Other Books by Levine


Seven Jake Lassiter novels have been published in 23 countries to wide critical acclaim. The New York Times Book Review proclaimed the books: "Irreverent, genuinely clever and great fun." Writing in USA Today, Larry King declared: "Mystery writing at its very, very best." And the St. Petersburg Times drew a comparison: "Just the remedy for those who can't get enough Spenser and miss Travis McGee terribly."

Following publication of MORTAL SIN, Paul became the second recipient of the John D. MacDonald Award for fiction. (Elmore Leonard was the first).

So just who is Jake Lassiter? He's a second-string linebacker turned night-school lawyer, a burger and beer guy in a quiche and Chardonnay world. He's brutally honest about the legal profession: "They don't call us sharks for our ability to swim." A charming rogue, he stubbornly searches for the truth but doesn't always find it.

TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD
Jake successfully defends a malpractice case for a surgeon, but then suspects that his client is guilty of murder. Jake places his commitment to the truth ahead of his duty to his client -- a cardinal sin for lawyers -- and jeopardizes the lives of others in the process.



NIGHT VISION
A psychopathic killer stalks women on a computer sex-talk network. Appointed a special prosecutor, Jake enlists the aid of a brilliant woman psychiatrist with a dark secret in her past. Sexual ambiguities abound, and no one is quite what he or she seems as Lassiter uncovers the murderer.



FALSE DAWN
Jake refuses to believe his client, Francisco Crespo, who confesses to killing a Russian warehouse worker. When stolen Fabergé eggs from Russia begin showing up in Miami's Little Havana, the case gets murkier. Is an international theft ring at work, or is the legacy of the Russian people being "sold" to prop up the failing economy?



MORTAL SIN
Jake is embroiled in ethical and moral dilemmas. He's having an affair with Nicky Florio's wife. Nicky's a killer, but even worse, he's Jake's client. Nicky finds out about the affair, and Jake discovers Nicky's plan to despoil the Everglades, and just how far he'll go to accomplish his goals.



SLASHBACK
Someone steals $2 million in negotiable bonds from Jake's client, 82-year-old Sam Kazdoy. Then Jake's friend, failed real estate developer, Berto Zaldivar, is found strangled in a swamp. The two crimes are related, and the trail of evidence leads Jake to a stunning woman windsurfer in Maui where he belatedly learns the difference between youth and innocence, beauty and purity.



FOOL ME TWICE
Jake beats a fraud rap for con man Blinky Baroso who sells shares in non-existent treasure troves. Soon, Blinky's partner is found dead, and Jake is the prime suspect. The evidence leads to abandoned silver mines under the ski slopes in posh Aspen and the discovery of a priceless artifact of the old West: the missing Silver Queen statue.



FLESH & BONES
Jake falls for his client, Chrissy Bernhardt, a beautiful model charged with killing her father, then begins to suspect that her "recovered memories" of childhood sex abuse were either implanted by a shady psychiatrist or fabricated by Chrissy herself.






9 SCORPIONS
A stand-alone thriller, the book raises this provocative question: How do you fix a case at the Supreme Court? Lisa Fremont, a brilliant young lawyer, is planted on the Court as a law clerk to newly appointed Justice Sam Truitt, a charismatic former Harvard professor. Lisa's job is to steal a multimillion-dollar case by swaying Truitt, either with her legal acumen or, if that fails, her feminine charms.