Mike Papantonio – författare

Nicholas “Deke”Deketomis Returns to Face His Darkest Case Yet—And His Own Haunted PastWhen fifteen-year-old Trayvon Clapper is murdered by a guard at Camp B in Florida, his fringe-living mother and boyfriend come to Bergman-Deketomis to file a lawsuit against the facility. Details of the case trigger in Deke memories of his own troubled childhood. As a boy, Deke had no stable parents around him, so he lived with several different families over the years as he grew up, avoiding the foster care system. However, his best friend, Bucky, was not so fortunate. He, too, was killed in a similar facility… and Deke has carried within him a powerful guilt that he has never talked about to anyone, including his wife and children.Cara Deketomis, Deke’s daughter, is a young lawyer at the firm also working on the case. She comes to recognize the pain her father is feeling but she does not have the ability to break through to the truth. An opportunity in Cara’s personal life also hammers a wedge between father and daughter, adding more stress to the situation.Meanwhile, investigation into the case uncovers a hidden threat that could endanger everyone at the law firm. A corrupt Congressman, Bob Minds, and his shady colleague, Skyler Bannock, are “fixers” for Phoenix Industries, the parent company of Camp B and other child “protective” services facilities that do anything but that. Minds and Bannock resort to nefarious crimes to make Phoenix’s problems go away,i ncluding bribery, intimidation, and even murder. And then there’s Skyler’s brother, Midas, a killer straight out of a nightmare, who does the team’s dirtiest work.Will the ugly forces behind the scenes wreak lethal havoc on Deke and his team? Will the echo of Deke’s guilt get in the way of a successful legal action against Phoenix? In the tradition of The Middleman, Suspicious Activity,and Inhuman Trafficking, Mike Papantonio takes Deke and his cohorts on a new and different kind of legal gamble, but full of the action and thrills for which he is known.

MIKE PAPANTONIO PULLS BACK THE CURTAIN ON AMERICA'S DEADLY OPIOID EPIDEMIC IN THIS SPELLBINDING THRILLER ABOUT GREED, CORRUPTION AND THE POWER OF PERSONAL CONVICTION. One week before his law school graduation, Jake Rutledge is shattered. His fraternal twin, Blake, has died of a drug overdose. When Jake returns to his hometown of Oakley, West Virginia, he discovers that his brother was not the only person hooked on opioid painkillers. The entire region has been ravaged by an epidemic insidiously planned and carried out by one of America’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.Still wet behind the ears, Jake is determined to seek justice for all the victims of Big Pharma’s greed. He soon learns that the drug companies’ tentacles reach far and deep. His only hope is to get Nicholas “Deke” Deketomis to help. A partner at one of the country’s most powerful law firms, Deke’s “as tough as a two-dollar steak” and well-known for his winning tactics against corporate wrongdoers. With just enough persistence, Jake coaxes Deke to see Oakley’s devastation firsthand. Overwhelmed, Deke agrees to join forces with Jake.And that’s when the real heat begins. Death threats, bribes, unlawful property seizure schemes – all are connected to the massive distribution of both legal and illegal drugs. Everyone is impacted, from the highest levels of corporate America to corrupt local officials to their lackeys and hapless victims. The complexity of the schemes is overwhelming.Working tirelessly, the lawyers begin to uncover the truth. Along the way, Jake falls in love with Anna Fowler, a former homecoming queen who has succumbed to the power of opioids. With his support, she weans herself off the drugs. Hope begins to bloom — when suddenly, Jake disappears. As Deke undertakes a desperate search to find him, questions swirl. Has Jake abandoned Anna and his crusade? Can the case against the evildoers move forward without him? Will Oakley and its residents survive? Law and Addiction is real-life drama at its finest — a book that clears away the darkness page by page, spotlighting a profound truth about our society through expert storytelling.

Idealistic. Combative. Tenacious. The Bergman-Deketomis Law Firm is back on the case! Mike Papantonio introduced Nick “Deke” Deketomis and his associates in Law and Disorder, the powerful first installment of his legal saga. His new book, Law and Vengeance, has them pitted against an even deadlier foe.In Law and Vengeance, we find that several characters from the previous novel continue to fight the good fight: Nick “Deke” Deketomis is a world-class trial lawyer with the firm that bears his name. For decades, he battled some of the world’s most reckless and corrupt corporations; but now he is confronted with a new level of corporate criminality.Gina Romano is a beautiful and determined woman who built her career as a criminal trial lawyerby believing she could play by the rules and still achieve justice. She is about to learn that the law of vengeance works with a different set of rules.Angus Moore is a gentle giant of a man, but a relentless pit bull of an attorney. He has no idea of the mortal danger his life is in after he takes the lead on the case against the world’s largest arms dealer, Arbalest Corporation.In Law and Vengeance, the Bergman-Deketomis firm sets its sights on an unscrupulous weapons manufacturer and a corrupt Chicago police union. The law firm is accustomed to going to war with opponents who value big profits more than a human life, but this is uncharted territory even for them. Once again, Mike Papantonio interweaves the intricacies of his trade in trial law with highly developed character studies to deliver action that jumps off of the page. Law and Vengeance will leave you catching your breath as the story accelerates to its explosive conclusion.