Deceptions

When a corrupt U.S. Attorney General unleashes a global network of assassins to hunt down a woman who could destroy both his career and his life, two Mafia-connected men find themselves unwitting protectors of the innocent woman. By the author of Impulse.

Though less experimental than his debut thriller, Impulse (1993), which featured three narrative voices, Weaver's second novel is every bit as gripping, a fast-paced, brutal and kinky tale that mixes crime and political intrigue with aplomb. Rising Manhattan artist Gianni Garetsky, 38, is drawn back into the American and Sicilian underworld of his youth when he's strong-armed by two men who claim to be FBI agents but who begin to torture him to reveal the whereabouts of his boyhood pal, Vittorio Battaglia, a minor mobster whom Gianni hasn't seen in 20 years and has presumed dead. Killing his two accosters, Gianni, who's soon joined by Vittorio's ex-lover, the beautiful and equally dangerous Mary Yung, moves between Europe and the States as his hunt for Vittorio and his race to save his own skin quickly involves a small child and other innocent victims, a world-class contract assassin and possibly the balances of political power in the U.S. and the world. Enhanced by strong, sinewy writing, numerous plot twists and a potent melding of sex and violence, this expertly wrought novel proves that Weaver knows what most thriller fans want?and can deliver it in spades. Audio rights to Time Warner AudioBooks; major ad/ promo.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Weaver's first book, Impulse (LJ 6/15/93), was well received, and this second should be equally if not more popular. Weaver braids together the familiar strands of mobsters, lusty passions, and corruption in high places with unique plot thickeners. The story concerns two boys who grew up in the Mob's shadow. One is now an artist, the other a hit man. When the hit man fails to kill one victim (because of true love, we learn), powerful forces of vengeance are unleashed. The artist, challenged to rat on his childhood buddy, draws upon murderous resources. The tale reverberates with many deceptions, and its bloodthirsty tone is a lasting hallmark. Weaver deftly characterizes all the important figures while employing vibrant settings, which range from sunny Italy to the gloomy Atlantic coast. The result is a high-voltage thriller that blows out the fuses. For most popular collections of spy and suspense novels.
-?Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.