Customer Reviews

Night Vision

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NIGHT VISION is author Paul Levine's second outing with ex-Miami Dolphin-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter. Written in 1990 ("Too soon for the WWW" as Levine once lamented), the story of NIGHT VISION concerns a serial killer using an Internet chat service to troll for victims, a novel idea at the time (no pun intended).

While too many of the one-liners are retreads from TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD, Levine has a stronger grasp on Lassiter's character this time around. Lassiter's social commentary on South Florida is piercing, and Lassiter himself seems less bumbling, hence less foolish, than in the earlier novel.

The actual hunt for the signature killer is engaging, though the intervening fifteen years since NIGHT VISION was first published have added immensely to the professional literature on serial killers. Levine's research on multiple-murders consequently appears a little thin, circa 2005. It seems a flaw but it isn't.

There are flaws. Levine unfortunately distracts himself with too many two-bit characters who add nothing to the story, and by adding nothing, dilute the plot. The interrelationships between the characters are "Six Degrees of Separation"-ish, as all the protagonists know or are sleeping with each other.

The humor seems a little forced at times. Levine simply tried too hard in spots. Not every comment requires a snappy rejoinder.

Still, NIGHT VISION compels you to keep turning its pages. Jake Lassiter is the kind of guy you'd want for a friend or neighbor, and he's at least competent at his profession (high praise, when one considers the public view of lawyers nowadays); it's a pleasure to find a J.D. who's not an S.O.B.

Enjoyable light reading that comes well recommended.

Paul Levine has a good series just beginning and now the second book in the Jake Lassiter, attorney series, NIGHT VISION. This is a smart, witty, series with very good reoccuring characters. Set in Florida, if the readers is from here, then extra cool reading. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I love Paul Levine's books, especially this one and his first novel. Witty, opinionated in a funny yet relevant way, and has a good plot too! Try this book!