Trial & Error (Solomon vs. Lord, Book 4) [Mass Market Paperback]

Paul Levine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2007

When Steve Solomon is awakened from a sound sleep beside his lover and law partner, Victoria Lord, the last thing he expects is to find himself in a high-speed chase against dolphin-kidnapping ecoterrorists on Jet Skis. But that is what you get when your nephew hangs out at water parks and speaks cetacean–a.k.a. dolphin. By morning, a person is dead and Steve has a new client: none other than one of the animal liberators. There’s just one loophole: Victoria is on the case too—on the opposite side.

No wonder Larry King says that this is “mystery writing at its very best” and Dave Barry says Paul Levine writes a terrific courtroom drama that’s also funny as hell!”

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth Solomon vs. Lord novel finds the two romantically entwined attorneys-at-law unwittingly taking opposing sides of an ecoterrorism case. After heroically thwarting the theft of two prized dolphins from a wildlife park, Steve Solomon finds himself representing the very environmentalist radical he helped apprehend, a clueless idealist who, due to a legal technicality, is likely to be convicted of murder. Meanwhile, Steve's long-term girlfriend, Victoria Lord, has been tapped by the state's attorney to spearhead the prosecution. While the two lovers exchange characteristically incisive banter over their case and their relationship, Solomon's autistic adopted son, Bobby, provides insight that may crack the case wide open—only to reveal a seriously dangerous conspiracy. The book shines throughout the legal melodrama, treating over-the-top courtroom antics with enough legalese to keep the proceedings from tipping into suspense-killing absurdity. There are some rough patches—Bobby's thoughts on his struggling social life are distracting (and unnaturally wholesome), and the closing chapters discard witty courthouse repartee for contrived B-movie action fare—but no more than series fans have come to expect. This quick and tightly crafted caper has enough cheeseball humor, endearing wit and memorable characters to make it a fine rainy-day read. (June)
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About the Author

Paul Levine is a former trial lawyer and the award-winning author of the Solomon vs. Lord legal thrillers.  He has also written for the CBS television program, JAG.  Levine lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on his next Jimmy Payne thriller. 

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440242762
• ISBN-13: 978-0440242765
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #450,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars legal thriller version of Moonlighting, June 9, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trial & Error (Solomon vs. Lord, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

In Miami, attorney Steve Solomon prevents the abduction of two dolphins from Cetacean Park. Ironically, the radical green hugger he captured asks Solomon to defend him against a murder charge as his kidnapping partner died in the botched "rescue" mission.

The State Attorney General recluses himself because the accused is his nephew; so to the defense lawyer's shock, he names Steve's girlfriend Victoria Lord as the chief prosecutor. As the two do what they always do when it comes to legal matters, they argue in and out of court driving the judge to distraction. However, it is the insight of Steve's autistic adopted son, Bobby, who brings a surprising lucid perception to what happened.

Sort of mindful of a legal thriller version of Moonlighting, the latest Solomon vs. Lord tale TRIAL AND ERROR is a fun lighthearted thriller that fans of the series will enjoy especially when the lead couple objects. The story line is at its best in the courtroom where humor and insight make for a fine lawyer war between the lovers. When the plot turns introspective into Bobby's mind it loses some of the edge and when it morphs into an action thriller near the end it loses its keen edge. Still readers will receive pleasure from this amusing war of the attorneys.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lesser entry, but still fun, January 26, 2008

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Trial & Error (Solomon vs. Lord, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

(Reviewer's note: As this is the fourth entry in a continuing series, I suggest beginning with the first book, Solomon vs. Lord, and reading your way through. I apologize in advance to those who choose to read on and have plot secrets from the first book and its sequel revealed to them.)

Trial and Error is the first novel in the Solomon vs. Lord to actually pit Solomon versus Lord since the first one, aptly titled Solomon vs. Lord. The actual case is based on the technicality that a murder committed during a crime makes the criminal instantly culpable for the victim's death, even if he or she did not actually fire the shot.

This is how Victoria Lord gets her first big professional case. She hopes it will bring in big money to the firm of Solomon & Lord, but her partner ("in law and in love") Steve Solomon sees it differently and offers to defend the fellow.

This really upsets Steve's nephew Bobby, a 12-year-old Asperger's semi-genius who can speak dolphin and work anagrams in his head -- because Bobby knows the crime, perpetrated under the banner of Animal Rights, was a phony because the pieces don't fit logically.

Trial and Error is author Paul Levine's fourth romantic comedy/legal thriller in this series in two-and-a-half years, and he's finally showing some signs of wear. This entry is the shortest one yet, but at least its size fits its plot better than Kill All the Lawyers's did; this one is a quick weekend read.

Bobby's anagrams, a highlight of others like The Deep Blue Alibi, are weaker here, but this could be more due to the boy's burgeoning interest in baseball (turns out Bobby has a "live arm") than any lack of imagination on the author's part. A lot of the sexiness of the previous novels is also missing in Trial and Error. Levine seems to have cut the story to the bare bones in order to keep the page count down. And the cover art is the most pedestrian of the series so far.

But there's still a lot to love about Trial and Error. The characters are still the familiar ones from before (though Solomon's and Lord's quirky parents -- Herbert T. Solomon is a personal favorite -- barely make a token appearance), and Solomon makes a surprising decision that opens the door for further adventures -- a decision that is both narratively sound and, at this point, just about necessary to keep things going in the right direction.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dolphins' Advocate, June 16, 2007

By 

Gerald So (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trial & Error (Solomon vs. Lord, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Having foiled an animal activist's attempt to free a pair of trained dolphins, Steve Solomon finds himself morally obligated to defend the naive activist against a felony murder charge. As the activist's uncle, D.A. Ray Pincher is conflicted out and calls on his former employee, Victoria Lord, to prosecute. Can Solomon and Lord overcome their professional and personal conflict to get at the truth?

All the Solomon vs. Lord novels show Levine's talent for layering and then unfurling mystery, yet each adventure is memorably different from the last, satisfying returning fans and winning new ones.