Standard Of Review: Legal Novel 'Motor City Shakedown' Is Undermined By Romance Between Its Main Characters

Pop quiz, hotshot: name a thriller in which the two main characters become romantically involved but the romance does not feel clumsy or tacked on.

Pop quiz, hotshot – name me a thriller or mystery film or novel in which the two main characters become romantically involved but the romance does not feel clumsy or tacked on. It is a difficult task. I remember watching the end of Speed (twenty-year-old Speed spoiler alert, hotshot) and laughing at the fact that the writers felt compelled to have Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock get together at the end of the film just because they were the stars. In my opinion, the better tactic is to have characters slowly become romantically involved over the course of a book or film series or a television show. For example, in the excellent Kenzie & Gennaro series of crime mysteries by Dennis Lehane, the main characters spend the first few books as platonic detective partners before becoming romantic partners. Accordingly, Lehane expertly portrays the emotional bond between them, and thus their eventual romance feels earned. I couldn’t help thinking about this problem while reading the new legal thriller novel Motor City Shakedown by Jonathan Watkins. Motor City Shakedown is an otherwise fine thriller that is undermined by a forced romance between its main characters.

The novel centers around two Detroit attorneys, Darren Fletcher and Issabella Bright. Darren was once a prolific criminal defense attorney, but – due to an incident in his past – now spends his days drinking in a seedy dive bar instead of working cases. Issabella is a newly minted attorney who eschewed working at a firm, instead deciding to become a solo practitioner. However, without any actual clients, Issabella spends her days in boredom, editing drafts of briefs farmed out to her by other firms. The two meet in a hospital ward as they both are trying to be retained the same potential client, Vernon Pullins. Vernon was critically wounded and is in a coma due to a TAC team raid on his house after the police received a tip that he possessed a cache of weapons. Vernon’s brother hires both Darren and Issabella to represent him, but due to the fact that Vernon cannot physically speak to them, Darren and Issabella take it upon themselves to investigate the circumstances surrounding the police raid. They soon realize that Vernon may have been wounded in order to cover up a criminal conspiracy involving the Detroit police.

Both main characters are mostly well drawn. Darren is cocky but clearly haunted by the past. Issabella is extremely intelligent but occasionally suffers from debilitating panic attacks. Given that many attorneys are afflicted by mental illness, I appreciated Watkins’s attempt to depict Issabella’s struggle, but her panic attacks are a forgotten detail after the beginning of the novel.

Perhaps the most interesting character is Malcolm, a hit man involved in the conspiracy who later becomes a target of the evil cops. When he is not killing for money, Malcolm is an expert artist who spends his free time painting numerous portraits of the same (unknowing) individuals. Somewhat disappointingly, towards the middle of the novel Malcolm becomes a walking deus ex machina device, conveniently showing up every time Darren and Issabella are in danger.

While Watkins has a talent for writing banter between Darren and Issabella, he goes overboard in forcing a romance between his two main characters. Both characters seemingly fall for the other immediately after meeting, resulting in some awkward prose that befits a romance novel rather than a legal thriller. Instead of having Darren and Issabella act like lovestruck schoolchildren, Watkins would have been better off letting the tension between Darren and Issabella breathe a little bit.

The romance also detracts from the main storyline because of a mismatch in tone. Most of Motor City Shakedown is enjoyably dark, a neo-noir replete with evil antagonists who have no qualms about murdering in cold blood. These antagonists have obviously set their sights on Darren and Issabella as they continue to uncover pieces of the conspiracy. However, because Darren and Issabella seem more focused on each other than on the morally bankrupt group they are investigating, they appear extremely naive. For example, in one scene, one of the cops goes to Darren’s apartment to kill Darren and Issabella, as the two flirt and discuss the case. It is only due to Malcolm’s presence outside Darren’s apartment that the two survive. Accordingly, instead of feeling concern for Darren and Issabella’s well-being, I felt annoyed at their obliviousness.

Although I have been critical, there are enough positive aspects to Motor City Shakedown that I am optimistic that Watkins’s next book in the Fletcher and Bright series will be an improvement. Thankfully, his two main characters are already in love, so they cannot meet cute again.

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(Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book.)

Motor City Shakedown (A Bright & Fletcher Mystery) [Amazon (affiliate link)]


Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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