Bear is Broken (Leo Maxwell 1)

by Lachlan Smith

Published 28 February 2013
Leo Maxwell grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Teddy, a successful yet reviled criminal defence attorney, who racked up enemies as fast as he racked up acquittals. The two are at lunch when Teddy is shot, the gunman escaping through a crowd. As Teddy lies in a coma, Leo realises that the search for his brother's shooter falls upon him, as Teddy's enemies are not just among his criminal clients but embedded within the police department as well... Leo must navigate the seedy underbelly of San Francisco, but the deeper he digs into his brother's life, the more questions arise: about Teddy and his estranged ex-wife, about the ethics of Teddy's career, and about the murder that tore their family apart decades ago. And somewhere, the person who shot Leo's brother is still on the loose, and there are many who would happily kill Leo in order to keep it that way.

Leo Maxwell is a criminal defense attorney on the lookout for the big case that will make his reputation. When a mysterious woman hires him to defend her brother on a murder charge he thinks he may have found it. But things are not what they seem - he's been set up to become the number one enemy of both a vicious gangland boss and the police.

Hounded by threats from all sides, he finds himself with a price on his head and framed for murder.

Leo's a marked man unless he can somehow turn the tables. But as the bodies pile up and Leo closes in on the truth, he discovers that it is far more sinister than he imagined and forces him question everything that he holds dear...