Jake Lassiter is woken up by the police after sleeping on the beach all night. The previous evening his girlfriend Pamela and he had an argument and he left the luxurious suite at the hotel they were staying at. After being escorted back to the hotel, he Jake discovers that Pamela was murdered, and he soon becomes the only suspect. Now, Jake has to use every resource in his legal arsenal to prove his innocence.

I love the Jake Lassiter character; he is strong, sarcastic and the women seem to love him. I loved the previous novels, and enjoyed reading this one. I really wanted to know what and who could be framing him or why he was in this predicament. But the story was a little predictable, and although I enjoyed 85% of it, I was a little disappointed at the end I won’t give up on Jake though. ( )

This book was sent to me as an ARC in exchange for a review.

Paul Levine is quite a popular author and this book is rated very highly in reviews on the bookselling sites. People clearly like the characters and story. Jake is a former pro-baller and presented as something of a romantic and a good guy. He’s raising a teen nephew after the death of the child’s parents. He’s a smart ass with the cops from the moment they step into the scene despite grieving for his dead girlfriend lying on the floor. He’s able to compartmentalize in a way that doesn’t sound contrived but does come off as quite stupid for such a smart guy. Jake is quite well drawn while everyone else is one-dimensional. Women who have slept with Jake are breasts and bad attitudes. The women who haven’t slept with Jake … well, there’s his grandmother. Seriously, while he’s not that bad there does seem to be a heavy overtone of the woman scorned that is more 80’s television career woman stereotype (hot babe in a short skirt fighting against the odds in a mans world) than real feeling.

The frame up story line is used frequently in fiction and Levine’s is unique. Did Jake embezzle from his clients and if he did does that mean he killed Pam? Levine’s character has a very dim view of the justice system. Justice isn’t just blind, she’s stupid. If you're a fan of 80's mystery shows you'll like "State vs. Lassiter" ( )

Found as 2014 Shamus Award Finalist. Series of 12. BOOK is not in Merlin. ( )