Jake Lassiter, Meet Solomon & Lord

From the messy desk of Paul Levine...

I get similar emails all the time.  Yesterday, two came just moments apart.  Bob, from Ocala, Florida, wrote: "I've  been reading the Jake Lassiter series of legal thrillers since the 1990's.  When's the next one coming out?"

Elle, from I don't know where, wrote: "I love Steve Solomon & Victoria Lord.  I've been waiting for a new novel about them for years!"

Usually, I write back and say: "Don't bother me!"  No, that's no true.  I LOVE to hear from readers.   I sit in a darkened room all day long with no companionship other than a 14-year-old deaf dog named Nikki the Fart Machine.  So, keep those emails coming.

This is for Bob and Elle and all the others. I'm working on a new book in which Jake Lassiter defends Steve Solomon for murder...while falling hard for Victoria Lord.  The backdrop is a real criminal trial in Miami that produced lots of headlines and caught my attention.  I'll be writing more about that later on the blog. 

So, there you have it.  In television, we'd call it a "crossover."  Characters from one show appearing in another show on the same network.

This crossover could start an entire new series.  Or not.

Estimated date of publication.  Late this year. Yes, I have a title, but it would be bad luck to announce it so early.  (Among other things, Jim Born might steal it.).  But I can tell you this.  It's two words.  Three letters each. 

Jake was last seen in “State vs. Lassiter.”   Solomon and Lord were last bickering and  bantering in “Habeas Porpoise.”

As the time draws near, I'll post more about the new book.  For now, here's the moment where Victoria Lord tells Steve Solomon she can't represent him.

    “I need you, Vic.” Steve said.

    “I already retained Jake Lassiter.”

    “Lassiter!  I want a lawyer, not a linebacker.”

    “He’s won some tough cases.”

    “He’s a slab of meat.  If you won’t represent me, I want Roy Black.”

    “You can’t afford Roy.”

    “Tell him it’s me.”

    “Already did.”

    “And he didn’t offer a courtesy discount?”

     "He doubled his fee."

Paul Levine