Who among us doesn't at some point get tired of depressing news and "serious" issues? For that matter who can keep up with the seemingly never ending stream of books labeled as a "must read" inside the Washington Beltway? With a long presidential campaign ahead of us it might be a good idea to seek out a few books that can take our minds off the constant political noise. Even if only to take a summer break from the constant information stream.

I make a habit of doing just this by mixing in a healthy does of fiction to go with my non-fiction reading. And since I enjoy a good thriller on occasion, I moved William Lashner's Past Due to the top of my reading list. I am not familiar with Lashner's other works but the story line seemed intriguing. Victor Carl (a reoccurring Lashner character) gets caught up in a complex web of deception and murder when one of his rather dead beat clients - appropriately nicknamed Joey Cheaps - gets killed. Having a client knocked off before he pays his bill is bad enough, but to complicate matters Joey told Victor a secret involving a previously undisclosed murder and a suitcase full of money before he was killed. Victor is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery - in part out of loyalty to his dead client and in part to try and recoup his monetary losses through a wrongful death lawsuit. But the more Victor digs the more trouble he seems to find. Money, power, drugs, sex, and murder - sounds interesting.

There are two things that make Past Due stand out from the average crime/legal thriller. One is the main character Victor Carl. Here is a description of Victor from the dust jacket:

A defense attorney who lives his life in shades of gray, Victor Carl fights all the right fights for all the wrong reasons. With a failing legal practice, a dead-end love life, a pile of unpaid traffic tickets, and a talent for mixing it up in tough working-class bars and sparring with obstinate cops, Victor skates on the razor's edge of legal ethics in search of the easy buck.

It is Victor's personality that drives Past Due. His stubbornness drives him to keep digging no matter what; his smart ass attitude gets him trouble but his gut instincts often bail him out; his tough exterior makes him seem like an SOB but his loyalty and sense of justice earns him a kind of guarded respect.