"Stolen Boy" author Michael Mehas discusses teen rights and abolition of the death penalty

Michael Mehas is an California attorney and writer whose first novel, Stolen Boy, won a number of awards, including the IPPY Gold Medal for fiction.

Michael obtained his Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1988. After graduating from the Academy of Justice School of Advocacy, he worked in private practice and the Public Defender’s office, trying felony criminal matters.

In the 1990’s, Michael added family law to his practice, working with troubled youth and their families. He divides his energies as a screenwriter and freelance journalist. In 2003, he co-founded an international news and feature Internet magazine called The Inquisitor. Later that year, he worked with writer/director Nick Cassavetes as associate producer of a major motion picture called Alpha Dog that starred Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, and Sharon Stone.

Michael writes and speaks extensively about pressing social issues. He also teaches the Yin and Yang of Writing at Ventura College and hosts Transformational Third Thursdays, a workshop and discussion group at Ventura’s literary watering hole called the Bank of Books.

Book synopsis for Stolen Boy

In the privileged neighborhoods of Southern California, bored teenagers string one lazy afternoon into another, searching for their next thrill. When you live life without consequences, anything can happen. And on one heated summer day, something terrible did.

That’s when pot dealer Mickey Youngblood kidnaps the kid brother of his hated nemesis, and everyone’s fate becomes sealed. Youngblood convinces his gang to hold young Bobby Leblanc “for ransom,” but Bobby gets caught up in their world of drinking, drugs, and partying, all the while blissfully unaware of the danger he actually faces.

In the meantime, Youngblood and his boys have lost sight of the fact that the kid is a hostage—and when the party turns bad the rogue crew must face the tragic conclusion it never saw coming.

Based on a true story still being played out in the California criminal court system and captivating international audiences, screenwriter Michael Mehas brings us Stolen Boy, a gripping novel resulting from his unprecedented research and access to confidential case files.