Lachlan Smith's Bear Is Broken introduces young defense attorney Leo Maxwell. The ink on Leo's bar card has barely dried as he's sitting in a café with his brother, Teddy, when a stranger walks in, shoots Teddy in the head and walks out.
Teddy Maxwell is a notorious defense attorney in San Francisco. Prosecutors and cops hate him; defendants love him. Still, was it an unhappy client who shot Teddy or arranged to have him shot? As Teddy fights for his life, Leo goes in search of answers, determined to bring the perpetrator to justice. In the process, he proves to be a refreshingly awkward novice. While his constant blunders and bad choices may be off-putting to some readers, they are appropriate to a newly accredited 20-something attorney who thinks he can take on the world, only to have the world prove otherwise.
Bear Is Broken is a fun thriller that works in a lot of information about the legal system without getting bogged down in jargon or detail, but it's also an examination of the relationship between two brothers. As Leo sets off to find his brother's killer, he also turns inward to figure out the conflicting emotions he's experiencing through this tragedy. Though Smith's humor occasionally falls flat, the plot of the novel is well constructed, with a plethora of red herrings and plenty of twists. Leo's tendency to immediately jump to the wrong conclusions will leave readers wondering who really done it right up to the end. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts