Trials of a Legal Junkie: a novel

Robert Marion is living a dream that feels like a heist. A former Marine captain and lawyer, his memoir Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star has made him a national sensation. Suddenly, he is rubbing elbows with Hollywood directors, sailing on yachts and flying on private jets with A-list celebrities. But behind the designer shirts and the quest for a blockbuster movie deal lies a fracturing soul. Haunted by the death of his best friend, "Slim," and burdened by a childhood shaped by the rigid, homophobic indoctrination of fundamentalist Bill Johnson University, Rob finds that fame is an unstable narcotic.

When his high-stakes relationship with a powerful New York talent agent collapses and his professional life dissolves into a string of dead-end temp jobs, Rob's occasional "social drinking" spirals into a lethal dependence on crystal meth. The man who once spoke truth to power on live television finds himself a "legal junkie," scuttling out of Penn Station with nothing left but two suitcases and his beloved West Highland Terriers, Xander and Willow.

Redemption arrives in the most unlikely of places: Marietta, Georgia. In the structured recovery community of Jaya House, Rob must finally drop the narrative of his "fabulous life" and face the man in the mirror. As he transitions from a high-powered attorney to a public defender for the disenfranchised, Rob discovers that the path to liberation isn't found in a movie deal, but in service, surrender, and the quiet discipline of a single breath.

Insightful, witty, and unflinchingly raw, Trials of a Legal Junkie is a testament to the power of connection and the enduring hope of restoration.