Solomon vs Lord
Paul Levine
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
2005 Bantam Books
ISBN: 0440242738

Two warring Florida lawyers defend a young widow charged with murdering her wealthy husband. Sr. Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

Solomon: the word conjures up the image of King Solomon, the giver of justice, & famed for his unique perception of the law & of justice. Well, lawyer Steve Solomon, is the antithesis of Solomon the Just. He's zanily brilliant & wackishly maverick. He follows his own set of rules & has his own perception of justice. Victoria Lord, when compared to Solomon is prudish. She goes by the book, though feisty, she never would “bend” the ethics of law.

Solomon vs Lord is the first in a four book series from Paul Levine, of 9 Scorpions & the bestselling Jake Lassiter series of legal thrillers including To Speak for the Dead & Night Vision, all written before the turn of the century. I have always enjoyed reading this author, & was highly impressed with the plot & themes of all his thrillers, but I was not expecting such a wickedly funny murder tale of legal suspense with its hot action-filled finish - easily the best humorous legal thriller I have read in a long, long time.

Victoria Lord & Steve Solomon have their own set of priorities, & sparks fly between them both inside & outside the courtroom when they are pitted together in the trial of a high profile, ‘crime of the century’ type case, in which a young widow stands accused of murdering her rich husband during a particularly wild romantic moment.

A virtual battle of the sexes the book is reminiscent of Ruth Gordon’s Adam’s Rib (Yup, the Spencer Tracy- Katherine Hepburn starrer) & Laws of Attraction (remember the Pierce Brosnan-Julianne Moore movie?). The narrative pace is brilliant & in particular I was much impressed by the cover jacket - not the usual ‘justice with scales’ image for legal thrillers, which makes us want to read the book. One thing I am sure of I want to read the next Solomon-Lord mystery... Deep Blue Alibi.

Highly, highly recommended.
(01/15/06)

Narayan
2006©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org