LOYALTY by Lisa Scottoline is set in Sicily, opening in 1810 with the kidnapping of a child. No motive is revealed and the crime has not been reported to the authorities. Why?
Readers are introduced to a large cast of deeply drawn characters who, on the surface, have no connection to each other. There are no stereotypes here. Gaetano is an idealistic lawyer who is dedicated to finding justice. Franco, power-hungry and ruthless, is a threat to those who cross him and he becomes part of the first Mafia family which was actually linked to lemon growing. Dante is the kidnapped child who grew up in unimaginable conditions, and Lucia is a young woman who grew up to be a survivalist because she had no other choice. There a several other secondary characters who add depth to the story.
Lisa Scottoline has skillfully crafted a well-plotted story. As the narrative progresses, readers follow the characters' lives as they seamlessly come together while they experience violence, injustice, and many other hardships. Secrets are revealed and questions are answered, often at significant personal cost. For those who enjoy an original, complex, and immersive story I highly recommend LOYALTY by Lisa Scottoline.
#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline presents Loyalty, an emotional, action-packed epic of love and justice, set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily.
Loyalty can save a soul—or destroy one.
Franco Fiorvanti is a handsome lemon grower toiling on the estate of a baron. He dreams of owning his own grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambition. Determined to secure a better future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the baron. But when the baron asks him to kidnap a little boy named Dante, Franco makes a decision that will change his life—and even the history of Sicily—forever.
Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer whose devotion to justice is tantamount to a calling. He’s a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime in Palermo, a city riddled with graft. Gaetano sets out to find the boy and punish the kidnapper, but his mission leads him to a darker place than he had ever imagined.
Meanwhile, Mafalda Pancari is a new mother rejoicing at the birth of her daughter, Lucia, when disaster strikes. And Alfredo D’Antonio is a reclusive goatherd under constant threat of being discovered as a Jew. How the lives of these unforgettable characters collide makes Loyalty an epic tale of good versus evil, as the story twists and turns to its monumental showdown.
Readers will be transported to the dramatic and ruggedly beautiful island of Sicily, the jewel of the Mediterranean, where lush lemon groves and mouth-watering cuisine contrast with a turbulent history of colonization and corruption. Scottoline brings her decades of thriller writing to historical fiction, creating in Loyalty a singular novel that no reader will be able to put down.
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