Loyalty

After the resounding success of Eternal, Lisa Scottoline delivers Loyalty, an emotional, action-packed epic set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily. Franco dreams of owning a lemon farm, even though only noblemen own farms in the rigid class system of Palermo. He works hard and does whatever the Baron demands, including arranging the kidnapping of a little boy. Gaetano, an idealistic young lawyer, tries to find the kidnapped boy, since he’s a member of the Beati Paoli, The Blessed Society of St. Paul, a real-life secret society of professionals who fought for justice. Witness intimidation and police corruption thwart Gaetano’s efforts, and his dedication to the case turns into obsession, destroying his professional and family life. When the Baron betrays Franco, Franco swears lifelong revenge, burning the Baron’s palazzo and lemon farm to the ground. Franco and his twin brother organize their fellow lemon growers into a protection racket against the Baron and other noblemen, forming the first Mafia family in the world. The kidnapped boy, Giovanni, grows up in a madhouse, alone until he meets a beautiful albino girl named Lucia. They set out to find his kidnappers and learn his true identity. They are helped by septuagenarian Alfredo, whom villagers think is a wizard, but is secretly Jewish, practicing his religion under cover, after the Spanish Inquisition expelled Jews from the island. He is the last Jew in Sicily. These characters meet in a monumental showdown where secrets are uncovered, identities discovered, and the ultimate battle of good and evil fought to the death. Echoing classics like Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Godfather, Loyalty is a novel no reader will be able to put down or forget.