Title: Verdict Justice
Author: Brian Toung
Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
ISBN: 148972494X
Pages: 292
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: David Allen
Hollywood Book Reviews
Brian Toung’s debut novel, Verdict Justice, is a red-hot story of personal litigation, limned in the context of a society that is mad with materialism, debauchery, and the oblivion of forgetting.
The story scaffolding invites readers right in. Brandon Michaels is a single young eligible lawyer, hailing from Daytona Beach, Florida. Omar Steele is an up-and-coming 18-year-old baseball pitcher, knocked out of the box for life by grievous injuries incurred during a gang reprisal incident. How the two and their worlds come together, then collide, is the ostensible substance of this skewed dystopic romp which makes for a great beach read. But Verdict Justice covers a great deal of additional ground.
Florida. We’re talking heat, sun. Gators of the amphibian variety crossing mandibles with Gators of the pigskin variety. Girlfriends; guy pals; a needy but lovable girl dog named Steve; her master, a personal injury lawyer jonesing for a good case…take all these, splash with humongous quantities of Budweiser, tequila and sex, and what do you have? You have the complete American cocktail: Toung’s zany cast of characters knocking themselves out with great brio, with zest, with inimitable self-defeat and tons of booze!
This book is the latest addition to a literal outcry in this genre. In portraying a live-for-the-moment absurdly throwaway consumer society, Verdict Justice joins the growing number of voices demanding immediate attention to the immediate concerns of the planet. The most prominent example of the same being Joy Williams’ recent novel Harrow. Brian Toung, you are in excellent company!
Why does this book read so well? Aside from the major touches of atmosphere, of vernacular, of local color, the author writes of what he knows. Brian Toung is a practicing attorney who lives with his family in Central Florida. He has five college degrees, four Australian Shepherds and three kids. He practices law full time as a Board-Certified Civil Trial lawyer by the Florida Bar; is a Master BBQ Judge; amateur gourmet chef; red wine snob; and golf and college football fan. These credentials are worth mentioning; they resonate throughout the book, as piquant milestones and leitmotivs urging the reader on. The book is a cultural commentary, a big smile-maker, and a spellbinder.