Title: Law and Vengeance by Mike Papantonio
Genre: Currently #4460 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Books Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Thrillers & Suspense, Spies & Politics, Political
Publisher: Select Books
Publication Date: To be published September 26, 2017
Source: Select Books and NetGalley
Title and Cover: Law and Vengeance – Attractive cover conveys genre
Mike Papantonio features Gina Romano in the author’s soon to be released sophomore “law” books in Law and Vengeance. (He previously wrote Law and Disorder featuring the same characters.) Gina Romano is a hard-hitting and extremely successful trial lawyer with Bergman/Deketomis, a law firm who has a history of exposing corporate crooks. Jersey girl Gina is savvy and smart, but as I’ve mentioned before, another damaged female protagonist. She is considering her possible future with available, attractive and equally successful veterinarian Bryan Penn.
The plot begins with a couple little vignettes that give an inciteful backstory and sets the stage for the story that begins to unfold. While the narrative doesn’t move with Bruce Willis speed, the steady build-up is strong enough to get your attention and keep it. Firm mentor Angus Moore has taken on a massive suit with Arbalest (a weapons manufacturer) citing wrongful deaths associated with Sight-Clops. Moore dies in the “accident” that also lands Gina in the hospital. The outraged (abused psyche in) Gina Romano turns her into a vengeance-seeking missile.
Law partner Nick Deketomis is drawn, along with Gina, into the battle against the weapons manufacturer, their failed equipment, and the deadly results and cover-ups.
Gina manages to resume duties, albeit low key research at first, while hobbling on a leg healing from a badly mangled break, surgical repair, bruises and contusions over her body, and goes from surgical cast to walking cast before her bruises are gone. (Good luck with that–my break was no where near that traumatic and it took much longer!)
Along the way, we are introduced to the firm’s personnel, peripheral characters, Bryan, Peter (her brother), and the antagonist, a composite of all the techie geniuses common on the media. It is her brother that bows to the familial abuse, while Gina, the older sibling, had to be stronger. She has carried that into adulthood. But it is an issue that involves Bryan that throws her into apoplexy, though most readers would see through that diversion fairly quickly.
The author pours on the passion in the dedication of the law firm’s associates to force the defective manufacture issue with the judge to a successful conclusion. But the perp who issued the orders against Angus (antagonist #1) and the person who executed the orders (antagonist #2) will not escape their scrutiny either and fortunately Deke proceeds with a level head when Gina goes out of control. (Can’t blame that one on PMS!)
The author pulls no punches, and the reader gains a vested awareness in the case, characters are well fleshed, including that of the antagonist! The legal sequences are interesting and puts you square in the middle of official proceedings. Papantonio exhibits little love lost for the Chicago Police Dept., gun rights lobbyist, or the U.S. Dept. of Justice, apparently the voice of experience that brings solid, believable weight to the struggle. Clever characters, reasonable dialogue, and scenes are well laid out for easy viewing.
Surely the author won’t let antagonist #2 escape–but you’ll just have to read for yourself–as Papantonio brings the climax to a satisfying conclusion, wrapping up loose ends in a twist you probably didn’t see coming. (And, boy, I love to be surprised!)
I was offered a digital download by Select Book and NetGalley and it was my pleasure to read and review. Recommended to all crime, mystery, thriller and suspense, political, and law and order fans.
Rosepoint Publishing: 4.5 of Five Stars
The Author: No stranger to the courtroom himself, Mike Papantonio is a senior partner of Levin Papantonio, one of the largest plaintiff’s law firms in America. He has handled thousands of tort cases including pharmaceutical drug litigation, tobacco litigation, and securities fraud actions. He has also written four motivational books for lawyers. “Pap” has received dozens of multimillion-dollar verdicts on behalf of victims of corporate corruption and definitely “writes what he knows.” Mike Papantonio is one of the youngest attorneys to have been inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. He became President of the National Trial Lawyers Association, the largest in America, in 2012. Papantonio has received numerous awards for his work on behalf of consumers. He hosts a nationally syndicated radio show called the “Ring of Fire” along with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and has conducted hundreds of recorded interviews with guests including Dan Rather, Bernie Sanders, and Merle Haggard. Papantonio is married and has one daughter. He is an avid scuba diver and often dives on the Emerald Coast. ©2017 Virginia Williams 
Rosepoint Publishing 