by Harry Taylor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 9, 2014
An intriguing blend of legal thrills and Mafia matters.
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A legal thriller that pits the Mafia against a corrupt British legal system.
The second installment of Taylor’s (Rogues, Riches & Retribution, 2013) Mafia trilogy delves deep into the Pulvirenti family, a powerful presence in the world of organized crime. Tony, nephew of Massimo, the family’s feared Godfather, is sentenced to life in a British prison for the brutal murder of the Lawson family. Massimo charges his best lawyer, Angelo Bertesconi, with finding a way to free Tony and immediately sends him to England. A brilliant attorney who has yet to lose a case, Bertesconi is able to determine that Tony was convicted on the flimsiest circumstantial evidence: a murder weapon was never produced, and not a trace of blood was found on Tony’s clothing. Also, the murderer let the Lawson daughter live—a witness who could identify him in court. Bertesconi discovers that the chief inspector, detective inspector, and the judge are Freemasons, belonging to the same brotherhood as Lawson. Freemasons are an influential and notoriously corrupt organization in Italy, where Massimo largely directs his own affairs. However, the legal path to freeing Tony is a slow one fraught with obstacles: it takes Bertesconi an extraordinary amount of time to even procure the court transcripts, plus he has to learn an unfamiliar judicial system. Tony’s mother, dying and crippled with grief, pressures Massimo to expedite her son’s release by whatever means necessary. Massimo impatiently begins to plot an alternative plan that travels an extralegal path and courts great risk. In this dialogue-driven narrative, the plot unfolds largely through sharply written exchanges. Much of the suspense revolves around whether or not Massimo will choose to trust the British legal process or instead pursue criminal means to get his nephew out of prison. Even Tony—confident in Bertesconi and wary of life as a fugitive—is conflicted over the choice. While the story develops too slowly at first and often pushes the envelope of plausibility, the drama of that decision drives the whole book and makes for a worthwhile read.
An intriguing blend of legal thrills and Mafia matters.Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-5028-6469-7
Page Count: 414
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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