Bear Is Broken

Starred review from October 29, 2012
Set in 1999, Smith’s powerful legal thriller debut, the first in a series, grabs the reader by the throat and doesn’t let go. At a San Francisco restaurant, where Leo Maxwell, a freshly minted attorney, has met older brother Teddy, a local legend as a defense lawyer, for lunch, Leo feels flattered when Teddy tells him, “I ought to let you close this one,” a reference to the closing statement Teddy is soon to deliver in the case of Ellis Bradley, who’s accused of raping his wife. Then a stranger comes up behind Leo and shoots Teddy in the head. This violent act, which puts Teddy in a coma with little chance for recovery, places Leo in the position of trying to serve Bradley’s interests by avoiding a mistrial and carrying on in his brother’s stead—and finding out the who and why of the murder attempt. Assured prose and taut plotting add up to a winner. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman.

January 1, 2013
A newly minted attorney investigating his brother's shooting ends up learning more about the victim than he'd ever wanted to know. Hours after being sworn as a member of the California bar, Leo Maxwell is having lunch with his lawyer-brother Teddy when a stranger walks into the restaurant, fires a bullet into Teddy's face and leaves. As Teddy hovers in a coma, Detective Anderson, who has no love for the man he tells Leo was as dirty as a lawyer can be in San Francisco, plans to arrest Ricky Santorez, Teddy's most famous client, for the crime. Ricky has a grade-A alibi, since he's spent the past several years in San Quentin after killing two cops who burst into his place by mistake and caught him with a highly illegal weapon, but Anderson says that a snitch fingered him for hiring the job. Since the snitch is Lawrence Maxwell, Teddy and Leo's father, who's been locked up for a dozen years for killing his wife, Caroline, Leo takes an even more personal interest in the case. His search for other suspects leads him to the family of Keith Locke, a client Teddy was defending against the charge of murdering thrill-seeking sociologist professor Sam Marovich, whose corpse he was found trying to push through a window of the sex club where Keith worked. The suspects are familiar types--Keith's imperious father, Gerald, his fiercely protective mother, Greta, his sexually alluring sister Christine--but newcomer Smith juggles them with supernal dexterity, and the final showdown is hair-raising. Sensitive, ingenious and suspenseful. A series is promised and very welcome indeed.

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November 1, 2012

Leo Maxwell just received his bar licence and has been shadowing his older brother Teddy, a well known San Francisco criminal lawyer. The novel opens with Teddy being shot point blank in the head as the two brothers eat lunch in Teddy's usual restaurant. In the aftermath of the shooting, Leo faces a new reality and tries to sort the truth from the lies regarding Teddy's business practices, ethics, and private life; in addition, Leo realizes that if his brother survives, Teddy will never be the same man he once was. Because of Teddy's success as a criminal defense lawyer, the police don't seem interested in investigating his shooting, and Leo is determined to find the shooter himself. VERDICT This engaging debut by a practicing Alabama attorney features well-drawn if somewhat unlikable characters and enough plot twists to please any mystery fan. A good read-alike recommendation for readers who enjoy David Hosp and S.J. Bolton. [See Prepub Alert, 8/20/12.]--Lisa Hanson O'Hara, Univ. of Manitoba Libs.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2012
Smith's first novel offers a superior blend of amateur-detective mystery and belated-coming-of-age novel cunningly masked as a legal thriller. Rookie lawyer Leo Maxell is shadowing his brother Teddy, a superstar San Francisco defense attorney, quickly becoming immersed in Teddy's courtroom magic and the constant rumors that Teddy's success is built on witness-tampering. Then, seemingly out of the blue, Teddy is gunned down in a crowded restaurant, and Leo must acknowledge that his brother has cultivated real enemies. SFPD detectives make it clear that they think Teddy had it coming, and Leo is left wondering whether the cops are running an investigation or exacting vengeance. Determined to find the shooter's motive, Leo becomes the Energizer Bunny of detection, relentlessly churning until he unburies a lead. Before long, he's found secret clients, suspicious behavior in Teddy's closest associates, and a duo of taser-wielding women lurking in Teddy's digs. Tenacity trumps techniquefortunately, because Leo is no sleuth. His search is more a desperate urge to connect with his untouchable big brother than a quest for justice, about which he is fairly ambivalent. Smith combines a smart but clueless protagonist forced to drop his navet'; a gathering of well-drawn, equally motivated suspects; and, yes, some plot-furthering sex and violence. San Francisco's gritty streets and neighboring redwood forests add to the appeal, and the addictive characters and the quirky, sideways look at the system close the deal on a terrific debut. A perfect match with David Carnoy's novels and Michael Connelly's Mickey Haller series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)