That’s Paul Levine on the right. He writes the Jake Lassiter series, among other engaging series and standalone thriller novels. That’s his latest Lassiter novel depicted on the left, CHEATER’S GAME, based on not one but two very timely stories in and out of the news these days, one concerning the national college admissions scandal and the other about degenerative brain injuries suffered by NFL football players and others who are repeatedly subjected to jarring head injuries.
Among the real world admissions cheaters was a “brilliant” young man who could achieve perfect SAT scores at will who, for the “right” price, was taking the SAT for others who needed a little “help.” Turns out, in CHEATER’S GAME, that young man was Jake Lassiter’s nephew and de facto step son, Kip Lassiter. Kip is set up by the ringleader to take the fall. The one who falls for the setup is the federal government, which, in need of a big win, indicts Kip and means to put him away for the rest of his life. Uncle Jake, a criminal defense lawyer and a former college and NFL football player, whose brain is teetering on the abyss, feels responsible for Kip’s dilemma, as any “father” might, is forced to defend Kip in federal court whether or not up to the task because, well, the story just wouldn’t be as tense and interesting if Jake and Kip did the smart thing and hired a superstar lawyer to defend Kip.
Paul writes great legal thrillers. Not only does he have a singular ability to reduce complex legal situations to something that anyone can follow, and get worked up over, but he also manages to do it with great humor injected into every chapter if not every page. He gets his readers angry and laughing at the same time. Not easy to do, but Paul does it, and he does it well. I read CHEATER’S GAME, really enjoyed it. I know you will too.
Casting further doubt on just who is suffering from brain injury, Paul occasionally talks to Jake and thinks Jake answers. I tried to get my two cents in, but they didn’t seem to need–or want–my help.
LEVINE GRILLS LASSITER ABOUT “CHEATER’S GAME”
Jake Lassiter, the linebacker-turned-lawyer, first appeared in Paul Levine’s “To Speak for the Dead” in 1990. Thirty years later, Lassiter is still navigating the shark-infested waters of the justice system. In “Cheater’s Game,” a heartbroken Lassiter must defend his brilliant nephew Kip who’s charged as an imposter, taking entrance exams for students in the true-to-life college admissions scandal.
Paul: I thought you retired, but here you are, back in the courtroom.
Jake: Don’t blame me, Scribbler. I hung up my briefcase after “Bum Deal,” but you put me to work again.
Paul: Admit it, Jake. You missed the combat of a criminal trial.
Jake: That’s your fantasy, Desk Jockey. Mine is to snooze in a hammock, drink tequila, and feed the peacocks.
Ron: Hey, can I join in on this conversation?
Paul: Did you hear something, Jake?
Jake: Maybe some noise, but certainly nothing intelligent.
Paul: You came back because your nephew Kip got in trouble. The boy you raised as your own son. That had to be painful.
Jake: I thought I’d taught Kip ethics and values, but I failed. I let him down.
“You release your child into the world, like launching a toy sailboat in a pond. Except the world is not a placid pond. More often, it is a raging sea, and life a perfect storm. You cannot prepare the child because your own personal crises, traumas and failures are just that, your own. Your child, as you will belatedly learn, is not you.” – Jake Lassiter in “Cheater’s Game”
Paul: There’s a lot of blame to go around in the college scandal.
Jake: I don’t understand it. Why would parents cheat to get their kids into so-called elite universities? Don’t they realize they’re saying, “You can’t make it on your own? And your only honors will be summa cum fraud.”
“In a society without shame, where faking it is making it and deceit trumps virtue, integrity is for losers and cheaters win. Fairness? Forget about it! A meritocracy? In your dreams! Earn your diploma? Why bother, when you can buy it?” – Jake Lassiter in “Cheater’s Game”
Paul: Yet, you plead your nephew “not guilty” and defend him in federal court when you know he took students’ SAT exams for big bucks?
Jake: All these years, Scribbler, and you’re still clueless about the justice system. My job is to force the government to prove its case.
Paul: Speaking of “years,” you were 40 in “To Speak for the Dead.” Thirty years later, you’re 60. How does that work?
Jake: Being fictional helps. Say, how are things at the Old Writers’ Home?
Paul: Forget about me. How’s your health? Your headaches, your memory problems.
Jake: You’re the punk who gave me chronic traumatic encephalopathy. I didn’t think you could even spell it.
Paul: Sorry about all those concussions at Penn State and with the Miami Dolphins. But it did bring you together with Dr. Melissa Gold, renowned neuropathologist. And…your fiancée.
Jake: About time you gave me a grown-up relationship, after all those femme fatales and floozies.
Paul: News flash, Lassiter. Nobody says “floozies” anymore.
Jake: News flash, Word Boy. You’re the ventriloquist. But it’s true that I’m in love with my doctor and she’s come up with experimental treatments that might help hundreds of other former players with C.T.E.
Paul: Would your brain injury have anything to do with your bizarre conduct during Kip’s trial?
Jake: You mean my hearing voices and lapsing into a George Carlin routine in the judge’s chambers?
Paul: Judge Speidel said you were flirting with contempt.
Jake: Flirting, hell! I took her all the way.
Paul: Judge Speidel seemed miffed that you didn’t give him due respect.
Jake: Federal judges! So damned high and mighty.
“Federal judges are phantoms who inhabit marble palaces, hidden from prying eyes and cameras. They sit on thrones and are served by a retinue of clerks, assistants, deputies, and, for all I know, court jesters.” – Jake Lassiter in “Cheater’s Game”
Paul: Face it, Jake. Your closing argument was unethical.
Jake: I’m not bad. You just write me that way.
Paul: You basically asked for “jury nullification.” Acquit my client even though he did everything the government charged him with.
Jake: I prefer to call it a “Texas verdict.”
Paul: Meaning?
Jake: “Not guilty, but don’t do it again.”
Paul: And what was the jury’s verdict?
Jake: I’d tell you if I could remember. But you’re the one who gave me memory problems, you multisyllabic babbler!
Paul: I’m not the one who told you to use your helmet as a battering ram.
Jake: You put me on the kickoff team, the suicide squad! What did you think would happen?
Paul: So, what now? You gonna retire again or smash down the doors to the courthouse and try another case?
Jake: Not up to me, is it, Svengali?
Paul: Now that you mention it, there’s a case I just heard about that’s right up your alley.
Jake: Great. You know what I always say?
Paul: Of course, I do.
Jake: “I want a cause that’s just, a client I like, and a check that doesn’t bounce. Two out of three, and I’m ahead of the game.” So, I’ll see you around, Scribbler.
“Cheater’s Game” is available in paperback, ebook, and audio. For more information, visit Paul Levine’s Website or his Amazon Author Page.
