become a defense attorney.
What I loved about this book though was the smattering of humour that had me laughing out loud at times.
With some fantastic side characters, especially the retired ME who cannot help but spout latin and has an encyclopedic knowledge about EVERYTHING and Jake's nanna who has no filter whatsoever, this was the perfect blend of courtroom drama and investigative work.
I did find that the methods were a little unbelievable, especially grave robbing, but that only gave way to even more hilarious scenes so I didn't really care anyway.
I have already downloaded the second book and cannot wait to spend more time in the presence of Jake Lassiter and hopefully Charlie Riggs ME retired.
Love this book and it kept my interest, Mr. Levine has created the character Jake Lassiter and each book in this series is about Jake, expro football star now lawyer and all the things Jake gets himself involved in.
The books keep me interested and I have found when reading I could picture the places described, I loved reading the series from beginning to current, I recommend this for those who like reading this type of book, This is my second novel from this guy, It is the second time I was impressed, Really a good bunch of characters, a fun courtroom drama, and just the right amount of "who done it", I am currently reading the second Jake Lassiter thriller, Although I don't read much nonfiction, this was an exception, I really enjoy the major character in this book, Jake Lassiter, I probably do much of my own legal work, as a result of reading so many books about underdogs who come out on top.
Can't they overcome adversity How will they do it All literature has "learning lessons" in them, things we can take from the book and apply to our every day lives.
Sometimes, if I'm in a "crisis" part of a book, I think to myself, "How's this guy going to get out of this mess" Certainly, fictional novels are for entertainment but more than that, if you really open your eyes, you can learn from them, taking away precious nuggets to apply to your life.
Sometimes, I think, "Gosh, I never would've thought of that! I'll have to remember that the next time I get in a situation like that.
" Paul Levine is an excellent author, I know I have more of his books in a box but this is the one in my bookcase, . WORTHWHILE. Twohaiku review:
Lawyer defends doc
First malpractice then murder
Did the doc do it
Real convoluted
The bad guys were really bad
Very abrupt end A doctor in love with his patient's wife.
. .
A fatal mistake during surgery, . .
Accident Malpractice Or murder
Defending a surgeon in a malpractice case, Jake Lassiter begins to suspect that his client is innocent of negligence.
. . but guilty of murder. Add a sexy widow, a deadly drug, and a grave robbery to the stew, and you have the recipe for Miami's trial of the century.
"To Speak for the Dead" introduced the world to Jake Lassiter, the linebackerturnedlawyer with a hard bark and a tender heart.
An international bestseller, Paul Levine's debut novel was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the best mysteries of the year.
If you enjoy the suspense and thrills of John Grisham, Harlan Coben, Carl Hiaasen, and James Patterson, you'll love "To Speak for the Dead" from Paul Levine.
Can we speak for the dead No in most cases we cant but we can somehow piece together their lives through friends and family.
Loved this book for many reasons, We women are awesome and sometimes evil and better friends than lovers maybe This is another banal crime fiction offering disguised as a legal thriller by having a lawyer as the protagonist.
The plot is simple, Lawyer defends doctor in malpractice case, Victim turns out to have been murdered, The rest of the story has to do with the lawyer trying to catch the killer or killers, who are already
known to anyone who has ever read a mystery story.
The characters are pure cardboard, The writing is infantile. I skipped large numbers of paragraphs as I plowed through the last half of the book without losing track of anything,
The only saving graces are the descriptions of the courtroom scenes and a crazy exMedical Examiner, who spouts Latin on almost any occasion and has an encyclopedic memory for almost everything.
No more Paul Levine titles for me, A nice mix of courtroom drama and thriller Was a decent book with pretty good suspense but I had a hard time with mainly the love interest of the main character.
The book didn't link these two well enough to make them as much of a pair as the storyline tries to imply.
The ending really left me hanging and not in a good way, When I realized that was really the last page I sat there wondering, "what in the world" Legal thriller with humor.
Paul Levine makes you laugh while describing gruesome screen, Read all the Jack Lassiter books and love it, You'll fall in love with the some characters, Judge that fills racing forms during the trial, buzzards on the roof of the court house, Love to spend a day in that court room with Jack Lassiter, TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD VG
Levine, Paulst in Jake Lassiter series
Miami trail lawyer Jake Lassiter, "exfootball player, expublic defender, exalotofthings," is defending Dr.
Roger Stanton, a surgeon and womanizer charged with malpractice in the death of wealth Philip Corrigan, But the dead man's daughter insists that the doctor and her sexy stepmother conspired to kill her fatherand wants Lassiter to prove it.
Can Lassiter really defend his client for malpractice and builds a case against him for murder Turning for help to the wisdom of his old friend, retired county coroner Charlie Riggs, Lassiter hopes to get the evidence he needs from the dead man himself.
But outside the courtroom, he soon finds more trouble that he ever imagined possiblemurder, missing persons, grave robbery, kinky sex, and deadly drugsas he searched Florida's steamy streets and tropical swamps for a coldblooded killer.
Interesting characters, very good read, Let's call it a I have been burned by courtroom dramas often enough that I tend to avoid them now in favor of direct interactions with the case i.
e. , police procedurals, detectives, those more directly involved, but this one sounded intriguing and was free as a Kindle download last week, so I tried it.
I liked it pretty well, The main character is well developed and fun, some of the side character "regulars" are likewise engaging Granny Lassiter, Dr, Charles Riggs, and there is some leavening humor, which always helps, In this one, at least, the women were a bit onedimensional, but I forgave that to a certain extent, because A, it's the first book in the series, so we are meant to be focused on Jake Lassiter, and B, Levine wrote this in, so the standards weren't quite as high although much more forgiveable had it been, say, the 's!.
This also had among the weirdest endings I've ever experienced in a socalled mystery novel, but on reflection I decided to go with it.
I don't normally like openended stuff, but this was weird enough to work, I'll try the second one in the series before saying stop, My first Paul Levine read, The good points of this book: wiseacre Jake Lassiter reminded me of Chevy Chase in his Fletch films and his humor and the firstpercent of the book.
The notsogood points of the book: the lastpercent, I didn't feel satisfied that the story was wrapped up very well, but maybe that is only because of my expectations, This being Levine's first novel, I would, however read more, Fantastic thriller!
Move aside Grisham and Turow, Paul Levine has created a first rate legal thriller, Part law, part sleuth, "To Speak For The Dead" is a fast paced read, The characters have depth, the story has twists and it's hard to put down once you start, I recommend this to anyone! Enjoyable courtroom drama with a slightly convoluted mystery, a very likeable protagonist and some very quirky, fun side characters loved the retired medical examiner, plenty of humor, excellent audio narration by Luke Daniels.
First book in a series ofso far,.stars. I'm not sure what to say about this book, I really like Levine's writing style I've read his series Solomon vs, Lord and the books are of my all time favorites, I was very happy when I found out that the author had another series.
To Speak for the Dead is the first book the author wrote and it's pretty good, but not as good as the last one.
I didn't know what to think and what to expect after I finished it, The end was very open, But as soon as I find the rest of the books I'm going to read them,
I hope Paul Levine will start a new book very soon, because he is one of my favorite authors,/stars
This book was okay, but not great, I might have given it a fullstars, but I felt the narrator detracted from the story, A pretty good start for the first in this series, For book numberpublished inand from what I see , the series is still going strong,
The MC is Jake Lassiter an exsecond string line backer and now a lawyer in the Miami, Florida area, He is a fun character and I absolutely loved him from the beginning, The other characters are wonderfully quirkylike Charlie Riggs, the former Medical Examiner, who spouts Latin and knows the most surprising things you just can't help but laugh every time he makes an appearance in this book!
A murder mystery with lots of humor is the best I can explain this book.
A very fast, fun read especially those who enjoy sum summer beach, pool reads,
A series that I will continue to read when I'm in the mood for a fun, light, witty, lawyer type read!.