A winsome familial team reinforces this story of judicial proceedings.
In Avitabile’s debut legal tale, a Brooklyn lawyer takes on a paternity case that pits him against powerful attorneys who fight dirty.
When Mary Woodley needs help collecting child support, she turns to a former co-worker, Al Forte. He’s a real estate lawyer, not a litigator, but he likes Mary and can’t find someone else to represent her, so he takes her case. Some time back, after drinking with her then boss, attorney Gordon Gilbert, Mary woke up in bed with Gilbert and later learned she was pregnant. She bore a son, Roger, but hasn’t been able to reach Gilbert and wants financial support. Unfortunately, Gilbert and his lawyer, John Stillman, immediately attack the paternity suit, claiming Al is out for revenge. Gilbert, who’s a deputy mayor, was head of the now-dissolved law firm Gilbert & Associates, where Al worked before Gilbert fired him for his “liberal ways.” Al’s street-smart cousin, Mick, who has spent time in prison, offers his assistance. Al declines the help and subsequently lands in jail on a bogus charge of violating a judge’s order. It seems Gilbert and Stillman are not above unethical means to win cases. Mick, however, has his cousin’s back and employs his numerous connections, hoping to ensure that Al and Mary are the victors. Avitabile’s short, brisk novel aptly shows how a seemingly simple lawsuit can turn into a dogged legal battle. Gilbert, for example, fights Mary’s requested paternity test, while Stillman threatens her with a defamation suit despite her not going public with the allegations. The story makes good use of a duality between the cousins, who grew up together but took separate paths. Still, too many characters extol Mick’s capability and beneficial alliances; even Al’s wife, Theresa, berates her incarcerated husband for not accepting Mick’s help and is hardly concerned that he’s in jail. But Al and Mick are a savvy, delightful duo alongside stellar supporting characters such as Richie Abbatello, Mick’s criminal defense attorney, and Francesca, another cousin and the receptionist at Al’s office.
A winsome familial team reinforces this story of judicial proceedings.Pub Date: July 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-73230-630-1
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Filled with action, violence, and more twists than a bag of pretzels.
Second of the Walter Nash thrillers—following Nash Falls (2025)—in which the remade hero seeks vengeance.
Due to urgent circumstances, Nash has bulked himself up to become the “muscled and tatted fighting machine” now known as Dillon Hope. His antagonist is Victoria Steers, a global drug dealer who wants him dead. Not realizing his new identity, she enlists Hope to free her mother, Masuyo, from a prison in Myanmar. As an incentive, she shoots one of her associates and threatens to frame Hope for the murder unless he complies. She also wants him to find Nash. He in turn wants to kill Victoria to avenge the death of his innocent daughter, Maggie. “If I go down,” he muses, “I’m taking others with me. Starting with Victoria Steers.” He learns that Victoria had killed all her siblings to eliminate business competition. But as heartless as Victoria is, her mother, Masuyo, is even worse. In league with the Chinese government in a perverse plan to kill as many Americans as possible through fentanyl overdose, she shows contempt for Victoria for her perceived weaknesses. Readers won’t find many happy family relationships here: mother-daughter, father-son, husband-wife—all fraught. Hope’s employer, who accompanies him to Myanmar, is a billionaire chief executive with a dodgy past (i.e., probably killed his father). And there’s a mega-billionaire with an astronomical IQ and ditch-deep morals who, putting it mildly, does not have America’s best interests at heart. As a teenager, he’d defeated two world chess champions; as an adult, he regards his dealings with the world in terms of master chess moves. Only one character seems truly decent and credible—Hiroko, Victoria’s former nanny and lifelong companion, who provides Hope with valuable insights into the Steers’ background, which is partly Chinese. Searing grudges, simple evil, and not-so-simple misunderstandings carry the cast through this complex, action-packed plot. This sequel ties out the loose ends dangling in Nash Falls, which would be helpful to read first. To get to the requisite ending, though, Baldacci takes pains to surprise the reader. It works but often feels forced.
Filled with action, violence, and more twists than a bag of pretzels.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781538758021
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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