Publishers Weekly
Carofiglio is an anti-Mafia prosecutor in the southern Italian city of Bari, and maybe someday he'll write a novel with a main character who faces the same kinds of challenges as he does. Until then, we have this second book (after 2005's Involuntary Witness), a bestseller in Italy, starring Bari defense lawyer Guido Guerrieri, who could have just gotten off an Alitalia flight from the Land of Grisham or the Los Angeles of Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer. Guerrieri can't resist taking on a case no other lawyer will touch, that of Martina Fumai, who has accused her vicious ex-boyfriend, the son of a powerful judge, of assault. Colorful characters, unexpected plot twists and smooth, often sharp writing ("The best of Vietnamese New Wave.... The kind of music I love so much I can even listen to it for five minutes at a stretch") will keep readers turning the pages. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
The success of veteran anti-Mafia prosecutor Carofiglio's second novel featuring attorney Guido Guerrieri (after Involuntary Witness) should meet or exceed that of the first. The author not only displays superior storytelling skills and an intimate knowledge of Italian law but also has created a full-bodied protagonist so angered by injustice that he can screw up in the courtroom. Taking on a seemingly unwinnable case, Guerrieri represents Martina Fumai, who has been assaulted by her ex-lover, a doctor and the son of a prominent judge whose status would seem to make him untouchable by the law. Guerrieri is aided by Sister Claudia, a martial arts expert who runs a shelter for abused women. With Martina's mental health at the heart of the case, Guerrieri finesses possibly damaging testimony for a short-lived triumph. Sister Claudia's story parallels the case and adds resonance, but it's Guerrieri-working on his relationship with lover Margherita despite his attraction to Sister Claudia-who carries this fine psychological novel, which is much more than just a legal thriller. [This mystery spent eight months at the top of the Italian best-sellers list.-Ed.] Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A successful lawyer in Bari quixotically brings a civil suit for assault against the son of the judge who handles many of his own appeals in this Italian bestseller first published there in 2003. At 40, Guido Guerrieri is too old and cowardly to take up parachuting along with his girlfriend Margherita. Luckily, there's another way for him to indulge his taste for danger: to act on behalf of Martina Fumai, who's suing her abusive ex-lover, Dr. Gianluca Scianatico. Apart from phone records indicating that the estranged Scianatico may have been stalking her and a few eyewitnesses to arguments that don't prove much of anything, there's no conclusive evidence; it's clear that the case will come down to the plaintiff's word versus the defendant's. Guido (Involuntary Witness, not reviewed) weighs the likelihood of Judge Scianatico's professional revenge on him against his sympathy for sad, subdued Martina and his frankly unholy interest in Sister Claudia, the nun who runs the shelter where Martina has been staying. It's a foregone conclusion that he'll take the case and then run into the obligatory reversals: His own judge favors Scianatico's lawyer at every turn, the defense uncovers evidence of Martina's mental breakdown, the hard-nosed prosecutor Guido's working with is transferred to Palermo. But Guido has a few tricks up his own sleeve en route to the shocking conclusion. A probing tale of justice deferred.
