WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM103
And why? And how does all that tragedy
tie in with firearm vandalism at a nearby
farm? As their own crime scene investigators, Gastner and Torrez painstakingly
plod through seemingly disconnected
minutiae in pursuit of answers. Havill
keeps his relentless hold on readers with
bits of wisdom from veteran Gastner, creating a powerful sense of place in his portrayal of the bucolic southwestern New
Mexico community. (Nov.)
★ The Four Horsemen
Gregory Dowling. St. Martin’s/Dunne, $27.99
(304p) ISBN 978-1-250-10854-8
In this excellent sequel, Dowling successfully builds on the clever premise he
introduced in 2016’s Ascension, his first
novel featuring 18th-century Venetian
spy Alvise Marangon—the premise being
that Dowling has uncovered a folder
buried in the Venetian state archives
recounting Alvise’s exploits. Alvise
divides his time between working as a
tour guide, principally for English travelers, and serving as a confidential agent
for the Missier Grande, the man responsible “for all matters of common criminality.” The Missier Grande charges Alvise
with investigating the death of a fellow
operative, Paolo Padoan, who apparently
fell from his roof by accident. A few days
earlier, Paolo reported his discovery of a
mysterious secret society, the Four
Horsemen, some of whose members may
have belonged to noble families. Apart
from looking into the possibility that
Paolo was murdered, Alvise must tread
carefully to avoid incurring the wrath of
the Missier Grande’s archrival, the
Council of Ten, in particular the three
Inquisitors on the council who are in
charge of inquiries related to state security. Dowling’s lead’s wry sense of humor
is a plus. (Oct.)
Odd Child Out
Gilly Macmillan. Morrow, $15.99 trade paper
(432p) ISBN 978-0-06-247682-1
Noah Sadler, a native-born British boy,
and Abdi Mahad, a refugee from Somalia,
(The Perfect Girl). Late one night, Noah
and Abdi meet on the bank of the Feeder
Canal, into which Noah falls. Det. Insp.
What inspired you to try your hand at
fiction?
My law firm tries some of the most
significant cases in America, ranging
from pharmaceutical companies
killing consumers with defective
drugs to environmental polluters
affecting the lives of entire communities. A legal thriller provides the
perfect vehicle for telling these stories
that are generally overlooked by traditional media. Unfortunately, corporate media relies too heavily on advertising dollars from the industry to
report the truth, in a timely and adequate way, about drug-industry misconduct that often amounts to criminality.
Can you give an example?
In our efforts to pitch the story about
a deadly oral contraceptive, which was
the basis of the plot of my first novel,
we encountered roadblocks both from
media executive producers and edi-
tors. At one point, the only way we
found to communicate the dangers to
the public was through social media.
Is Law and Vengeance also derived from
a real case?
Yes, the primary plot centers on a case
we handled against a company that
had manufactured a holographic
weapon sight, which was designed to
allow the user to look through an
optical window that would help the
user place crosshairs on the target
without closing one eye. The product
was supposed to provide quick and
consistently accurate target acquisition, but the accuracy of the sight was
dramatically affected by heat and
humidity. It was sold to the military
and to law enforcement organizations,
although the manufacturer had a
wealth of data showing that their
product in actual field conditions
could be significantly inaccurate.
Again, the documents we uncovered
helped provide the road map for the
fictionalized story.
Why have you chosen to have each
book thus far focus on a different lead
from the same firm?
My vision of the Bergman-Deketomis
firm is that they succeed because of
the team effort that goes into handling these complex cases. My goal is
to round out as many of the trial lawyers, paralegals, and investigators as
possible.
—Lenny Picker
[Q&A]
PW Talks with Mike Papantonio
Telling Overlooked Stories
Lawyer Papantonio’s second legal thriller, Law and Vengeance (Select-
Books, Oct.), shows the need for government regulations and over-
sight in a case involving a faulty gunsight.
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