Product Description Appointed by the court to investigate a vicious murder in a downtown jewelry store, Charlie Morell, a Cuban-American, must confront his own guilty past while attempting to exonerate Ramon, a Cuban man accused of the crime From Publishers Weekly A splendid ethnic setting, the Cuban section of Los Angeles, enriches this atmospheric thriller, which is augmented by Hispanic expressions, scenes of witchcraft and courtroom procedures. Court-appointed investigator Charlie Morell is assigned the case of Cuban refugee Ramon Valdez, accused of killing hostages during a jewelry store heist. Valdez claims that one of the gods of his voodoo-like religion, Santeria , compelled him to commit the murders. His search for leads and witnesses forces the Cuban-American Morell to examine why, as a young man, he left his parents and, later, his wife and child. He succumbs to the charms of beautiful Lucinda, an "acquaintance" of Valdez. Acting as his own attorney, Valdez is declared incompetent by the court and Morell, who once practiced law in Miami, is reassigned as his counsel. A miscarriage of justice leads to a confrontation involving Valdez, Lucinda and Morell, which makes for exciting reading. The unabashedly theatrical ending is a bit excessive, but will leave readers shaken. Film rights optioned by Paramount.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews A Cuban-American p.i. takes on the case of a Marielito charged with mass murder in a flashy and first-rate first thriller. Santer¡a, an Afro-Catholic cult that possesses its believers, clouds the mind of Carlos ``Charlie'' Morell, a recovering Miami lawyer now working as a private investigator in L.A. Morell has been assigned by the courts to assist Ramon Valdez, a Cuban refugee defending himself on a charge of aggravated murder. The devoutly Santer¡an Valdez and his coreligionist chum and fellow Marielito Jose Pimienta shot up the half-dozen occupants of a jewelry store while drugged to the gills and possessed by one of the nastier gods in their pantheon. Pimienta is singing for the D.A. Morell, who fled professional problems as well as his Fidel-fixated family when he left Florida, follows Ramon's directions to look up fellow worshippers, who will supposedly testify to the murderer's saintliness--a task that introduces Charlie to the spookier aspects of Santer¡a and to the pleasant aspects of Ramon's luscious lady friend Lucinda, who, before too awfully long, has moved into Morell's life. So have murderous thugs and frightening visions of Morell's late father. The trial, when it comes, is a doozy. The prosecution calls up witnesses, but the defense calls up spirits. The ground shakes, the heavens darken, and everywhere he turns, Morell sees his father's ghost. Garcia M rquez meets Elmore Leonard. Instantly and consistently captivating. --Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. From Library Journal Latin American magical realism makes further inroads into mainstream American fiction with this unusual courtroom thriller set in the milieu of the Los Angeles Cuban refugee community of practitioners of the Santeria cult. The book centers on the murder trial of two cult members who are charged with murdering six people in the course of robbing a jewelry store. The narrator, himself a Cuban with a tormented past, is appointed by the court as an investigator for one of the defendants. Rich in gritty local detail, exemplified by a wonderful series of graffiti that runs through the entire book, Abella's book joins Madison Smartt Bell's The Washington Square Ensemble ( LJ 2/15/83), among others, in the ranks of excellent novels exploring the refugee experience and the fringes of religiosity. A worthwhile purchase for general fiction collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/91.-David Dodd, Benicia P.L., Cal.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.