Gina Romano is a highly successful trial lawyer with Bergman/Deketomis, a firm dedicated to protecting the public by exposing and penalizing corporate crooks and their allies in government. Well into her thirties, Gina hasn’t overcome the anger and defensiveness resulting from a bizarre and traumatic childhood.
As she contemplates whether to marry solid, attractive and loyal veterinarian Bryan Penn or to send him packing, the murder of a friend and mentor, Angus Moore, turns her life into a quest for vengeance. In consort with partner Nick Deketomis, Gina runs headlong into a life and death struggle against weapons manufacturers, a gun rights lobbyist, psychopathic Chicago police, a hi-tech genius assassin, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Still, the most formidable and dangerous enemy she faces is herself.
Fans of John Grisham and Steve Martini will welcome Papantonio’s pulse-pounding second legal thriller (after 2016’s Law and Disorder). Angus Moore, of Bergman-Deketomis, is spearheading the Florida law firm’s pursuit of civil justice against Arbalest, the manufacturer of Sight-Clops, billed as the “latest and greatest hologram gunsight.” Sight-Clops has a design flaw—in humid conditions, bullets fired from weapons using it end up significantly off-target—that has already resulted in deaths. The author effectively enlists the reader’s sympathies early on by depicting two such friendly fire fatalities, including the death of a rookie Chicago cop accidentally gunned down by his partner. The deck is stacked against Moore and his colleagues, since Arbalest has powerful allies in law enforcement and politics who have sway over the Department of Justice. Moore’s persistence leads to the death of an important colleague, and an increased role in the investigation for Gina Romano, a fearless and aggressive lawyer. Papantonio, a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, effectively balances litigation strategy and action.
