Try Dying

Ty Buchanan #1

by James Scott Bell

Ty Buchanan is a rising star in his L.A. law firm, until the suspicious death of his fiancee forces him into the underbelly of the city to discover the truth behind her death. He soon has more than his career on the line, as he finds himself tangled up with a mysterious group of former gang members, and becomes the target of a killer.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Christian Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller

307 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2007

About the author

Jim is a former trial lawyer who now writes and speaks full time. He is the bestselling author of Try Dying, No Legal Grounds, Presumed Guilty, Glimpses of Paradise, Breach of Promise and several other thrillers. He is a winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Inspirational Fiction, and was a fiction columnist for Writers Digest magazine. He has written two books in the Writers' Digest series, Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure and Revision & Self-Editing.

Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and numerous writers conferences. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver.

Series:
* Shannon Saga (with Tracie Peterson)
* The Trials of Kit Shannon
* Ty Buchanan

Reviews

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Scott Bell is becoming one of my favorite suspense/mystery authors. The Romeo and Sister Justicia series were both great so I tried this one. Excellent writing, good plot, terrific character development and very witty.

[Paula Shreckhise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ty Buchanan is a lawyer accused of murdering a reporter. He is only trying to get to the bottom of who killed his fiancée.
Ty has an acerbic gallows humor with short pithy thoughts. It reminds me of the old detective movies with Phillip Marlowe, from a first person point of view.
Mr. Bell brings across his knowledge of the justice system and its pitfalls.
Great start to a lawyer-turned-sleuth series. Ty has to figure out his own answers to his own predicament. Necessity is the mother of invention ( or practical application) because Ty doesn’t know who to trust. This book is filled with colorful characters.
Ty is also a skeptic but seems to be searching for God throughout all the turmoil.
I look forward to the other books in this series.
*I purchased this ebook from Amazon. All opinions are my own.*

[C.J. Darlington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ty Buchanan's beloved fiancé has just died in a freak Hollywood style accident, instantly spinning his world off its axis. Maybe someday he'll recover. Maybe someday he'll make sense of his emotions and get on with his life without Jacquelyn. Only someday doesn't come, and Ty watches himself become a man he never dreamed he'd be. An attorney sworn to uphold the law, he's soon breaking it to find out the truth about Jacquelyn's death. Was it really accidental?

In the vein of Brandt Dodson's Colton Parker series, Try Dying is a no-nonsense crime novel with a legal bent rather than a private investigator or cop angle. Cinematic in feel due to Bell's expert use of snappy dialogue, there's also a nice peppering of movie references, no doubt coming straight from Bell's own love of classic films. Even Ty Buchanan is a namesake derived from characters in two movies, Tyler Durden in "Fight Club" (1999) and Tom Buchanan in "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958).

In a recent interview Bell reveals: "I haven't been happy about some of the trends in contemporary, secular suspense. And I think the audience out there is getting tired of the gratuitous elements. I believe you can write page-turning suspense without that, like some of the great crime novels of the 40s and 50s. I wanted to offer that, because I see the need for it."

That's one of the great things about Try Dying. Life is painted in all its edgy glory, and the underbelly of LA is as much a character as Ty. Yet through it all Bell manages to show us this world without rolling us through the gutter. He's accomplished exactly what he set out to accomplish--to craft an action-laced thriller devoid of smut. Many an author has decided you can't portray life as it is without swearing, gore, and sex, but Jim proves you can. A very small quibble is I was a little confused a few times by the novel's extensive cast.

Even though Try Dying isn't Christian fiction per se, Jim freely portrays Biblical principles, such as forgiveness in a priest's heart even though he's paid a stiff price for a molestation he didn't commit. In some ways I found the Christian take-away value more poignant than you find in much of today's "Christian fiction". It's clear the priest and a basketball playing nun have a real relationship with Jesus, and they become Ty's confidants. Hopefully they'll be involved in the next Ty Buchanan novel, Try Darkness, and continue to shine light into Ty's world.

Truth is truth, and Bell makes sure to weave it through all of his books. Ty's journey is a harrowing one, filled with enough beatings, explosions, and bad guys to rival the best crime fiction has to offer, but morality isn't left in the dust. Try Dying is a dynamic start to a new series, filled with colorful characters and elaborate plots.

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a teen-ager, I thought I would never be like my parents, who just didn't keep up with some of the changes in the world. I was pretty cool, and thought I would always understand the culture of the day.

This book proved I was wrong.

"Try Dying" is a suspenseful story about a lawyer (one of the good ones) who loses his fiance' in a tragic accident . . . but was it the accident that really killed her? Getting to the bottom of that question in LA/Hollywood puts Ty Buchanan's life and career into jeopardy to say the least.

I've read some of this author's books before, including "Deadlock" and several from the "Trials of Kit Shannon" series. As I read, I kept asking myself, "Is this the same James Scott Bell?" I did a little research to make sure and yes, it is the same guy!

Bell has developed his writing into edge-of-your-seat suspense that is gritty, fast-paced, and terrifying. Even when the main character did things that I disagreed with, I found myself wanting him to win. Ty is certainly flawed, but there's a basic thirst for justice and truth, and a "don't mess with me" attitude combined with deep affection with those he holds dear.

Although you can find this book at Christianbook.com, it is not your typical Christian fiction. You won't find preaching about how to be saved or how to draw closer to God, but there are references to the "something more" that Ty's fiance' searched for and found. In this book, the author gives a glimpse into gang life that is truly ugly, but he's developed a story that will make you want more. (Speaking of which, I did note that this is advertised as #1 in the Ty Buchanan series.)

I only have a couple of issues with the book. Maybe it's because I'm a small-town girl, or maybe it's because I really have become one of those old fuddy-duddys, but there were places in the book I got a little lost because of the lingo. Also, (similar to the feelings I had when I read Bell's "No Legal Grounds") I wondered just why Ty chose to trust some of the people he trusted. It seems like an experienced lawyer should have known better. I got hung up on that thought a few times.

But I still found the book intriguing and well worth reading. On a 5-star scale, I'd give it 4 1/2.

[LJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

TRY DYING (Legal Mys-Ty Buchanan-CA-Cont) – Poor
Bell, James Scott
Center Street, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1599956845

First Sentence: On a wet Tuesday morning in December, Ernesto Bonilla, twenty-eight, shot his twenty-three-year-old wife, Alejandra, in the backyard of their West Forty-fifth Street home in South Los Angeles.

Attorney Ty Buchanan is preparing a case involving repressed memories and child abuse. While deposing a witness, Bonilla, after killing his wife, drives to a freeway overpass, shots himself and falls off an overpass onto Buchanan’s fiancée Jennifer’s car, killing her. At the funeral, Ty is told Jennifer was alive but murdered before the emergency vehicles reached her. Jennifer’s death is declared accidental; Ty is going to find out for sure.

Chapter One is a great hook and made me want to read the read the rest of the story. Unfortunately, Chapter One was, for me, the best thing about the book. It went downhill fast.

Portents—hate them, always have, always will. If the story is good, I’ll keep reading. I don’t need to be teased into it.

The plot is very contrived. No one will talk on the phone. It’s always the “meet me at….” which leads to…the protagonist—TSTL (too stupid to live). Time after time, he puts himself into situations where he keeps getting beat up. The chapters are very short and choppy. The dialogue is very weak. The author tries to be either too clever or to “real” and neither succeeds. The women are all beautiful, including the basketball-playing nun named Sister Mary Veritas.

There is a good twist at the end but the reading was so painful, I almost didn’t get there. I already have the next book in the series. This, and it, will be donated to my local library.

[Deeann Zessin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because Goodreads suggested that if I liked ‘Home Another Way’ by Christa Parrish, I may like this book. I loved Home Another Way – loved the characters & wanted to live there.

Try Dying didn’t do it for me. I don’t feel like I ever really got to know any of the characters including the main character. The most likable characters were the Father, the nun, and Fran.

The main character, Ty Buchanan, was quite a contradictory. A lawyer who talks like he’s from the hood (+/or Britain judging by some of his choice of words); he has a law degree, but does so many stupid things. It seems like most everything he does is on impulse. Even a mentally challenged person would not antagonize a captor or someone who could seriously harm or kill them with sarcastic humor. The more I read, the less I seemed to like him. I don’t think he came across like the author had intended.

The story itself was okay. After a little while, I found myself not caring any more about what happened to Jacqueline – it wasn’t going to change anything. I was more interested in the case he was working on at work.

I think I may have enjoyed the story much more without the overabundance of cheesy sarcasm, slang, acronyms and sentence fragments. It made the book read more like a spoof or a comedy; if that was the goal – bullseye! I’m all for all of those things, in fact my family enjoys exchanging cheesy sarcasm.

I think a good audience for this book is pre-teen and young teen boys.

[MiniMe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ty is a hotshot lawyer grieving the death of the love of his life. Turn a few pages. Ty gets beat up. Turn some more pages. Ty is being snarky--his default mode. Turn some pages. Ty gets beat up. Recycle and repeat. Add legal troubles, job loss, threats, murder charges, and more of Ty getting beat up--then, finally all the puzzle pieces are put together--OH! and Ty gets beat up some more. The end.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reads a lot like a John Grisham book (only without a lot of the technical legal jargon Grisham uses). It moves at a quick pace and most of the chapters are quite short.

I was hooked after reading the back cover (which is also the first chapter). Ty Buchanan tries to figure out why his fiancee was killed--was it really a freak accident or something more?

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read this genre often,but took a chance on this book because of the audio sample.I really enjoyed the authors writing style and he created an interesting set of characters.The book finishes nicely without leaving a lot of loose ends.The narrator did a good job portraying the story and has a pleasant voice.I received an audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Benjamin Looby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has it all. Mystery, suspense, action, drama, twists. The writing and narration has a the sort of vibe like those old black-and-white P.I. stories.

The book is not too long, but has lots of chapters - they all super short, like, a couple pages. The chapter numbers are really just to break it up if you want to stop. Which you won't. I wanted to *start* reading something and I couldn't stop after the first chapter. Read the whole thing in one sitting. Ending was good, a bit rushed and short, but was not abrupt, and it did make sense.

[Freda Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A woman is driving on the expressway, when a body falls on her car. They are both killed. Her fiance is a lawyer. He is devastated. There is just him and her mother, and he tries to be there for her. Then, someone tells him that maybe his fiance's death isn't an accident. Will trying to find out what happened kill him too?

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of this author's earlier book and was surprised to find this series. It started a little slow but it steadily got better. I look forward to the next in this series

[Nike Chillemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Try Dying is the first novel in the Ty Buchanan legal thriller series. If this is going to be the measure of the series, I can’t wait to read the next book.

Ty Buchanan is preparing a case involving repressed memories that might make him a partner in his posh L.A. law firm. Meanwhile, he’s dealing with some memories of his own he’d like to repress. Schoolteacher Jacqueline Dwyer, the fiancé he adores and a committed Christian, winds up in what appears to have been a freakish accident. A gang-banger shoots his live-in girlfriend, jumps off a freeway overpass, and lands on Jacqueline’s rooftop, killing her. Less than an hour after Jacqueline’s funeral, a deranged man buttonholes a grief stricken Ty, claiming it was murder. The disheveled man attacks Ty and steals his wallet.

Ty Buchanan is charming guy, and the reader feels for him as he begins to doubt his own sanity. Bell’s ability to describe Ty’s descent into obsession keeps the reader turning pages, as this white-collar hero enters the seamy streets of L.A. seeking the truth, risking his life, and sustaining more than one beating in the process. He’s shocked and horrified by his own behavior when he is able to give another man a beating. Ty is quickly losing what little faith he had left. His investigation leads him to a modern day self-help folk-hero, Rudy Barocos, lionized by local politicians and in the press for rehabilitating gang-bangers.

Ty contacts the attractive female TV reporter who was broadcasting at the scene when Jacqueline died. The newswoman makes a pass at him. He rebuffs her and she scratches him. She winds up murdered later that night, and Ty is set up to take the fall. The police find his skin under the dead woman’s fingernails and arrest him.

The case is high profile. Ty gets out on bail, but then accosts a man who tries to take his photograph. Author Bell, a former trial lawyer, shows us how the game is played. A judge, not thrilled that Ty’s law firm gave money to his opponent’s campaign, issues a warrant to pick Ty up and haul him back to the slammer.

Ty hides out in a monastery under the care of a priest wrongly accused of being a sexual predator. The priest is loosely tied to the repressed memory case Ty had been preparing for. One of the nuns at the monastery is a whiz both on the basketball court and with a computer and she ferrets out information from the internet for Ty and lends him her car, as the police are looking for his.

Ty’s lawyer pleads with him to turn himself in. Ty refuses, thinking he’s the only one trying to find the reporter’s real murderer, and thus clear his name. The skillful revelation of the identity of the broadcaster’s killer took me by surprise. Fans of legal thrillers will absolutely love this book. In fact, so will all mystery and thriller aficionados

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed James Scott Bell's books...this was no different! Ty is an interesting character but frustrating and at times boring and until the last few chapters of the book you don't see him develop or grow. I love the wise and caring father Bob and the sassy basketball playing and comforting nun sister Mary these two character add depth into the book and actually give it life. I wish they where implemented earlier into the story.
The story itself is creative and intriguing with a few twist and turns. It didn't keep me guessing but it made me wonder and think about what was happening. At the start I was hooked but after a while I was tired of it and had to put it down... One of the things that I believed that annoyed me most was the constant and most of the time irrelevant reference to movies, characters of movies and famously place in Hollywood that either gave no depth to the story or to the character....Half of the movies or movie characters that where mentioned I had never heard of or seen and had no bearing to me. I am sure you had to be a real movie buff to appreciate this in the novel but for me it was distracting and un constructive. I appreciate the main character was a movie lover but I believe it was excessive. (I know James Scott Bell does this in his other novels and I have come to understand that is apart of his style.) For that reason and the fact that I was getting tired of the main character, I struggled in the middle of the book. But once Father Bob and Sister Mary was re-introduced after a brief appearance earlier in the book it took shape and I didn't want to put the book down. In the end I gave it 4 stars because of the story and plot was entertaining and intriguing with a fantastic ending and finish. I loved the growth of the main character in the end but still wanted more from him... The other characters played there parts and some enhanced it more than others but two the nun and priest stood out with an honourable mention to the confused and weak friend Al who cared but did know how to show it. If I could I would have given it three and half but the ending bumped it up for me.

[Mahala Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having followed Bell’s career online—teaching and preaching how to write—I looked forward to seeing if he could do it - write that is. And the answer is Yes! He can. This dynamite story opens when a man shoots his wife, drives to a freeway overpass and shoots himself, dropping 100 feet on a Toyota Camry. The crash kills the protagonist, Ty Buchanan’s, fiancée, Jacqueline, the driver of the Camry. Ty is a young successful lawyer, who at the moment she is dying, is in what could be a career-defining meeting. The oddities continue to mount when a disheveled man shows up for Jacqueline’s funeral and tells the overwrought Ty that her death was not an accident, then disappears.

Ty as the protagonist goes after the truth against the advice of friends, family, and the head of the successful law firm, where Ty was handpicked for greatness. Like James Patterson, Bell doesn’t waste time with lengthy sentences, paragraphs, or chapters. The intensity and emotional ride of this book packs a powerful punch with rarely a moment to catch your breath. The repartee between characters shadows Ian Rankin’s characters in his Inspector Rebus series and keeps things moving and often adds a dose of humor. It’s the kind of dialogue you hear on television or a movie, but due to the intricate timing necessary to make it work, is rarely found in a book. Janet Evanovich is a pro with this style.

Couple the passionate plot line with outstanding sub-plots that draw us into the world of repressed memories, financial debauchery, and enough legal entanglements to keep us guessing all the way to the end. James Scott Bell definitely knows how to write and write well.

[Jill Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review by Jill Williamson

Lawyer Ty Buchanan is working on a high profile case when his fiancé is killed. The cops say it was a freak accident, but some strange occurrences lead Ty to believe she was murdered. As Ty investigates, his life falls apart. He trusts no one but an outcast priest and a basketball-playing nun.

Loved this book! I lived in Los Angeles for nine years, so it was really fun to know all the places the main character went. But that wasn’t what was so great about the book. James Scott Bell knows how to tell a story you can’t put down. He weaves suspense into every scene. And his characters are brilliant. I was completely enthralled with Ty and the mystery he was struggling to unravel. If you like suspense, mystery, lawyer stories, this one is for you. Check it out!

[Victoria Allman · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a reason James Scott Bell is a master of the craft of writing and Try Dying, the first in the Ty Buchanan series about a LA lawyer, is the perfect example of why. From page one, where we learn of the tragic death of Ty's fiancee, to the very last page where he tries to prove his innocence, Mr Bell creates intriguing characters and an exciting plot that the reader can not help but love and keep turning pages to find out who-dun-it.

This fast-paced mystery starts out strong and keeps raising the stakes of suspense with a good amount of humor and humanity sprinkled in.

Try Dying is the first James Scott Bell story I have read, but it will not be the last. I look forward to the next one in this series, as well as many more in his arsenal.

Victoria Allman
author of: SEAsoned: A Chef's Journey with Her Captain

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have heard that James Scott Bell is a great writer, but now I know it is true! Excellent writing. Not just the story line--A freak accident. A man shoots his wife, drives to an overpass, shoots himself and falls from the overpass onto a passing car in which the woman driver is killed. The woman is Ty Buchanan's fiancee. At the funeral, a strange man suggests to Ty that she was not immediately killed, but rather that she was killed by another man. This sets off a series of thrilling events that kept me up until I finished the book. I will definitely be reading more of the Ty Buchanan Legal Thrillers.

[Ubiquitousbastard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too Christian at times for me, but I guess that wouldn't really be an issue for most people. I think I actually have more of a problem with the ending. It was super confusing how everything just came together at once, connecting all of the far reaching plot threads in one big plot lump. I'm still going over it in my head, trying to see how all of that happened.
Still, for all of that, it was still pretty readable, and I did slightly laugh out loud once. I don't really agree with the philosophy behind the book, but on a superficial level, the book wasn't bad.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing is what it seemed to be, is the plot for this thriller. A woman he loved, an unusual accident. With that he wants the truth, was it, it couldn’t possible be murder. Along the way drug dealers and he becomes a target. Good reading as all of Bell’s books are.

[Jean C. Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Kept me turning the pages way into the night. I liked his writing style and wit! Of course there is no way one guy could take all the beatings this guy took, but good story line none the less.

[Barbara J Maich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great novel

First time reading one of Mr. Bell's books. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. I plan on reading more of his books.

[Shelby Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

I became a Patreon subscriber for the sole purpose of supporting Mr. Bell's flash fiction, which shows how much I believe in his story-crafting magic. His current stuff on Patreon is, on the whole, superior to these earlier novels.

I don't favor this novel. One, the characters remain undeveloped. Two, the narrator (our protag) doesn't have enough of a unique voice, which I know Mr. Bell is wonderfully capable of creating. Three, the plot is too far-fetched. I'd allow for 3/4 of it, but the remaining 1/4 is over the top.

Also, it's pretty evident this is the start of a series. And I would have known that even without peeking. Why? The question hasn't been answered: Our protag hasn't yet discovered the obvious, that his fiancée was a Christian. It bothers me that a believer would agree to marry a non-believer and in three months' time never bother to discuss her faith or question where he stood religiously. Even if she was not convinced as to her spiritual path but was actively seeking answers, that would/should come up in conversation, right?

Also, it seems clear that our protag will end up in a romantic way with the nun who hasn't taken her final vows. That, too, seems improbable.

And so I won't be reading the rest of this series.

Regardless, this book will have no impact on my happy decision to stay a Patreon of Mr. Bell.

[Lizette Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: this review may contain spoilers.
Try Dying is not the fast-paced thriller I hoped for when I started reading. James Scott Bell is a wonderful author and I enjoy his books. However, this story seemed to have too many characters, and three different story lines (the original murder, adultery-counterfeiting, and a priest's molestation charge). By the time the book ends, the three story lines become convoluted and the original crime (the death of the main character's fiance) seems out of place or too simplistic.

There are also, I believe, red herrings that never add up, i.e., Jacqueline's mother gives the main character a box of journals, and the main character, reads a few sentences, twice. I had hoped that the journals would provide some piece of information about her death, or something to tie her to the original crime, but there's nothing. We also find out that his partner in the law firm spoke to a reporter about him, but nothing is mentioned as to what is said. I understand the use of red herrings, but these seem to stick out and weigh down the reader's instinct to "figure out" the murder.

Overall, it's a decent read, but not a thriller.

[Lori Puma]

I read this because I've read two of JSB's writing craft books and I wanted to see some of his fiction.

The premise of this book is good. Most of the characters are intriguing and unique --I liked the nun who loves basketball- but a few are a bit stereotypical. Especially the characters of color.

The hierarchy between the antagonists was weird and left me feeling kind of cheated by the plot. I thought this was going to be a story about corruption and gangs and finding out who killed the dead fiancée, but there is so much client craziness that I just didn't connect with or follow. I had a hard time keeping track of all the clients and they seemed like a tangential subplot so I didn't worry about it. But then, the tangential subplot takes center stage at the end and I was like, "Wait, what?"


This book also has a TON of pop culture references that I found distracting since they aren't as relatable now as they would've been when the book was first published.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legal Thriller

I wanted to read this book to find out how a person could be murdered after a body lands on their car and crushes them from an overpass of the freeway. As described in the about this book section.
I found out how but it was a tangled web of unbelievable stuff that happens to the protagonist to get to the bottom of this tale.
The author has to include CIA, Mexican gangs and drug cartels, newscasters, priests, nuns, lawyers, millionaires, and more to get the whole story to come together. I almost stopped reading but I forged on and I'm glad I did. The author actually tyed (pun intended) it all together to make the ending work.
I like a good legal thriller - could have done without a lot of the players. Recommend

[Randy Tramp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ty Buchanan, a lawyer, is going to marry Jacqueline Dwyer, an elementary school teacher. From an overpass, a man falls onto her Toyota Camry. She dies. Ty falls into a tailspin. It gets worse when at the funeral, a man says, "Her death wasn't an accident." Ty risks everything to find out who murdered his fiancee.

What a great read. Heart-pounding action with a character up for the task. Ty went into a world of criminals intended to keep secrets secret at any cost. The reader saw the depths Ty went into. After all, how would anyone react if the one they love is taken from them?

No curse words, nor sexual scenes. I love that. Typically of Bell's writing, there are witty sayings. The plot is interesting. A battle of good and evil. I look forward to the next book.

[John Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a series of Ty Buchanan lawyer mystery/ thrillers, Try Dying is set in LA which is a well-known setting for stories written by James Scott Bell. Unlike his later, more physical and philosophic protagonist, Mike Romeo, Ty Buchanan is a naïve, bland young lawyer surrounded by a terrific cast of supporting characters who drive the plot. After the untimely death of his fiancée, Buchanan develops the gumption to find out just how she died. The plot moves fast, and there’s plenty of conflict and raw emotion from every angle. At the end, the multiple pieces of the puzzle get sorted out, and the lawyer stands on his own two feet, confident in himself and his future.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't known this was Christian when I took this out, but it's Catholic; I hadn't realized Bell used to tea. Ty, our protagonist, isn't religious when the book starts out, though. He's a lawyer still grieving the death of his fiancée when someone finds him and tells him her death wasn't an accident.

My three stars is an average rating. Bell does somethings well (eg dialogue) but the protagonist is TSTL and the phone calls with "meet me" happen too often. It's also more violent than I like; I'm not interested in reading books where the protagonist is constantly being beaten, etc.

However, the average rating for this book is over 4 stars, so clearly I'm an outlier.

[Kate Joekel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, a JSB book is a great read!

The suspense is plenty strong enough to keep me reading, but the humor birdcage what I love. It is laugh out loud humor, and sometimes I just need that.
Ty Buchanan is an up and coming lawyer with the world in his pocket. He works for a prestigious law firm, and is engaged to a wonderful young woman. A freak accident on the highway changes all this, and Ty's world comes tumbling down. From nuns, reporters to thugs and restocked priests, this is one ride you content to miss!