Big: Beginnings

International lawyer Bryan puts his professional experience to good use in his engrossing first novel and series launch. High-powered L.A. lawyer Duncan Luke takes his time driving home to Santa Monica after a trip to Loyola Marymount University, where he’s about to start teaching as a visiting professor at the business school. On the way, he stops to buy a pizza that he hopes will please both his 10-year-old autistic son, Sam, and his wife, Gracie, with whom he’s been quarreling. When Duncan gets home, Gracie announces that she’s filing for divorce. To pay the fees in the ensuing custody battle for Sam, Duncan goes to work for a demanding new client, Ghislaine Bingham, who requires that he jet to places like Tokyo and Panama and back, in an effort to prevent the hostile takeover of her investment group. Duncan must rekindle old friendships and business relationships, form new alliances, and sidestep treacherous adversaries. Readers will root for the sympathetic Duncan as he morphs into a more grounded version of James Bond or Jason Bourne. (BookLife)