SPEAK OF THE DEVIL

Former federal sex-crimes prosecutor and critically acclaimed author Allison Leotta’s new thriller, starring series heroine prosecutor Anna Curtis, explores the secret world of MS-13, one of the most vicious gangs in America, whose penchant for violence and mayhem escalates to a new terrifying level in Washington, D.C.

On the same night that prosecutor Anna Curtis gets engaged, a terrifying man known as Diablo leads a vicious attack on a brothel. Anna is assigned to investigate and bring “the devil” to justice. The challenge of her day job contrasts with the sweetness in her personal life, as she plans her wedding and shifts from being a single woman with a secret boyfriend to one half of a D.C. power couple and stepmother to a six-year-old girl. The investigation soon leads Anna to MS-13, one of America’s most brutal street gangs. As Anna uncovers the full extent of Diablo’s depravity, she also discovers long-buried secrets, official lies, and a terrifying danger that comes straight to her doorstep. The facts she unearths in the case not only threaten her plans for a happy marriage, but everything she thought she knew about the past and present, good and evil, and the price of justice. In this gripping thriller, Allison Leotta draws on her experience as a prosecutor to take readers 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. Praised by top writers in the genre from David Baldacci to George Pelecanos, Leotta deftly weaves fact and fiction to create her best novel yet.
Allison Leotta was a federal sexcrimes prosecutor in Washington, D.C., for more than twelve years. Like her protagonist, Anna Curtis, Leotta is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

She started out working on misdemeanor domestic violence cases, before moving on to prosecute more serious felony sex crimes. Leotta can draw on her experience to infuse fascinating authentic details about the criminal justice system into her novels. She is the acclaimed author of "Law of Attraction" and "Discretion". She lives with her husband and their two children near Washington D.C.