False Dawn

by Paul Levine

Overview

Jake Lassiter doesn't know much about art, but what he knows can get him killed. Jake's used to clients who lie - but it's usually to deny their guilt. When his old friend Francisco Crespo admits to brutally killing a fellow warehouse worker with a forklift truck, Jake is suspicious. With medical evidence suggesting that Crespo was unconscious at the time of the Russian worker's death, why is Crespo saying he did it? Refusing to accept Crespo's improbable guilty plea, Jake embarks on a quest for the truth that takes him to Havana in search of priceless Fabergé eggs and an international theft ring that involves the CIA, Fidel Castro and the Russian Government. Soon realizing that nothing is as it seems, the ex-Miami Dolphins linebacker has a lot to contend with in this gritty thriller that sees him taking on a dangerous international conspiracy. PRAISE FOR FALSE DAWN "Realistic, gritty, fun." - New York Times Book Review "Enough twists and turns to satisfy Robert Ludlum fans." - Publishers Weekly "A highly entertaining yarn filled with wry humor."-- Detroit Free Press "Mystery writing at its very, very best." - Larry King, USA TODAY

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998316611
Publisher:	Nittany Valley Productions, Inc.
Publication date:	01/15/2017
Series:	Jake Lassiter , #3
Pages:	344
Sales rank:	505,415
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.72(d)

About the Author

The author of 20 novels, Paul Levine won the John D. MacDonald fiction award and was nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, International Thriller, Shamus and James Thurber prizes. A former trial lawyer, he wrote twenty-one episodes of the CBS military drama "JAG" and co-created the Supreme Court drama "First Monday" starring James Garner and Joe Mantegna. The international bestseller "To Speak for the Dead" was his first novel and is still in print 27 years after publication. He is also the author of the "Solomon vs. Lord" series and several stand-alone thrillers. His most recent series brings together Lassiter with Solomon and Lord. Their first joint outing is "Bum Rap" a number one bestseller in the Amazon Kindle Store. In a starred review, Booklist described the novel as a "delicious mix of thriller and comic crime novel." In the second of the series, "Bum Luck," Lassiter comes unglued when he threatens to kill his own client. Does the linebacker-turned-lawyer suffer from possibly fatal chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) stemming from his football career? A graduate of Penn State and the University of Miami Law School, Paul divides his time between Miami, Florida and Santa Barbara, California. Visit the author's website at http: //www.paul-levine.com.

Editorial Reviews

Levine's third novel starring lawyer and ex-Miami Dolphin Jake Lassiter (after To Speak for the Dead ) mixes an international conspiracy stew out of a huge list of ingredients that includes Cuban socialists, Cuban exiles, Japanese art smugglers, double-dealing CIA agents and even a beautiful operative from the Finnish Intelligence Agency. Lassiter, working at the Miami firm of Harman and Fox, is asked to defend his old friend Francisco Crespo, who cheerfully admits that he murdered a Russian co-worker by skewering him on a forklift. But medical evidence indicates that Crespo was unconscious at the time of the Russian's death. Why is he lying? Things become a little clearer when Lassiter receives a veiled warning from Matsuo Yagamata, Crespo's employer and a big Harman and Fox client, and a lot clearer when Yagamata displays the contents of a Faberge egg he has no business owning. By then it's pretty obvious what's going on, so the real question becomes: who's on what side? The answer changes literally chapter by chapter, with double-, triple- and quadruple-crosses piling up to the point of self-parody. The silliness is redeemed only by the character of Levine's hero and narrator. Lassiter is like the sole halfback in a field full of quarterbacks: he just takes the ball and runs, and whoever hands him the ball points him in another direction. A quirky little mystery with enough twists and turns to satisfy Robert Ludlum fans and a unique hero who will always be more of a ball-carrier than a playmaker. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly