Welcome, Jake Lassiter! With Steve Solomon in trouble and in prison, Jake seemed like Victoria Lord’s most obvious choice to defend Steve. Well, not that Steve agrees. But as he goes through his paltry options of lawyers, he realizes Vic was right to retain Lassiter. Solomon & Lord make a law firm. They are also a couple. In chapter 3, it says, “Victoria graduated summa cum laude. Steve graduated summa cum luck.”

Nadia Delova’s request of Steve was simple enough. She was working as a B-girl for Nicolai Gorev. He was withholding her pay and her passport. She wanted both and wanted to leave his employment. She was in love and wanted to run off and marry her man, formerly a customer. Steve accompanies Nadia to Gorev’s office. Next thing he knows, she’s pointing a gun at Gorev and he gets shot right between the eyes. Steve tells the police that Nadia shot the gun, but when the police arrived, she was gone and he was holding the gun. Like Steve says, “I am in deep shit.”

Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord make up the law firm, Solomon and Lord. There have been four books in the Solomon and Lord series. In the Jake Lassiter series, there have been ten books. This is the first in the Lassiter, Solomon & Lord series. I fell right in step with the story as it grabs you as soon as you open the pages. I’d not read any books from Lassiter or Solomon & Lord, yet the characters are so descriptive and unique that I fell in love with them almost immediately. The mystery is fantastic raising the reader’s curiosity at the outset and keeping it throughout the novel. There is a lot of well-placed humor that I enjoyed immensely. Lassiter’s chapters are told in first person; the rest are third person. Rating: 5 out of 5. ( )

A special thank you to Thomas & Mercer for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Paul Levine returns with BUM RAP (Jake Lassiter #11) with continuous wit, comic crime, courtroom antics, sexy Russian bar gals, legal, sleuthing, a southern street smart granny, a smoking gun and some hot Miami heat by combining heroes, Jake, Steve, and Victoria for a "laugh out loud" mystery thriller; especially for us South Florida residents and Levine fans.

Combining the best of his series, with characters: Jake Lassiter (State vs. Lassiter) and Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord (Solomon vs. Lord) Steve, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to help Nadia, a Russian B-girl, get her passport and back wages from gangster Gorev. Steve finds himself in jail, accused of the murder of Gorev, when his life-partner and fellow legal partner, Victoria Lord, hires Jake Lassiter to represent him.

Jake, former NFL linebacker, turned sarcastic comedian lawyer, is thinking of moving to Vermont for an easier life, tired of dealing with the dirty justice systems and shifty clients in Miami. However, before giving up, he has to tackle some dirt and mud and takes one for the team. His scene in the bar with the Russian girls - hilarious!

Victoria Lord (hot and sexy), hires Jake Lassiter to defend her man and she may want more from Jake than his legal expertise. Then there is Benny the Jeweler, Club Anastasia, Russian mobsters, the FBI and tracking down Nadia.

Levine cleverly creates a fast-paced non-stop thriller, which keeps you laughing so hard with wit and comics you sometimes forget about the story and mystery at hand. Quite entertaining!

Prior to attaining the ARC, I had already purchased the audiobook, with double the pleasure--narrator Michael Levine, kept the suspense and humor at an all-time high—a roller coaster ride wild adventure.

An idea gritty read for some 4th of July fireworks, and a fun-filled weekend at South Beach! ( )