Erin Brockovich sets high bar with debut novel, ‘Rock Bottom’

When A.J. Palladino left her hometown of Scotia, W.Va., as an uneducated and penniless pregnant teen, she was alone with no real future ahead of her. After giving birth to her physically handicapped son, David, she struggled to make ends meet but managed to get an education while working at an environmental law firm.

But her enthusiasm for justice tends to get her in trouble, and she soon finds herself heading back to the town she swore she would never return to with one goal in mind — to try to make a decent life for her son among her estranged family.

Hometown lawyer Zach Hardy hires her to help him in his battle with the local coal mining firms' practice of mountaintop removal. But soon after A.J. arrives in town she’s told that Hardy has passed away and the status of his practice is up in the air. A.J. convinces Hardy’s daughter Elizabeth, also an attorney, to keep her on and the two women take on the coal mine owner, who just happens to be the father of A.J.’s son.

A.J. and Elizabeth soon find themselves facing threats and gunshots as they work to bring justice to their town. A.J. is not surprised when her past is thrown in her face. In a small town, reputations are flimsy to start with and can go downhill fast, especially where those with long memories are concerned.

“Rock Bottom” is the debut novel from environmental activist Erin Brockovich and suspense author C.J. Lyons. Taking pages from Brockovich’s real life battles, this story is fast-paced and hard-hitting, with a totally believable plot and a large cast of characters who are fighting to save their jobs, even though they know in the long run they will lose.

The first of what is proposed to be a series, “Rock Bottom” is an impressive entry into the suspense/intrigue fiction world, and it will be interesting to see if Brockovich can keep up the pace and standards that she has set with this novel. She has set the bar high for herself.