BOMBER BOMBS - David Champion

First line: "'Football,' Bomber shouted so they could hear him a mile and a half away on the beach at Angelton, 'is a brutal, barbaric sport.'"

"Bomber" Hanson is a famously successful trial attorney. His son Tod holds a law degree and passed the bar but his job resembles more of a glorified errand boy, and that's just the way he likes it. Tod had aspirations of being a musician, a composer. Instead he finds himself following in his father's footsteps. Clarence "Dixie" Dixon is the president of the alumni football boosters for Cal Southern and he comes to Bomber for help when ten members of the Cal Southern football team are accused of raping a stripper at a party. Tod convinces his father to take the case even though Bomber abhors football. But when Bomber has a mysterious attack in court and is rushed to the hospital, Tod is left holding the bag in court. He's never tried a case in court before and he doesn't want to try this one. Can he convince a jury that is blatantly stacked against his clients to find them non-guilty?

The plot of the ninth book in the Bomber Hanson mystery series obviously has roots in the Duke lacrosse scandal from several years ago. It doesn't follow the same course of events, but the parallels are definitely there.

This is my first experience reading a Bomber Hanson mystery. The tale is narrated by Tod Hanson in a very Sherlock/Watson-style. Only in this installment of the series, the Sherlock character is pressing the Watson character to take center stage.

There are a couple times that Tod admits he isn't relaying direct quotes exactly as they were said, which is a little odd. It almost leads the reader to the assumption that the narrator is unreliable. I don't know that that was the intention so much as developing Tod as a naive character. He didn't want to repeat vulgarities. But when it is dialogue that is being exchanged, it's a little awkward to have him insert "(not her word)" into the middle of conversation.

Aside from that little factor, the dialogue is often fun and witty, especially when Bomber is sharing his two cents. The characters tend to be exaggerated: the tough trial lawyer; the rich, nerdy alumnus who lives his dreams vicariously through the players; the football players set on making it to the pros; the sexy legal assistants and the pervert judge. Their exaggerations and eccentricities work toward the humor in the novel.

BOMBER BOMBS is a light, quick, fun read from David Champion.   It will be available in November from Allen A. Knoll Publishers in hardcover (ISBN: 978-1-888310-49-8).

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