Try Fear by James Scott Bell ~ A book review

Try Fear by James Scott Bell


Last night I uttered a sentence that I NEVER thought I would hear coming out of my mouth. “I can’t go to bed, the nun just got shot!” Okay, not that I ever really think ahead of things that would never come out of my mouth, but you have to admit, that sentence is funny. 

I said this to Art as he was walking around, turning off lights, which is always his signal to me that I need to get my head out of the book and go to bed.  Yeah, he isn’t really subtle, but I will keep him.

The book that I was so engrossed in was Try Fear by James Scott Bell. See, after Ty Buchanan’s fiancée died, he decided to chuck the high profile law career and get back to the basics with  law. He sold his house and moved into a trailer, parked in all places, an abbey in the hills of LA. It is his turn to give back, or maybe hide,  and serve as a pro-bono lawyer for the less fortunate. Many of these people are the homeless that are supported by the abbey’s shelter.

Noble? Yes. Dull? Not always. The book opens with him defending Santa Claus. Wait, it gets better. This particular 300 pound Santa Claus was pulled over in Hollywood for a DUI wearing nothing but a santa hat and a purple G-string.  Yeah, the image sort of burns itself on your brain doesn’t it?

When Santa AKA Carl Richess gets off on his DUI, thanks to Ty, but ends up dead a few days later is when the story really takes off. There is a nun as his investigator, a whacked out barrista, a priest that reminds him to keep it real, a wife that freely admits that she married below herself and a lot of people trying to do the right thing. Oh, and of course a bad guy or three.

The dialogue is just the kind of acerbic dry witted humor that keeps me cracking up. In between, you get to see the Ty Buchanan that is really just a guy, trying to find his way after losing his fiancée a year ago, his mom when he was 15 and his dad even before that.  I sort of got a crush on the guy.

There is a twist at the end that really threw me. I liked the book and will be hunting for more by James Scott Bell.

Try Fear
By James Scott Bell
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Center Street; 1 edition (July 16, 2009
ISBN-10: 1599956861
ISBN-13: 978-1599956862

P.S. I won this book right here on Gather, so thanks to them too for a great read!