The Printed Page

I have to thank Miriam from Hachette Book Group for introducing me to author James Scott Bell’s Ty Buchanan legal suspense series. After reading and thoroughly enjoying Travis Thrasher’s suspense novel Ghostwriter I asked her for other recommendations and Mr. Bell’s name came up. She sent me the 3 books that comprise this series and I’m hooked.

This is a genre I love so the Ty Buchanan series was an easy sell. On the surface it appears that Ty’s life is good, in fact very good. He’s a young star attorney with promising future. Ty’s engaged to a wonderful woman, Jacqueline. A phone call his shatters his life. As he struggles to rebuild his life Ty’s given information that leads him to believe that Jacqueline’s death wasn’t part of a random event but murder. Here’s where his life starts to get really interesting and the ride begins. Ty has some anger management issues. The cool facade he presents to his coworkers and clients cracks. We get to see some of the darkness that lives within him. And when Ty goes off course is when I love him the most. He’s human with all the faults that come from living.

Eventually he starts to find his way and come to grips with his new life. And this new life is a world away from his old life. Ty lives in a travel trailer on the grounds of a Benedictine monastery. Along with his new living space comes an interesting cast of characters. There’s Father Bob the disgraced priest who becomes Ty’s close friend and sounding board. Sister Mary a no holds barred basketball playing nun who becomes Ty’s investigator by default. The relationship between Ty and Sister Mary is interesting as it provides plenty of personal challenges for the both of them. Sister Hildegard who wishes Ty was anywhere else but on the grounds on her abby and sniffing around Sister Mary. Ty is the bane of Sister Hildgard’s existence. And then there’s Pick McNitt the owner of  the coffee shop where Ty has set up shop helping Father Bob’s parishioners with their legal issues. When McNitt and Father Bob get into one of their philosophical discussions watch out for the flying barbs as you never know who the target might be.

All this adds up to very entertaining reading. If you enjoy good legal suspense don’t pass by Jame Scott Bell’s Ty Buchanan series.

Title: Try Dying (book 1)
Author/website: James Scott Bell
280 pages
Publisher: Center Street
Publication date: 2007
Genre: Suspense/legal thriller
Would I recommend it: Definitely

Ty Buchanan is a rising star in his L.A. law firm, until the suspicious death of his fiancee forces him into the underbelly of the city to discover the truth behind her death. He soon has more than his career on the line, as he finds himself tangled up with a mysterious group of former gang members, and becomes the target of a killer.

Title: Try Darkness (book 2)
Author/website: James Scott Bell
292 pages
Publisher: Center Street
Publication date: July ‘08
Genre: Suspense/legal thriller
Would I recommend it: Definitely

Ty Buchanan is living on the peaceful grounds of St. Monica’s, far away from the glamorous life he led as a rising trial lawyer for a big L.A. firm. Recovering from the death of his fiancée and a false accusation of murder, Buchanan has found his previous ambitions unrewarding. Now he prefers offering legal services to the poor and the under-represented, from his “office” at local coffee bar The Freudian Sip. A mysterious woman with a six year old daughter comes to him for help. She’s being illegally evicted from a downtown transient hotel, an interest represented by his old law firm and former best friend, Al Bradshaw. Buchanan won’t back down. He’s going to fight for the woman’s rights.

But then she ends up dead, and the case moves from the courtroom to the streets. Determined to find the killer and protect the little girl, who has no last name and no other family, Buchanan finds he must depend on skills he never needed in the employ of a civil law firm.

Title: Try Fear (book 3)
Author/website: James Scott Bell
292 pages
Publisher: Center Street
Publication date: July ‘09
Genre: Suspense/legal thriller
Would I recommend it: Definitely

For Ty Buchanan, defending a suspected drunk driver named Carl Richess seems routine enough. But when his client ends up dead, an apparent suicide, there’s nothing routine about it. Because the cops suspect it’s murder, and arrest Eric Richess, Carl’s brother, for the crime. Now Ty, at the desperate urging of Eric’s mother, agrees to defend him. But it won’t be easy. Because there’s DNA on the gun that matches Eric’s, and a history of conflict between the brothers. Then Ty, assisted by Sister Mary Veritas, begins to uncover tentacles of corruption that reach into the citadels of city power. But he’s being watched. Because somewhere in the dark labyrinth of LA is someone who will do anything to keep from being found out, someone who believes that when warnings don’t work, try fear.

3 Responses to “Try Dying, Try Darkness and Try Fear by James Scott Bell”