Publisher's Synopsis
"Tamar Anolic writes with deliberate intensity. The tone is confessional, sometimes self-critical, and it captures Jamie's inner torment with such raw vulnerability. The narrative brings readers inside Jamie's psyche as she goes through a minefield of emotional triggers, courtroom dynamics, and dangerous liaisons. The pacing is balanced and allows for an unflinching look at both the legal system and the people entangled in it. It paints a picture that feels authentic in its messiness and moral ambiguity... Anolic has skillfully rendered the supporting characters as well: Alexander, though young, is perceptive and emotionally complex... Gutin is an ideal antagonist-not just a prosecutor, but a man obsessed with dismantling Jamie's life." -Reader Views Book Reviews
New York City prosecutor Jamie Jefferson's life is going nowhere fast- until a relationship with a witness puts her on a collision course with a federal prosecutor out for blood. Jamie is an Assistant District Attorney in the Special Victims Unit, drawn to prosecuting sex crimes after her own high school trauma. She has a stellar conviction rate, a high workload and a bad case of burnout. Then she's assigned to prosecute a rape case that happened at one of Russian mob boss Peter Federov's nightclubs. Jamie seizes the opportunity to advance her career- until she starts falling for Peter's sixteen-year-old grandson Alexander, who was a witness to the crime. Alexander, desperate to be free of his family's stranglehold on the bowels of Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach, sees Jamie as his ticket out. Standing in their way is the vengeful Rostislav Gutin, an Assistant U.S. Attorney and first-generation American who is trying to separate his own Russian heritage from the world of the Federovs. Rostislav is a Julliard-trained musician who became a lawyer with the sole aim of prosecuting Peter Federov for crimes that changed Rostislav's life. As he gets closer to his aim, Rostislav will stop at nothing- including ending Jamie's career for her transgressions with Alexander. This novel is John Grisham meets Alissa Nutting's Tampa, with the attitude of William Boyle's Gravesend. Fans of Robinne Lee's The Idea of You will also like this book.
