Today is the official first day of Summer, and in that spirit, as our readers think about reading something fun (not that MassTortDefense is not fun) at the beach, lake, or pool, here is a suggestion.

New York Times bestselling author James W. Huston’s novel, “Marine One” is out in paperback (St. Martin’s Press). Huston is a practicing attorney in his spare time.

Finally, some reality to the legal thriller genre, as the hero of the story — the good guy — is a product liability defense lawyer!  Mike Nolan is retained to defend WorldCopter in a billion dollar civil lawsuit alleging a product defect caused Marine One (the President’s helicopter) to crash on the way to Camp David, killing all aboard.

Was it an accident? pilot error? act of God? terrorists? a design or manufacturing defect? Our plucky defense counsel battles grandstanding Senators, a conspiracy-minded media, voracious plaintiff personal injury attorneys, and a seemingly “fixed” government investigation to try to get to the truth, and justice for his client, the besieged product seller.

For fans of Higgins and Clancy, with a twist on Grisham, a fun summer read.