I like Paul Levine and his series of Solomon vs. Lord legal thrillers, of which KILL ALL THE LAWYERS is the third (the first two, SOLOMON VS. LORD and THE DEEP BLUE ALIBI, were both reviewed here positively). His cast of characters includes Steve Solomon, a charming but reckless defense lawyer who plays by his own set of rules, and the counterfoil and love of his life, Victoria Lord, who plays by the rules and is fairly strict about them. Sure, it’s clichéd and we’ve seen this dynamic a hundred times, but Levine works some charm into it and adds the complication of Steven’s nephew, Bobby, who is half-genius, half-damaged from a horrifying upbringing.
The book starts off well with Solomon waking up to find a marlin attached to his front door. That seems an odd “good morning” message and it gets even weirder from there. Years ago, Solomon broke a trial rule and provided damaging evidence about his own client to the prosecution. William Kreeger was guilty as sin, but it was Solomon’s betrayal of his client that put the man in jail. That client is not only out, but he has remade his life and become a successful radio talk-show host. Let’s just say he hasn’t really changed.
KILL ALL THE LAWYERS contains all the normal Levine trademarks of the chaotic Miami environment: snappy dialogue, lots of wisecracks and likable (if unlikely) characters. But this time, it seems a little forced. Solomon not only is acting his normal reckless self – he seems downright suicidally stupid. He brags a lot about how much he wants to protect his nephew, but consistently chooses the wrong path in order to do so. While a mistake or two is to be expected, after a few hundred pages, you begin to think Bobby might be better off in foster care.
And it’s great that in this third installment, Bobby is maturing from childhood into a raging horndog of a boy just hitting puberty. But Bobby is still only in sixth grade. Sixth grade! We’re talking 11-12 years old. Do kids this young really talk about and participate in rainbow parties? If so, then maybe the right wing is correct and we are all heading down the path to destruction. Because it’s just a little too creepy to read about Bobby’s adolescent fantasies with his classmates, and it’s even worse when an adult gets involved. I suppose some reviewers would call this material “torn from today’s headlines,” but this is much darker than the enjoyable semi-comic harmless romp I had hoped for and received from Levine’s earlier works. Still, the Solomon/Lord combination is a good one for your consideration, but start with the other titles first. –Mark Rose
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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• THE DEEP BLUE ALIBI by Paul Levine
• SOLOMON VS. LORD by Paul Levine
Related posts:
- The Deep Blue Alibi
- Solomon vs. Lord
- BOOK WHORE >> 1.31.06
- Learning to Kill: Stories
- The Thieves of Heaven
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