Customer Reviews

To Speak for the Dead

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read John Grisham, Scott Turow, Steve Martini, Lisa Scottoline, Linda Fairstein and other writers of legal thrillers. I'm also a lawyer, so I'm a stickler for authenticity. TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD is maybe my favorite courtroom novel of all time. It combines suspense with humor and the trial scenes are on-the-money. Jake Lassiter is real to me because he's not a goody-two-shoes lawyer. He's flawed but tough and he'll do anything, including rob a grave, to get evidence. If I'm ever accused of murder, I'm going to hire Lassiter. I've also read the sequel, NIGHT VISION, which delves deeper into Lassiter's past and involves a serial killer on the Internet. Highly recommended, too.NIGHT VISION (The Jake Lassiter Series)

TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD is the first of Miami lawyer-turned-novelist Paul Levine's Jake Lassiter novels, and it acquits itself well as an initial effort.

Levine knows his landscape as well as fellow Floridians John D. MacDonald or Carl Hiaasen, and his characters are at least as well developed and colorful. In TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD we are introduced to former second-string Miami Dolphin-turned-slightly stumbling attorney Jake Lassiter, his irrepressible moonshine sippin' Granny Lassiter, and his best friend, the Latin-spouting retired ME, Dr. Charlie Riggs.

Very much a working lawyer, the self-deprecating Jake is usually quicker with his wisecracks than with his appellate arguments, but he somehow manages to be smarter than the people around him expect him to be, nonetheless.

Lassiter's failing is idealism---he firmly believes people to be better than they are---and he struggles to discover what more cynical, jaded human beings might assume from the outset.

Jake's recent client, Dr. Roger Salisbury has just been cleared of malpractice in the death of multimillionaire Miami developer Philip Corrigan, age sixtyish. No sooner has Salisbury walked out of the civil courtroom than Corrigan's twentysomething widow, Melanie Corrigan (aka ex-exotic dancer Autumn Rain) accuses him of murder.

As it turns out, Dr. Salisbury and the grieving widow have a sloppily kept secret "history." So...Is it murder? Is it conspiracy? Is it an accident...Is it revenge...? And why is Jake wearing one brown loafer and one cordovan?

As light reading goes, this one is a page-turner, though with the low-key feel of a summer dusk at Longboat Key.

Highly recommended fun!

Just as good the second (or is it the third or fourth?) time around as when I first read this book, discovering both Jake Lassiter and Paul Levine at the same time. Breezy writing, and a fun character, surrounded by a more than decent plot. I loved it then, and gobbled up everything by Levine after that, and I'm glad I took the time to buy and read again for a good cause. (Funny story - discovered Levine because I was looking to see whether Levinson [,Robert S.] was on the shelf of a then local bookstore.

I gave this book a second star ONLY because I wanted to find out what happened enough to read to its end. And for Tyrone Hambone Washington.

Otherwise, it was unbelievable, no matter what "Lady Trial Lawyer" claims. No prosecutor would go to trial based on merely the word of a woman who could have planted the alleged murder weapon and who had already sued the alleged murderer for malpractice. If he or she did, no competent lawyer would fail to ask when and where the accuser met the accused, i.e., when she was stripping and giving lap dances in a strip bar. Nor do judges wait until the middle of a trial to rule on whether certain evidence is admissable.

It's also unbelievable that a person who hears the gruesome and painful details of a loved one's death from a "friend" would continue to consider that person a friend.

Maybe that's just me. But the rest of it simply doesn't hold up. Not recommended for the well-informed.

I strongly recommend the Jake Lassiter series by Paul Levine to all the mystery/legl thriller enthusiasts. Jake Lassiter (the main protagonist) is a former pro-football player turned lawyer with an attitude and a humor to match the sophistication of the award-winning series' storylines.

To mark the 20th anniversary of its hardcover publication, the novel "To Speak for the Dead," written by Penn State alumnus Paul Levine, is being re-issued as an e-book with proceeds going to support cancer treatment and research at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. I rated this as 5 stars for that reason alone, haven't read the book yet. But, I love Carl Haissen and one of the reviewers said this book was better than his books. I doesn't matter to me if the story is "predictable", as one reviewer put it, it's the different personalities and the twists and turns that make a book fun to read for me. Like the old saying goes: it's not the destination, but the journey there.

Always looking for new books in the genre and the Jake Lassiter series was highly recommended, I am glad I looked at Paul Levine. Being from South Florida I think adds to the fun of the book for me. Jake Lassiter is a go get 'em lawyer and team him with crusty old retired coroner Charlie Riggs and you have quite an interesting team. Good characters and fun dialogue. TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD is a solid first effort and I will read the next book in the series, NIGHT VISION. RECOMMENDED

This was my first Jake Lassiter book and I found him to be an engaging character. I especially liked his irreverent approach to his job, as well as life in general. Secondary characters were equally engaging, although Granny Lassiter was a bit much. Most of the plot elements rang true, with the exception of some of the scenes with the dead body. Not being a lawyer, I can't say how true the courtroom scenes were, but I do know criminal law is showmanship, and that is something Lassiter does well.

By far, the best part of a Paul Levine book is his wry sense of humor and wonderful twist of wordage. I found myself wanting to highlight every other wisecrack or sardonic comment that came from Lassiter or Granny, or any of the other great characters in the book.

I picked this up as a recommendation through my Kindle Facebook newsfeed. I like trying different authors that are similar to other authors I find enjoyable (Michael Connelly, John Sandford, Steve Berry, etc). For me, this one was just as much of a page turner as any one of those author's books. I enjoyed it very much - it was well written and certainly well thought out. I have already picked up another one of his books off of Amazon for my Kindle.

One of the few books I've read recently that I felt compelled to continue, reading late into the night. Written in the first person, I was reminded of old gum-shoe noir books. Courtroom scenes are handled in a humorous manner, with judges that look to the press before making rulings or make horse-racing bets from the bench. Well worth the asking price of $2.99.