Levine published his first novel, "To Speak for the Dead", with Bantam Books in 1990. In the first book of the "Jake Lassiter" series, the ex-linebacker turned attorney defends a surgeon in a malpractice lawsuit in a plot involving "kinky sex and murder for money." In January 1995, his debut book was made into a TV Movie produced by Stephen J. Cannell for NBC, "Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou", in which Lassiter is portrayed by Gerald McRaney. The character has been favorably compared to others in film and mystery writing. Lassiter was described by the Miami Herald as having "a lot more charisma than [Perry Mason] ever did." The "Los Angeles Times" described Lassiter as "Travis McGee with law degree."