Night Vision

I raved about Paul Levine’s first book in the Jake Lassiter series, To Speak for the Dead. I thought he had done a good job developing the protagonist, Lassiter, an attorney in Miami. Lassiter is an unconventional and irreverent guy who tells stupid stories when he is in the midst of great stress. I did not feel so strongly positive about the second book, Night Vision. As a psychiatrist, perhaps I’m too sensitive when the bad guy is in my profession. I’ve seen so many books and movies where psychiatrists were badly portrayed, and I can’t imagine a more deranged character than this British one, Dr. Pamela Maxson, a beautiful, intelligent psychopath. As the book approaches the end, the death of Dr. Maxson is tortuous and laughable. It was over the top and she climbed up a drawbridge only to lose her grip and fall 300 feet into the machinery that operated the bridge. Oh well. I may give Levine another chance, but I have a long reading queue and it might take me a while to get there.