When I first saw the blurb for Paul Levine’s series of Solomon vs. Lord, I knew I had to read this series. What caught my attention so quickly was actually Paul’s background. He worked as a newspaper reporter, a law professor and a trial lawyer before becoming a full-time novelist and screenwriter. I have always liked to watch trials and lawyer shows on television. Jag was one I liked, along with Moonlighting. If you ever caught the Moonlighting show, you would remember how Cybill Shepherd was an ex model and Bruce Willis was a wise-guy detective who co-run a private detective agency. One character in Paul's book reminds me of this show.

Steve Solomon makes up a list called Solomon's Law with the first entry being when the law doesn't work...work the law. Steve Solomon isn’t your everyday lawyer; he makes his own rules up as he goes alone. Nothing is by the book with him. Solomon has a lot of trouble in his life, both past and present, to overcome. His mother died a few years earlier, his dad is a dishonored judge who had to resign, and his sister is in her own little world. Now he is trying to gain custody of his nephew Bobby, who has lived in a situation no child should ever have to live in.

Victoria Lord is a woman who has her life planned out. She works for the District Attorneys office, is engaged to Bruce Bigby, a man who comes from family money and would like nothing better than to work for his family’s business. As things progress, Victoria is forced to examine her own path in life and whether she might benefit from loosening up both inside the courtroom and out. Her life isn’t all she plans it to be just yet though. She has bills to pay off and a ladder to climb at work. She never planned on anything like Steve Solomon. Her first real case by herself and he gets her thrown in jail for contempt of court and fired from her job, all within a two day time period. Now Victoria finds a tennis partner who is being charged for murder, and agrees to help. Steve figures out that Victoria has a connection with Katrina Barkdale, whose wealthy husband Charles dies during a bondage game that goes too far. The widow is being charged with her husband’s murder, and Steve finagles it so that the two must work as a team to try and prove her innocence. Victoria is furious but has no choice but to work with Steve because she needs the money. Steve also needs a miracle and money to keep custody of his autistic nephew, so he can get Bobby the proper tutoring he needs. The wealthy client will elevate him and his law practice to the front pages of the news, to help make that happen. The end result is Steve’s conniving becomes a partnership between the two.

Forced into an intimate working relationship, Victoria begins to recognize the redeeming qualities in Steve. Through the eyes of Bobby and a cast of over the top characters who aid him in illegally ferreting out information crucial to saving Bobby from the grasp of the deranged Dr. Kranchick and her evil design to experiment on him, she allows her feelings to surface. Steve is surrounded by a colorful cast of sidekicks, including Cadillac Johnson, a former musician who does some investigating for him, and Marvin the Maven, a kibitzing retiree who helps pick jurors and the like. The more she gets involved with Steve Solomon, the more complicated Victoria's life becomes. Her fiancÈ’s habits become more annoying while Steve’s bending of the law in the pursuit of justice becomes more acceptable.

As you can see, this one has everything: comedy, romance, drama, sex, violence, snappy chatter, and characters both lovable and detestable and everything in between. Don't let the 550 pages fool you--it reads so fast you'll be looking for the next in the series in a day or two. It's laugh-out-loud funny throughout, there are several fascinating legal story lines woven through it, and the characters are quite endearing. Readers who enjoy courtroom dramas will love this novel, since there’s more than one case on the line.

Reviewed By: Tammy Adams
© March 2006