Devil's Corner

by Lisa Scottoline

With her trademark wit, suspense and style, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Lisa Scottoline delivers a new blockbuster thriller

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Crime, Suspense

514 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Lisa Scottoline is a #1 bestselling and Edgar award-winning author of 33 novels. Her books are book-club favorites, and Lisa and her daughter Francesca Serritella have hosted an annual Big Book Club Party for over a thousand readers at her Pennsylvania farm, for the past twelve years. Lisa has served as President of Mystery Writers of America, and her reviews of fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She also writes a weekly column with her daughter for the Philadelphia Inquirer entitled Chick Wit, a witty take on life from a woman’s perspective, which have been collected in a bestselling series of humorous memoirs. Lisa graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.A. in English, and cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she taught Justice and Fiction. Lisa has over 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in over 35 countries. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is one of the worse "legal" books I have ever read. I generally like Scottoline's books but this one really was awful. The heroine was the worst lawyer possible. Any case that she is involved in would be thrown out of court and she would be disbarred because of her antics and meddling into cases. The story developed into a love story with one of the most unlikable men imaginable. First he is married and she has a crush on him. His wife conveniently leaves him so now they can be a couple. She berates a witness about her partner's death and then they become best friends. Even the bad guy is convenient. The whole book was very "convenient" with events and people just happening to be where and whom she needed them to be in order to prove her case without paying any attention to the law or ethics. It was all I could do to finish the book at all.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assistant US Attorney Vicki Allegretti and her partner, Bob Morton (Morty) had arrived at a Philadelphia townhouse, to meet with an informant. Vicki had never met this woman, and while waiting for Morty to finish his cigarette outside, she made her way inside, calling for the woman. But what she saw instead shocked her to the core…a wild looking teenager, brandishing a wicked looking gun, and aiming it at her! In the ensuing minutes, she almost lost her life, and was witness to a horrifying murder…could it get any worse?

As the investigation immediately got underway, Vicki was determined to find the killers. She had seen them, she just needed to locate them. Making her way through any leads she could find, she went to see Reheema Bristow, who was in jail awaiting prosecution on drug related charges, but with no proof, she was released. As Vicki and Reheema formed an uneasy alliance, more murders occurred and the identity of the killers didn’t seem any closer.

The action, the drug related crimes, the criminals….they all seemed to go back to the seedy side of town, a place called Devil’s Corner. Vicki was stunned to realize this was the place her father had called home when he was a child! But the danger that Vicki and ultimately Reheema were in, was intense, and at times it didn’t seem like they would escape with their lives.

I enjoyed this book, the extreme pace, the twists and turns, Vicki’s strength and determination to find justice. The book was full of suspense and compelling characters and the plot twist at the end surprised me.

For those who enjoy Lisa Scottoline, this one is highly recommended.

[Nancy Zorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first novel by this author I've read. It started off well enough then headed into troubling waters when the main character's thoughts in italic text started popping up.....ANNOYING. Not only were the thoughts annoying, but the whole Dan-relationship-thing was double annoying. ("Man bra" ?!? Really?) About the time I thought I could not take it for another page, Reheemah pops onto the scene (and none too soon I might add) and rescues the story. Reheemah was the only enjoyable character and enough to keep me reading. She basically 'said' what I was thinking when it came to the Vicki character....hearty b*tchslap, thank you.

This book is going into my "take to the used book store" box.

[Michelle Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lisa Scottoline's women.

They are generally, very smart and tough. This heroine was no exception. If this is a series, I have not read another book in the series and I have to say, this book worked extremely well as a stand alone.

I did not figure out the mystery component of the novel, maybe because I was listening to it, I don't know. I do know that I was interested and engaged throughout the reading.

I did not like the narration. I have listened to Barbara Rosenblatt narrate many novels and thoroughly enjoyed almost all of them but her voice did not for me when she tried to give us African American characters. They all sounded like what I imagined slaves or field hands would sound like. I hated to hear her do those voices. I wondered if she listened to Roots or something before performing this book. I love her as Goldy Shultz and other characters and even as Vicki but not as an African American. Even one that she might consider to be under education or from a poor economic circumstance.

Back to the book, I loved Vicki, I liked her voice and her integrity. I was hooked from the beginning of the book. I enjoy reading and listening to Scottoline and I will read and listen to her again in the future.

[Darin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I was intrigued by the direction of the book and I had to keep reading to find out what happen. I really enjoyed the relationship between Vicki and Reheema and how they went from enemies to besties. One of my favorite scenes was when they were tracking down the location of a cell phone and they were interrogating the people who had the phone in their possession.

However, there were some very alarming moments from the book. I did not enjoy that Vicki got with her best friend and started saying I love you the same day after that friend got divorced.

The main reason I rate this book so low is due to the portrayal of the black characters and the presence of harmful stereotypes. There were many times where the Vicki would be using AAVE when talking to Reheema in order to “relate”. In the book, it felt that black and white people were segregated even though the book took place in the 2000’s. On top of that, a majority of the black characters were displayed as the bad guys. They were the ones dealing drugs, going on killing sprees, and forging documents. While the white characters were the lawyers catching the bad guys. The book just gave me a bad vibe that I wasn’t expecting because I have enjoyed this authors work before.

I would say you would not miss anything by avoiding this book and you wouldn’t gain anything by reading it.

[Jann Barber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a selection for the library mystery book club. I missed the discussion meeting, so am not certain how the group felt about the book.

It was a satisfying read. I don't know how realistic it is that an attorney would be investigating a case, as prosecutor Vicki Allegretti was in police jurisdiction and potentially disrupting crime scenes left and right.

Also, Vicki was the type of character who ignored the commands and wishes of her boss. This type of behavior would normally get a person fired or put on suspension, and while it was alluded to as a possibility, never happened.

I was not enchanted by the romantic storyline, but that's a personal preference.

It was a good read. It was not a book I would buy to read again or just to have. I don't know about you, but if I love a book, I like to have it on my shelf, even if I may never read it again. It's like a friend.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first read with this author and less than impressed. MC Vicki was annoying.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only so-so. OK as far as the suspense element is concerned, but it feels very much like the plot was just lifted from the David Simon television series, The Wire. Devil's Corner was published in 2005, right in the middle of The Wire's run. Granted, The Wire gained much of its following and acclaim in the years after its original airing, but it's hard to avoid the feeling that this book was cashing in, to some degree, on the storylines explored there.

The two main female characters are written well, but the development of the other characters in the book fall short of Scottoline's usual standards. More difficult to get past, however, was Scottoline's clumsy attempt to navigate the boundaries of segregated US racial realities. Most of the black characters are stereotypes straight out of central casting (one actually seems very much like a sloppily re-written version of a key character, Bubbs, a character far more nuanced and humanly written in The Wire).

One plot development that I found particularly distasteful in this respect was the epilogue, in which the residents of the Devil's Corner neighborhood practically fall on their faces praising the main character, white lawyer Vicki Allegretti, for "saving" their neighborhood. While Vicki's investigating gets the local drug ring broken up and the drug market shut down, the real hero of the neighborhood is clearly local resident Reheema, who is the engine driving the neighborhood cooperation forward. Moreover, the scenes that Scottoline writes describing the neighborhood's recovery evince a fundamental misunderstanding of what's at work in impoverished neighborhoods of color. Vicki visits the neighborhood and is pleased to see people outside, repairing their rundown homes. Message: it took someone else (that nice white lawyer lady) doing the hard work of getting rid of the drug dealers for them, for the residents to finally start to caring about their own neighborhood again. Apparently before that they just didn't care or maybe were just lazy -- naturally, it didn't have *anything* to do with redlining, poverty, and official city neglect of poor black neighborhoods....

I've been a fan of Scottoline's fiction, but this one was below par.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced legal/crime thriller--of course with lots of twists and a feisty female lead character. Vicki Allegretti is a young assistant US attorney who gets sucked into the world of the Philly drug scene when her partner is shot in the line of duty when they go to interview a criminal informant. She teams up with an unlikely person--a woman who was in prison for selling guns to people she wsn't supposed to--and it just so happens that she's even feistier! Not literature, but a fun read. I just wish Scottoline wouldn't use the word "edifice" when she means "building." But that's just a personal pet peeve.

[Langleigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I understand what this book was trying to do, but I just didn’t like it. Once I looked up the author it made sense, a white woman writing about black woman’s problems. I went into this book expecting a murder mystery and it just felt like a really really long news report. It was dull and boring and I’m surprised I finished it. 2/10

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a character that I am not familiar with by this author, but she is definitely a keeper. She has all sorts of good values, and is an attorney for the government rather than private. She witnesses the death of he ATF partner, and then goes about solving it when no one else will.

[Stephanie James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good! I couldn’t hardly put it down! I really think Vicki should quit her job and she and
Reheema become private investigators. I don’t know if Reheema is in future books, but she should be! I love their characters together!

[Judy Churchill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Lisa Scottoline book. Once again, she grabs your attention and keeps the intensity going throughout the book. I live near where the "action" is, and I could just picture what the characters were experiencing. She never fails to deliver an exciting mystery scenario.

[MARGARET ZIEGLER · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time!

I had the worst time reading this book. Every time I picked it up, I would fall asleep, or have to re-read a few pages to remember where I left off. Vicki the main character, behaved like an undisciplined brat, deceiving her boyfriend, and just about every one else.putting herself in ridiculous dangerous situations. I did like Riheema, her sidekick, her character was more develeloped. This is my last scottoline book!

[Rod Horncastle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Awesome! I listened to the whole thing in one sitting (or drive), which was a big undertaking for 8 C.D.'s. It was probably more fun to listen to than it would be to read - Lots of great accents and attitudes by the reader.

A very entertaining and funny crime drama.

[Annette Dashofy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best opening lines around. This book left me sleep deprived...I couldn't put it down!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll update when Ruth is finished per the Lisa Scottoline book club norm.

[Tricia Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Scottoline's stories and characters. This is another page-turner that made me do an all-nighter. Suspense at its best.

[Kathleen Weng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Devil’s Corner was a detective story (my favorite genre) about the police officer Viki Allegretti trying to find the criminal who murdered her best police partner. The story was a mixture of love, friendships, and danger, and Viki Allegretti was extremely lucky to have so much support from her friend and love. Despite the tragedy she experienced at the beginning of the story, she received love, new friendships, and trusts by the end of the book.

However, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as other detective stories because it was too unrealistic and unprofessional. Throughout the book, Scottoline exposed the inefficiency of police as the police place their honor above the urgency of finding the criminal, which makes sense as they delayed or rejected many searches. This action resulted to Viki Alegretti to disobey her superiors and go out alone. Her decision was understandable but also makes herself the least professional police because she had so little profession in her job. Also, Alegretti became best friends with her worst enemy throughout the crime, which makes the story quite questionable because she shouldn’t trust others easily as a police officer.

Hence, I would only rate this book as a three star, and I wouldn’t recommend this book to other people unless if they really enjoyed “fantasy” detective story. There are just plentiful of other choices for detective fictions that are much enjoyable than this book.

[Karen Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guys, bad guys

This is a book that has many faces. It first appears to be a simple cop drama, and then it felt more like a crazy Stephanie Plum episode (Janet Evanovich's wacky bond enforcement character), and then it got really serious and dramatic. It was almost funny watching the heroine attempt to personally take down a scary drug ring, bordering on insane. It was so crazy that I really felt like the author was trying to make the heroine into Stephanie Plum without the light-heartedness. I almost stopped reading for a time because it seemed so ridiculous, but then it caught my interest again and I read it to the end and enjoyed it. I do hope it doesn't inspire others to think that they might emulate the heroine's very dangerous activities. It's almost like a horror movie where you keep yelling at the heroine to not be stupid and head into the haunted house alone. And...don't get me started on her relationship with a married man. I just couldn't decide if it was a drama, tragedy, or a farce. The story was a good one, but I think the tragic subject matter needed to be treated with a bit more respect and seriousness rather than the attempt to make it funny or have the heroine be such a jerk so that I just wanted to slap her silly.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a true court case in Philadelphia of crack dealers using juveniles to do their work, but 100% fiction. Vicky Allegretti, is an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA), in Philadelphia. Vicki and her ATF agent partner, Morty, coming into an apartment building to interview a Confidential Informant for a case about a woman caught reselling guns. Before they can meet with the CI, they hear shots fired, a young teenager comes down the stairs, and more shots are fired killing Morty. Vicki is also threatened by the gunman but the young teenager tells the shooter that she is a "cop" and to hurry and leave. The informant is also found brutally murdered. Vicki feels that her office and police are not doing enough so she starts doing her own police work including re-interviewing the young woman accused of re-selling guns, Reheema Bristow. Vicki is suspended for a week as she gets too angry with Reheema during the interview. She wants justice for her partner Morty so Vickie begins investigating on her own time. Vickie ending up pairing up with Reheema who is released with charges dropped and Reheema's mother is murdered. This book was a fast read with a twist at the end that wasn't expected. There were also several times laughing out loud as Vickie and Reheema bond to bring justice

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really decent page-turner involving a young new Assistant District Attorney in NYC on her first assignment of a "routine case," Vicki Allegretti to talk with a prospective informant that ends with gunfire. When the smoke clears, her ATF agent and friend Morty is dying, the pregnant informant has been brutally murdered, and Vicki has just escaped death.

A rather unlikely and often untrusting, on/off friendship develops between the only lead to the case, Reheema Bristow whom the alleged informant sent to jail previously. When Reheema's mother is also murdered, Vicki suspects a link to the first case. Vicki discovers someone with whom she works is collaborating with, and condoning the local drug ring. As she and Reheema put their lives on the line, it's quite a story, and I like the dipping into a different culture. Ms. Scottoline has previously mostly had character that are predominantly white, upper-middle class. Also always love her strong, often headstrong, persistent, courageous, dedicated female characters.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

When prosecutor Vicki Allegretti arrives at a rowhouse to meet a confidential informant, she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time — and is almost shot to death. She barely escapes with her life, but cannot save the two others gunned down before her disbelieving eyes. Stunned and heartbroken, Vicki tries to figure out how a routine meeting on a minor case became a double homicide.
Vicki's suspicions take her to Devil's Corner, a city neighborhood teetering on the brink of ruin — thick with broken souls, innocent youth, and a scourge that preys on both. But the deeper Vicki probes, the more she becomes convinced that the murders weren't random and the killers were more ruthless than she thought.
When another murder thrusts Vicki together with an unlikely ally, she buckles up for a wild ride down a dangerous street — and into the cross-hairs of a conspiracy as powerful as it is relentless.
A great nail biting read. 4 stars.

[NCHS Library]

Publisher's Description: When prosecutor Vicki Allegretti arrives at a rowhouse to meet a confidential informant, she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time -- and is almost shot to death. She barely escapes with her life, but cannot save the two others gunned down before her disbelieving eyes. Stunned and heartbroken, Vicki tries to figure out how a routine meeting on a minor case became a double homicide. Vicki's suspicions take her to Devil's Corner, a city neighborhood teetering on the brink of ruin -- thick with broken souls, innocent youth, and a scourge that preys on both. But the deeper Vicki probes, the more she becomes convinced that the murders weren't random and the killers were more ruthless than she thought. When another murder thrusts Vicki together with an unlikely ally, she buckles up for a wild ride down a dangerous street -- and into the cross-hairs of a conspiracy as powerful as it is relentless.

[Tom Gunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book pulling me apart. No wait, not like you're thinking, but regarding it's rating. The story moved along at the usual speed, then slowed to "senior walk" speed only to shock the reader by moving in the last chapters to the speed of light! I prefer a "thriller" that changes pace but not one that pins to the seat pulling 6Gs.
Character development was in the normal range for a (writing one or more a year) mystery novel. So as I chose to read a mystery I can't complain. The plot development is rather extensive, perhaps too many scenes. A little selective trimming was in order. Perhaps this could have better have been expertly divided into two novels. Selling two books of normal length would have been more satisfying to the reader and more profitable to the author and publisher.
my rating is 3.4 of 5.0.

[Dale Safford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good plot, with the interplay between white Vicki and black Reheemah being quite amusing.

Devil's Corner is a section of Philadelphia where Vicki Allegretti's father grew up, which has now turned into a drug area. Prosecutor's assistant Vicki shows up to meet an informant who is found murdered, and her partner is gunned down while Vicki at one point was looking up the barrel of a gun herself but managed to escape unharmed. Who shot Morty and the informant? Vicki becomes consumed with finding the answer, and hooks up with beautiful black Reheemah, whose mother was murdered hours after Vicki left her. Meanwhile Vicki's best friend/love interest Dan has suddenly become available, and they have a relationship to pursue. Will Vicki find the killers?

[Fred Rayworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devil’s Corner was an outstanding thriller. This is the first novel I’ve read by this author and it was a good pick. The writing was top notch with solid third-person limited and past-tense. The pace was brisk with relatively moderate length chapters and scenes. While the exposition was a bit long in places, the story still moved and kept me glued to my seat. The characters were interesting, and the writing never got in the way of the story.

If there was any complaint it was that the protagonist went so far out of her calling that it was almost unrealistic. Then again, it’s a story, so of course, it’s unrealistic. For dramatic purposes, it worked anyway, and I had a great time. In the end, I closed the book with a smile on my face. Highly recommended.

[John Biddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first Lisa Scottoline, Devil's Corner was OK. The mystery part was the best part. The main character, Vicki Allegretti, is an AUSA in Philly who gets too personally involved in a case when her ATF case partner and an informant are shot in front of her.

I liked Vicky's spunk, her grit and relentless pursuit of the killer(s). What I didn't like was her crush on Dan. She was like a 12 year old. She came off like an unfunny Stephanie Plum, but was supposed to be a serious, fast rising lawyer in the US Attorney's Office. Too much cognitive dissonance for believability.

I understand her Rosato & Associates books would have been a better choice, so I might try one of those, but not any time soon.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assistant US Attorney Vicki Allegretti's attempt to meet with a confidential informant goes badly wrong when she barges into what appears to be a robbery in progress that ends with both Vicki's partner from the ATF and the CI dead. Impatient and convinced she can help catch the killers, Vicki starts to investigate on her own, getting herself into a heap of trouble.

While the story kept me entertained enough to keep reading, I found the protagonist absolutely insufferable. Vicki is an annoying, meddling idiot sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, making naive mistakes that should have gotten her a) fired as well as b) killed. Didn't care much for the romance subplot either.