Jail Coach

October 22, 2012
This amusing series debut from Locke (But Remember Their Names) introduces Jay Davidovich, a “loss prevention specialist” for the insurance company Trans/Oxana, who must babysit Kent Trowbridge, a prominent Hollywood actor whose difficulties could cost Trans/Oxana a cool $36 million. Trowbridge, who already faces a DUI charge, is also in trouble for assaulting a parking valet. Davidovich decides that Trowbridge needs a jail coach, someone who can teach Trowbridge the skills he needs to survive in prison, but first the actor needs to finish a publicity tour. Katrina (“ike the hurricane”) Starr Thompson fits the bill almost perfectly, until Stan Chaladian enters the picture with an agenda to sabotage the tour and Davidovich’s plans. Davidovich, an ex-Army MP Iraq/Afghanistan veteran, proves both tough and quick-thinking whether dealing with studio moguls, a spoiled star, or Chaladian and his thugs. Readers will want to see more of Locke’s resourceful loss prevention specialist.

November 15, 2012
An insurance employee gets stuck guaranteeing the behavior of a Hollywood big shot. Former National Guardsman Jay Davidovich thinks he's no longer in the business of protecting anything. Now that he's out of the military, his most fearsome role is looking out for assets as a loss prevention specialist for insurance agency Trans/Oxana. Unfortunately for him, that translates into looking out for one of the agency's biggest assets, Hollywood bad boy Kent Trowbridge. Early into the insurance contract, Trowbridge's behavior earns him a short prison sentence, and Davidovich is pressed to hire someone to teach him how to behave in the clink: a prison coach. The coach Davidovich picks, Katrina Thompson, comes with a little more baggage than her foldable motorbike. First, there's her young daughter "Lucky" Luci, who turns out to be more of a treat to the crew than a hindrance. A more serious problem is her ex, Stan Chaladian, a violent man who's used to getting his own way. Jay's personal life is haunting him too, as his kind-of-wife, Rachel, a pain in the neck whose flaws he can't see, still can't decide whether she wants to be a part of his life. Jay struggles to focus on getting Trowbridge through the insurance contract alive by any legal means. The latest from Locke (But Remember Their Names, 2011) still has zippy characters but sometimes takes a preachy turn that can be heavy-handed.

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