Review: Speak of the Devil (Anna Curtis #3) by Allison Leotta

Synopsis from Good Reads:

On the very night she gets engaged to the man she loves, sex-crimes prosecutor Anna Curtis’s professional life takes a shocking turn that threatens everything she holds dear. A few miles away from where she’s enjoying her romantic dinner, two separate groups are gearing up to raid a brothel. A vicious killer known as Diablo—the Devil—leads one group. A few minutes later, Anna’s own investigative team heads in to search the brothel, as part of an ongoing fight against human trafficking in DC. Both groups are caught off guard, with deadly results.

As Anna investigates the bloody face-off, the boundaries between her work and home life begin to blur when she discovers a web of long-buried secrets and official lies that lead straight to her doorstep. And everything Anna counted on—the happiness she seemed so close to securing—comes into question as Diablo moves in for yet another kill.

Allison Leotta draws on her experience as a DC sex-crimes prosecutor to take you into the back rooms of the US Attorney’s Office, the hidden world of the Witness Protection Program, and the secret rituals of one of America’s most dangerous gangs.

16130452

After finishing this book I am now caught up on the Anna Curtis series (since the first book I read was #4). I think it’s safe to say that Allison Leotta has gotten better with each book. I enjoyed Law of Attraction, I devoured Discretion and thought it was basically everything a DC-based crime novel should be, and Speak of the Devil keeps up with the crime/mystery aspect I expect while also really delivering on the emotional front.

Any book in this genre includes some scenes that are hard to read and when one features a gang who’s mottos is “Kill, Rape, Control”, you know you’re in for some heart wrenching situations. Not only do we get the violent POV of some of the gang members, we get the POV of one of those gang members who wants out. His character development was very strong and really conveyed the intensity of his emotions. I was really rooting for him throughout the book.

There are also big things happening in Anna’s personal life. Now, I’ve read A Good Killing (book 4), and know what the outcome of these personal developments would be, but I was not expecting how emotionally invested in it I would be. I’ve always been a little ambivalent towards Jack, but in this book we find things out about him that made me start to dislike him. And he handles things pretty poorly. But still. Anna really loves him and wants to marry him and I found myself hoping things would go her way.

In addition to the personal storylines, the actual crime/mystery part of the book was very well done. Leotta continues to impress me with her writing of the legal specifics, never going overboard on the details, but making it realistic and easy to understand. There are also several very suspenseful chapters that made me curse my 1/2 hour lunch break. The crime story itself had several layers that all came together well in the end, including a twist involving the murder of Jack’s wife, Nina.

Overall, I really enjoyed Speak of the Devil. It was an incredibly well-written, well-paced story that really tugs on the heartstrings. I’m looking forward to re-reading A Good Killing, to see if I feel any differently now that I know more of Anna’s background. I recommend this series to fans of crime/mystery/suspense. If you’re not reading this series yet, you should be!

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars