Book Watch: Legion's Lawyers by Vince Aiello

Title: Legion’s Lawyers
Author: Vince Aiello
Publisher: SarEth Publishing
Pages: 296
Genre: Thriller
Format: Hardcover/Paperback/Kindle

LEGION’S LAWYERS, the latest thriller by Vince Aiello about the Legion law firm, dissects, in Aiello’s signature punchy style, the driving ambition within the firm and its deadly consequences. The firm’s head, Roger Legion, has appeared in Aiello’s previous books about the firm, LEGAL DETRIMENT and THE LITIGATION GUY. Readers have developed mixed reactions to Legion, who is both a brutal taskmaster and a great litigator. Love him or hate him, all look forward to his appearance in the story. Legion believes the courtroom is like a gladiatorial arena, where he will do whatever it takes to win.

Previous Legion books have dealt with a heist by lawyers and a terrorist attack on the Coronado Bay Bridge, in San Diego.  In LEGION’S LAWYERS, Roger Legion finds himself the target of a drug cartel and more than one team of assassins.

Aiello writes books that are “screenplay-ready,” with tight scenes, strong dialogue, and a three-act structure. “I am drawn to authors who have also written for the screen,” Aiello says, citing such writers as Rod Serling, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Peter Blatty.

Aiello also writes a song for each of his books, which is featured in the story. The complete lyrics appear at the end of the books.  For a scene in LEGION’S LAWYERS, Aiello composed a song titled “All I Know.” A music video is pending, but the song can be heard on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y11j7biCGus

The author’s combination of hard-boiled legal action accompanied by its own, built-in soundtrack makes for an irresistible reading, listening – and potentially viewing – experience.

For More Information

• Legion’s Lawyers is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
• Watch the book video at YouTube.

Book Excerpt:

AMERICA’S FINEST CITY BUILDING, 24TH FLOOR
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Time. To an attorney, it is a blessing and a curse. It is a unit of measurement that allows an hourly rate to appear less offensive when broken down into smaller pieces. It is key to success for research and the honing of an argument or pleading. When ignored, it has the ability to leave an attorney with nothing but malpractice. Its power is never fully appreciated.

Roger Legion sat at his desk in his corner office trying to capture every moment of every billing event of that day. After 38 years, billing time is almost second nature. You just have to make sure that your memory remains sharp and your ability to write must evidence that your 3 years of law school were not wasted.

Roger was in his mid-60s, nearly 6 feet tall, and if you didn’t know his age, you would easily be persuaded to believe that he was 20 years younger. He had a full head of coifed, black hair that was accented by a band of gray. His suits were tailor-made with fine, Italian fabric and his executive, white shirt with gold cuff links underscored his position as the eminent leader of Legion and Associates, a premier insurance defense law firm. He wore custom-made ties of silk and his shoes were constructed of the finest, imported, Italian leather. His suit was more than a statement of success. He never removed his suit coat in the office. To Roger Legion, it was part of a uniform proudly worn by a warrior. The courtroom was an arena where the goal was annihilation, destruction, and carnage. Civility was left for the idealist lawyer, who never took a case to verdict. As Roger would often say at Legion and Associates, he taught his lawyers to weaponize the facts and then bludgeon their adversaries with them.

Legion would never advertise it, but he was a father figure to all of the 15 lawyers in the firm. He would tell them that no one stands alone at the firm. He would defend any of them, physically if necessary, if anyone dared to besmirch them or lay a hand on them. To his attorneys, he could be a caustic taskmaster. But he also possessed the qualities of a military leader, who was on the front lines with his men. They all knew that he would take a bullet for them and when he gave an order, it was never questioned, simply carried out regardless of right or wrong.

The America’s Finest City Building was a downtown landmark. It was one of the newer skyscrapers, 30 stories high, and 2 blocks from the San Diego Bay. Legion’s corner office on the 24th floor, consisted of 2 walls of floor to ceiling glass. The other walls were mahogany and covered with various photos and awards, testifying to a lifetime of success. His desk was grand and made of mahogany with burl inlay. It was not cluttered; it contained a flat screen monitor, a keyboard, the law firm’s landline telephone, and his cell phone.

He considered clutter to be a reflection of what was going on in a person’s mind. Roger considered himself a master in the art of reading people: jurors, opposing attorneys, judges, and anyone, as Roger would say, that could “fog a mirror.” If he could not read a person, then he believed that they were laboring under a mental disease or defect.

Roger desisted from his task recapture exercise to peer out at the Pacific Ocean. The sun was in the process of setting and it displayed a magnificent panoply of colors. The sun’s rays were muted by the skyscraper’s tinted windows. Roger Legion never took anything for granted, including the San Diego weather.

For some reason, he noticed that the time display in the corner of his computer monitor exhibited ‘3:21 pm.’ It was at that moment his cell phone came to life. He picked it up and the Caller ID simply stated ‘UNAVAILABLE.’
Normally, he would not have answered that type of call, but today would prove to be different on every level.

“Hello,” Legion’s baritone voice announced.

“Mr. Legion,” answered a voice that he did not recognize. “In 2 minutes, a helicopter will land on the top of your building. The men inside that helicopter are coming to slaughter you and everyone in your law firm. Guide your actions accordingly.”

“Who is this?” Legion asked with rushed, serious articulation.
Before he could finish his sentence, the call was disconnected. Legion’s mind scrambled to comprehend the caller’s message as he glanced out the window.

Legion suddenly stood from his chair with his countenance displaying bewildered awe. From the south heading north, in the distance, he saw a Bell 429 Global Ranger helicopter. This helicopter was large enough to hold 8 people, including the pilot.

He knew that everyone at the law firm was now in danger. Roger tore out of his office like a Kenyan sprinter. Time was about to challenge Roger Legion.