9 Scorpions [Paperback]

Paul Levine (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket Books; proof edition (1998)
• ASIN: B002QBCSME
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

More About the Author

PAUL LEVINE worked as a newspaper reporter, a law professor and a trial lawyer before becoming a full-time novelist. Obviously, he cannot hold a job. Paul claims that writing fiction comes naturally: he told whoppers for many years in his legal briefs. His books have been translated into 23 languages, none of which he can read.

He has won the John D. MacDonald fiction award and has been nominated for an Edgar, a Macavity, the International Thriller Writers Award, and the James Thurber Humor Prize.

What's new? Now on Amazon Kindle at $2.99: The 20th Anniversary edition of "To Speak for the Dead," the first of the bestselling Jake Lassiter novels. All author proceeds of the novel are pledged to the Four Diamonds Fund, which supports cancer treatment and research at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.

Writing in USA TODAY, Larry King called the Lassiter series, "Mystery writing at its very, very best."

To Speak for the Dead
Night Vision
False Dawn
Mortal Sin
Riptide
Fool Me Twice
Flesh & Bones

A Miami Dolphins linebacker turned hard-nosed lawyer, Lassiter has been described by Booklist as "one of the most entertaining series characters in contemporary crime fiction" and by The Miami Herald as having "a lot more charisma than Perry Mason ever did."

Also now available on Kindle, "Impact," a legal thriller set at the Supreme Court; "Ballistic," in which a homegrown terrorist group takes over a missile silo in Wyoming; and "The Road to Hell," four original short stories.

Paul's other work includes the "Solomon and Lord" series, featuring mismatched Miami lawyers Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord:

Solomon vs. Lord
The Deep Blue Alibi
Kill All the Lawyers
Trial & Error

"Fans of Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry will enjoy this humorous Florida crime romp," Publishers Weekly wrote of "Solomon vs. Lord."

Paul also wrote "Illegal," a thriller set in the world of human trafficking on the Mexican border. His next novel will be "Lassiter," due in hardcover from Bantam in September 2011.

Paul wrote 20 episodes of the TV series JAG, which gave him an opportunity to steer a nuclear submarine and land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, all without endangering national security. He is a graduate of Penn State University where he majored in journalism and the University of Miami Law School where he majored in the swimming pool. He passed the Florida Bar exam in his first try in what he suspects was a computer glitch.

He was a trial lawyer with the mammoth international law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he did not even pretend to know all his partners' names. He specialized in "complex litigation," cases so abstruse that even lawyers charging 500 bucks an hour didn't fully understand them. He tried hundreds of cases and handled appeals at every level, including the Supreme Court. Along the way, he filed expense accounts nearly as creative as his legal briefs.

Paul says he enjoys writing more than lawyering because he no longer keeps time sheets and gets to work in his underwear. He lives in the hills of Southern California, which he claims are populated by rattlesnakes and coyotes, and those are just the Hollywood agents.

More info at http:www.paul-levine.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 9 Scorpions. Great read. Informative. Entertaining., June 3, 2001

By 

Larry Moskowitz (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: 9 Scorpions (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of those rare books that enlightens while it entertains. The view of the inner sanctum of the U.S. Supreme Court reveals details not known by most Americans. The story is suspenseful and exciting; the characters are extremely well-drawn.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh, Please!, January 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 9 Scorpions (Hardcover)

I found 9 Scorpions too contrived. I read in an interview that Paul Levine wanted to write for a woman from a woman's point of view. Of course that woman is model-beautiful, a former stripper and a brilliant lawyer-to-be, living in a luxury apartment with a closet-full of expensive clothes, all paid for by a sugar daddy. And of course the man she's working for/falling in love with is charming, handsome and powerful (and in a bad marriage, natch). Yeah, real life going on here. It was ludicrous and stupid. Paul, stick to Jake.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Supreme (Court) Thriller, September 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: 9 Scorpions (Hardcover)

9 Scorpions is a different Paul Levine novel. There's no sign of Jake Lassiter, but no shortage of unique characters. The dialogue is especially clever. Through the plot, the inner workings of airlines, trial courts, and the United States Supreme Court are shown. There's enough detail to move the plot, but not so much that you get bogged down on it. The action takes off quickly and then accelerates. You feel like you're one of the characters in one of the many times the protagonists (one a stripper turned Supreme Court clerk and the other an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court) are in personal jeapardy, which is often. The bad guys are very bad, with the primary bad guy one of the last people you'd ever want to meet. 9 Scorpions is a fast read and a great ride. I think it's the breakout novel for Paul Levine.