The Vendetta Defense

In the moment that 80-year-old Anthony Lucia rushes with malice of forethought but without premeditation toward his lifelong enemy, Angelo Coluzzi, his past, present, and future collide. This novel is so top-heavy with stereotypes about Italian-Americans it almost falls on its face, but Barbara Rosenblat rescues the material on every page and delivers a powerful dramatic performance. In addition, her accents are flawless. Her Italian-American voices sound as authentic as if she had grown up in Little Italy. She produces a heartbreaking 3-year-old, whose voice is an echo from war-torn Italy, and the voice she uses to portray a mobster demonstrates a lifetime of drinking, smoking, and tough-guy thinking. Her Irish-American accent is equally good. And Dr. Voresh Patel, the coroner, speaks with the clipped English of an Oxford-trained forensic pathologist. M.D.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2002 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

February 1, 2001
Is it murder or simply eye-for-an-eye justice if you kill someone who has killed members of your family? That moral conundrum lies at the heart of Scottoline's (Moment of Truth; Mistaken Identity) latest legal yarn, which gives top billing to yet another lawyer from the all-female Philadelphia firm of Rosato & Associates. The star here is the somewhat manic Judy Carrier, who has played supporting roles in the past. The story, however, revolves around Anthony "Pigeon Tony" Lucia, a lovable septuagenarian who killed his longtime rival, Angelo Coluzzi, who murdered Lucia's wife in their native Italy 60 years ago. Coluzzi, the wealthy, mob-connected owner of a big construction firm, always seems to get the upper hand until Pigeon Tony breaks his neck during a showdown at the pigeon-racing club where they're both members. Pigeon Tony freely admits he killed Coluzzi, but maintains he was justified because of the long-standing Italian tradition of vendetta; Carrier knows it will be a big stretch to make that argument fly before a 21st-century American jury. Aided, however, by Tony's many friends in South Philly's Italian neighborhoods, Carrier mounts a sparkling defense while dodging innumerable attempts on her life from Coluzzi's gang and trying to keep in check her amorous feelings for Pigeon Tony's ruggedly handsome grandson, Frank. Scottoline shows once again her knack for building a highly entertaining plot around an intriguingly simple legal issue and a cast of likable eccentrics. Her touch is light, and her satisfying mix of mischief, sex appeal, action and legal analysis justifies her wide following.

November 15, 2000
Lawyer Judy Carrier gets more than she bargained for when she defends an elderly Italian pigeon keeper who freely admits to having murdered because of a generations-old vendetta.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.