Nobody Roots for Goliath: A Bomber Hanson Mystery [Hardcover]

David Champion (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The echo of a recent news story about a tobacco company exec who blows the whistle on his former employer's nicotine-spiking adds a high note of topicality to an otherwise sludgy exercise. Appearing for the second time (after The Mountain Massacres) is ace trial lawyer Bomber Hanson, who looks and acts a lot like F. Lee Bailey and operates out of a California town that is equally reminiscent of Santa Barbara. Hanson represents a dying, blind Pennsylvania father of 12 painfully cute daughters who started smoking only after he lost his sight and couldn't read the warning labels on the packs. Bomber sends his son Tod to the hometown of Rich Zepf, Cedarburg, Pa., to size things up. A classical composer who'd rather be writing a fugue than digging up dirt, narrator Tod and his father engage in testy exchanges that palely suggest the relationship between Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. But stretched out dialogue, some pedestrian prose and predictable plotting mar the route to the wrap-up courtroom drama.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Series protagonist Tod Hanson (The Mountain Massacres, Knoll Pubs., 1995) investigates cases for his famous father, hard-hitting California lawyer Bomber Hanson. Bomber's overweening ego causes his only son, also a lawyer, to stutter?but only when talking to his dad. Otherwise physically attractive, Tod finds romance here with a young woman hired to research his father's case against a large tobacco company on behalf of a Pennsylvania man dying of cancer. Tod finds an inside source and a covered-up murder. Energetic prose, approachable characters, and a likely plot; recommended.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Allen a Knoll Pubs; 1st edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888310448
• ISBN-13: 978-1888310443
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,877,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, if not believable, November 29, 1997

By 

Frank (Stockton CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nobody Roots for Goliath: A Bomber Hanson Mystery (Hardcover)

This book is another in the "evil tobacco company taken to court" genre. It is a quick read, heavy on the stereotypes, and pretty light on believability and facts, but it does a good job of characterization and use of suspense.

I doubt a real court would allow either the "surprise witness's" arrest for embezzlement, or the attempted bribing of a plaintiff's counsel, to be presented to the jury. Nor would the plaintiff's blindness be allowed to negate the proven defense that tobacco companies complied with federal law in warning their customers.

It's not worth buying, but is worth borrowing from the library for an afternoon's reading.

4.0 out of 5 stars Individuals Responsible or Corporations?, October 29, 2010

By 

Athalia Stoneback (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nobody Roots for Goliath: A Bomber Hanson Mystery (Hardcover)

"Nobody Roots for Goliath" is a heartwarming tale that asks the question, "Are humans completely responsible for their own actions?" The story follows the Zepf family, twelve girls with a blind father who is dying of lung cancer and a mother who is in an insane asylum. The Zepf father wants to sue the T.S. Armstead company, manufacturer of cigarettes, for giving him lung cancer by addicting him to their product. Follow this heartwarming story as Bomber and Tod Hanson fight for justice in the courtroom. A must read for anyone who enjoys courtroom drama or who knows someone battling addiction.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time on this one, September 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Nobody Roots for Goliath: A Bomber Hanson Mystery (Hardcover)

Teddy Roosevelt had the White House as his "bully pulpit" for preaching his social philosophy; David Champion has this "mystery" novel. I use quotation marks because there is no mystery involved in this book, except that of how such a poor work ever got published.

Champion populates this screed against the tobacco industry with a conglomeration of mystery-genre stereotypes: the heroic trial lawyer who is flamboyant, arrogant, but basically idealistic (he offers to return his fee if his ideals are not fulfilled); his shlimazel son, the soft-hearted investigator; the ne'er-do-well but actually brialliant local lawyer who assists them; the poor-but-proud client with the saccharine family (12!, count 'em 12! daughters); the evil giant coporation that bibes entire states; the corrupt New York (of course) lawyer and the corrupt small-towm "establishment" law firm who represent the coporation; a death-bed confession; and last, but not least, a deus-ex-machina to save the day.

This book should be categorized as a fantasy, not a mystery. Don't encourage the author by buying it, or even by borrowing it from a library.