Con Law, by Mark Gimenez

My favorite lawyer/author is back!  Mark Gimenez's newest legal thriller, Con Law, raises the bar again for his entertaining, provocative story telling.  Gimenez promised that Con Law is "the first of a thrilling new series"featuring his new lawyer/action hero, John Bookman, affectionately known as "Book." University of Texas law professor and esteemed author by day, Harley-riding, butt-kicking justice-seeker in his spare time, Book has a strong sense of honor and desire for the truth which drives him to some rather uncomfortable predicaments.

In Con Law, Book gets a letter from a former student, who is practicing oil and gas law in Marfa.  Book hops on his Harley with his intern, and gets into more of a mess than he ever anticipated.  He finds that his former student has died in a questionable one-car accident, the West Texas law firm and their biggest client may be up to no fracking good, and small-town Marfa has more than its share of big-city problems, with drug traffickers, long-time locals, big-time ranchers, and the three As, artists, attorneys, and a--holes.

As Gimenez's readers know, he is skilled at capturing the personality of a place, placing and deleloping the personalities there, and plotting a perfectly paced story that will keep you guessing and wondering just what is going on.  In the meantime, his discourses on legal and societal issues (fracking by the gas drillers plays a large role in the novel, and Gimenez fills us in on the details) add to the story in an informative, non-distracting way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Con Law and look forward to Book getting another letter.