Inhuman Trafficking

At the outset of Papantonio’s inferior fourth legal thriller featuring Florida attorney Nick “Deke” Deketomis (after 2019’s Law and Addiction), coauthored with Russell (A Cold War), Deke’s 15-year-old goddaughter, Lily Reyes, is drugged in Tallahassee by her slimy boyfriend, Carlos Navarro, who passes the girl onto a sex trafficker, Tío Leo, to pay off a debt Carlos owes to Leo. Deke, who’s in the midst of a lawsuit against a company that operates hundreds of truck stops and motels and claims to be unaware they’re being used for human trafficking, resolves to rescue Lily after learning of her kidnapping. Once Deke discovers Leo’s whereabouts, he takes a reckless step that almost costs him his life and puts Lily in further jeopardy. The lawyer must adopt even more desperate measures to save her. Improbable action sequences, especially one toward the end that’s straight out of a Mission: Impossible movie, dominate the plot. Mediocre prose (“The lawyer’s red face bespoke his anger”) doesn’t help. That Papantonio’s considerable experience as a successful plaintiff’s attorney is nowhere in evidence will disappoint series fans. Agent: Cynthia Manson, Cynthia Manson Literary. (Oct.)