Pro Bono

by Ebbe Roe Smith

 

From the writer of the darkly comedic film Falling Down comes the novel Pro Bono, the story of Adrien, a professional assassin and amateur chef who, in order to overcome a career-crippling crisis of conscience, volunteers to kill a few deserving souls free of charge. The client, Charles, formerly a take-life-by-the-balls thrill seeker, is now a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic determined to take revenge against the three men he holds responsible for making him the man he is today. The targets: The driver of the Hummer who, while texting, crashed head-on into Charles’ hybrid; the doctor who failed to notice the hairline fracture in his vertebrae during a rushed post-accident exam, and the insurance company executive who found the loophole to deny his claim. The unlikely pair pursue their quarry in a custom Winnebago, along with Jeanette, a nurse-practitioner with a past, Spike, an intellectually challenged, muscle-bound driver, and a hunting dog that Adrien is re-training as a service animal – a canine metaphor for the master who is himself questioning his purpose in life. Sharing some comedically-violent DNA with Mr. Smith’s iconic film, which starred Michael Douglas as an unemployed defense worker on a one-man rampage against the multi-cultural annoyances of 1990’s Los Angeles, Pro Bono is as outrageously funny as it is soulfully thought provoking.

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“Ebbe Roe Smith is a great writer. He wrote one of my iconic and favorite movies, Falling Down. Nearly 25 years later fans and media still ask me about Falling Down.” 
— Academy Award winning actor & producer Michael Douglas

“Ebbe is a master of darkness, humor, and insight.”
— Joel Schumacher, Director of Falling Down, A Time to Kill and Batman Forever

“If you enjoy dark comedy, mixed with some romance, you will love Pro Bono. There are plenty of colorful characters, gleaming plot details, and exciting thrills as the dramatic stakes build in conjunction with the hilarity of each situation. Ebbe Roe Smith has delivered big time.”
— Academy Award-winning producer Arnold Kopelson