From Publishers Weekly
A U.S. vice president is accused of covering up a 38-year-old murder at the rousing start of Buffa's sixth courtroom thriller (after Star Witness) featuring San Francisco trial lawyer Joseph Antonelli. Attending a Harvard Law School reunion, Antonelli is approached by former classmate Thomas Browning, heir to a legendary Detroit auto empire and lately vice president of the United States. Browning wants Antonelli to defend another classmate, Jimmy Haviland, who is going to be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for the murder of a beautiful law student who fell from an eighth-floor window during a Christmas Eve party in 1965. Long since ruled an accident, the affair obviously has been unearthed to enable forces in the White House to discredit the v-p (who was at the party, too), clearing the way for the Republican president to choose a new running mate. Because of his loyalty to his classmates, Antonelli reluctantly takes the case, which is being prosecuted by an ambitious Brooklyn Catholic district attorney. Buffa writes with careful attention to detail and nuance, but lengthy description and reflection sabotage the novel's pacing, particularly in the first half. The story gains momentum when Antonelli meets a beautiful, intelligent young German reporter in D.C. and the action moves into the courtroom. Political intrigue abounds and new love stirs bittersweet memories as the case comes to a truly surprising end. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
In this legal thriller, Defense Attorney Joseph Antonelli is enlisted by U.S. Vice President Thomas Browning to defend one of their Harvard Law School colleagues, Jimmy Haviland. Schriner narrates this story of ruthless politics in a methodical manner. He easily finds voices and accents for the various well-developed male characters and does a credible job characterizing the beautiful, intelligent German reporter Antonelli meets in Washington, D.C. Truly involved in the plot, Schriner amplifies the bizarre twists and turns and dramatizes the novel's bittersweet ending. Buffa deftly blends mystery and romance with political philosophy and social commentary. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Even though he is one of the best defense attorneys in the country, the ever-modest, plain-speaking Joseph Antonelli dreads attending his Harvard Law School reunion at New York's Plaza Hotel but agrees to show up at the behest of his law-school chum, Thomas Browning, now the vice president of the U.S. Browning's keynote speech praises Antonelli for being a model attorney, but the two friends have been estranged for 20 years, dating back to an incident at the Plaza when their classmate (and Browning's girlfriend) Annie fell to her death from an eighth-floor window. Returning to the Plaza rekindles interest in the suspicious nature of Annie's death, which is precisely why Browning wanted Antonelli there, for the veep suspects that he might be indicted, if not for murder then at least for conspiring to cover up a murder. Antonelli reluctantly agrees to represent the accused, whoever it may be. Buffa's series has been a hit-or-miss thing for the last few episodes, but this time maddening suspense, captivating courtroom scenes, and a marvelously twisted ending suggest that he's jumped to the next level. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Breach of Trust FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Defense attorney Joseph Antonelli dives into a case of White House intrigue, intimacies not forgotten, and suspicions dark and deep in this legal thriller." "In Breach of Trust, Antonelli is seduced into taking an old case that has dangerous implications not just for the upcoming United States presidential race but also for a group of old friends who thought they had put the sudden death of a young woman behind them long ago. When Antonelli attends a Harvard Law School reunion in Manhattan, at the very same hotel where the lively young woman fell from a window to her death, he doesn't suspect how disturbing his return will be." The case was never solved at the time and now has been reopened, and a potential witness - a man with promise and ambition in equal measure - is wary that the story may ruin his political chances to run for vice president of the United States. When the trial begins, the nation's eyes turn to the accused - a downtrodden lawyer who was once a member of this elite circle of friends - and also to the unseen powers both within and without the White House who want to bury him. It is up to the shrewd and sharp Antonelli to uncover just where the secrets lie-and exactly who is playing whom.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A U.S. vice president is accused of covering up a 38-year-old murder at the rousing start of Buffa's sixth courtroom thriller (after Star Witness) featuring San Francisco trial lawyer Joseph Antonelli. Attending a Harvard Law School reunion, Antonelli is approached by former classmate Thomas Browning, heir to a legendary Detroit auto empire and lately vice president of the United States. Browning wants Antonelli to defend another classmate, Jimmy Haviland, who is going to be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for the murder of a beautiful law student who fell from an eighth-floor window during a Christmas Eve party in 1965. Long since ruled an accident, the affair obviously has been unearthed to enable forces in the White House to discredit the v-p (who was at the party, too), clearing the way for the Republican president to choose a new running mate. Because of his loyalty to his classmates, Antonelli reluctantly takes the case, which is being prosecuted by an ambitious Brooklyn Catholic district attorney. Buffa writes with careful attention to detail and nuance, but lengthy description and reflection sabotage the novel's pacing, particularly in the first half. The story gains momentum when Antonelli meets a beautiful, intelligent young German reporter in D.C. and the action moves into the courtroom. Political intrigue abounds and new love stirs bittersweet memories as the case comes to a truly surprising end. Agent, Wendy Sherman. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
The long-ago death of a young woman at a Harvard Law School reunion may not have been accidental-and it may have bearings on Antonelli's new case. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Brilliant criminal defense attorney reluctantly helps his law-school roommate, who just happens to be vice president of the US, through a murder trial about a decades-old crime. In his sixth recorded case (Star Witness, 2003, etc.), renowned and righteous courtroom celebrity Joseph Antonelli gets summoned by Harvard Law pal Thomas Stern Browning, who's stuck unrewardingly as veep to lackluster President Walker and bitter about it. Walker's Republican administration seems to bear a strong resemblance to its current real-life counterpart (his candidacy, for instance, gained traction in the South Carolina primary via dirty tricks). A long-forgotten tragedy has faintly shadowed Browning in the 30-plus years since he and Antonelli were at Harvard: Beautiful Annie Malraux, at the center of a romantic triangle involving Browning and fellow student James Havilland, took a fatal plunge (or was pushed) from a high window. Both men were implicated, though the incident was ruled an accident and at the time not pursued by the police. In the intervening years, the broken Havilland, once the most likely to succeed, has had a mediocre life while Browning has steadily risen in the political sphere, his only misstep agreeing to work in bland Walker's shadow. Browning and Havilland both tell Antonelli that they suspect the other in Annie's death. Someone powerful and anonymous, either an enemy of the administration or one of the many Browning haters within the administration, presses for a prosecution of Annie's "murder," and Browning asks Antonelli to represent whomever is indicted. However the case shakes out, Browning knows that he will be damaged politically and wants it dealt with as efficiently aspossible. For Antonelli, taking the case means a reunion with college love Joanna, unhappily married to Browning. Further complicating matters is Antonelli's friendship with Havilland and the zeal of ambitious prosecutor Bartholomew Caminetti. Buffa's front-loaded plot relies on character nuance more than courtroom dramatics, while his elaborate prose will strike some readers as profound and others as pretentious. Agent: Wendy Sherman
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