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Summary
Summary
Tom Perini is a legendary American football player and Heisman Trophy winner who became a successful criminal lawyer in New York City. Following his murder, his wife Julie begins to uncover a secret world that her husband kept separate from their tender and trusting marriage.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The verdict on Batista's debut legal thriller: guilty of delivering not only sharp courtroom drama but steamy romantic escapism as well. Vincent Sorrentino, a crackerjack Manhattan DA (not unlike Batista, a commentator on Court TV), is leading the legal team for 14 defendants accused of bribing Congressman Daniel Fonseca, including Selig "Sy" Klein, owner of a shady trucking empire personally represented by Sorrentino's colleague and friend, Tom Perini, a former Heisman Trophy winner. Tom's murder while running in Central Park shatters his wife and toddler's world and almost lands Fonseca a mistrial. Grieving Julie Perini suffers more shocks as she learns about her husband's secret underworld association connected to the ongoing trial. Batista provides a gripping, if sometimes confusing, insider look into the seamy side of justice and the politics behind criminal shenanigans. The sweet resolution might feel too good to be true, but is still satisfying. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The murder of a high-profile lawyer places his curious widow in jeopardy. During his evening run in Central Park, defense attorney and former Heisman Trophy-winner Tom Perini is joined by another jogger who shoots him in the head. His widow, Julie, with toddler daughter Kim, tries to stay strong through the resultant media flurry and Manhattan funeral full of famous faces. At the time of his death, Tom was on a team of lawyers defending Congressman Danny Fonseca on a charge of bribery; additionally, Tom alone represented Selig "Sy" Klein, the elderly (alleged) mobster charged with bribing Fonseca. Julie is questioned by FBI Special Agent John McGlynn, who determines that she knows almost nothing about her husband's business affairs. Shortly after, the reader learns that McGlynn hired the hit man who killed Tom. Julie returns to her career as a broadcast journalist--a move that emboldens her to dig for answers about Tom's murder. She makes the mistake of contacting McGlynn with her concerns, which alerts him to Julie as a potential problem. Julie's digging for information runs parallel to the unfolding trial and Tom's possible role in wrongdoing. Julie meets with Sy Klein and, not long after, he's also murdered. It's only when Julie calls McGlynn again to talk about Klein that she begins to understand that he won't be helping her; the darker truth about his involvement remains for her to discover. When the FBI makes a move to seize all of Tom's personal papers, Julie appeals to his partner and friend, Vincent Sorrentino, a standup attorney leading Fonseca's defense team. Meanwhile, a journalist informs the skeptical Julie that New York magazine is about to publish an expos on Tom's activities. Julie and Sorrentino team up to uncover the truth. Can they do it in time? With the exception of some engrossing scenes of complex legal maneuvering, Batista's fiction debut is fairly ordinary and predictable. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
1.
Like the thousands of other runners who regularly used Central Park, Tom Perini knew precisely how long its outer roadway was: a total of six-point-two miles. There were various exits, entrances, and combinations of the internal roadways which Tom had charted for years, beginning at twenty-one when he first spent a heady week in New York for his Heisman Trophy ceremony, press conferences, and appearances. Tom knew how to switch and integrate the roads that dissected the interior of the park for the length of any particular run he wanted: one mile, two-and-a-half miles, four, or the full six-point-two.
On this long May evening he wanted three miles. He entered the park at the Engineers' Gate at 90th Street and Fifth Avenue. The run to the top of Central Park-the no-man's land where Harlem and East Harlem joined at an invisible seam-and then the gradual southern sweep to the east-west transverse above the reservoir would combine for the three-mile course.
Around the area of the Engineers' Gate there were, as he expected, other runners, dozens of them. The light from the setting sun washed to a smooth glow the gray stone surface of the Church of the Heavenly Rest across Fifth Avenue from the Engineers' Gate. Stretching his legs and arms, he stared at the distinguished church and the huge, colorful banner hanging over the entrance's carved wooden doors. There was only one word on the banner: Rejoice.
Excerpted from Death's Witness by Paul Batista All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
