Harassment — Carl L. Steinhouse

In North Carolina, an uncle almost raped a teenage girl, and in Cleveland, Ohio, a vicious struggle for leadership of the Cleveland mob resulted in the brutal murder of two of the contenders and the emergence of a new don. Fifteen years later, these two events would come together and threaten to topple a criminal empire and leave two women fighting for their lives in the woods of Vermont.
Justice Department Antitrust prosecutor, Melissa “Mel” Kohn, investigated a mob money-laundering scheme involving the infiltration of legitimate businesses. The mob was represented by a reputable law firm, one of whose attorneys, Valerie Miller, a friend of Kohn, assisted a firm client in the money-laundering scheme. Mel Kohn, a hard-nosed prosecutor who grew up on the streets of The Bronx, had no trouble dealing with the law firm, but was unprepared for the dangers she now faced from the law firm's client.
The novel delves into the world of prosecuting and defending the Mafia and the dangers and problems faced by both the prosecutor and the defense attorneys dealing with the overhanging and pervasive presence and influence of organized crime. The novel explores why the racketeering statute, RICO, is so effective in fighting organized crime and why the Mafia is willing to take desperate gambles to avoid the reach of, and convictions under, RICO. Informants and witnesses are murdered and the lives of both the prosecutor and defense lawyers are put in harm's way. The reader is taken (1) inside the halls of the Department of Justice and how the decisions are made on whom and what to prosecute, (2) inside the grand jury room to see what goes on during those secret proceedings behind closed doors with the jurors under the influence of the prosecutor, and where a witness' lawyer is not permitted to attend or defend and; (3) inside a large reputable law firm and its operations--how it can bury ethics considerations and conflicts of interest to increase bottom line profits; how it can practice subtle but effective sexual discrimination, keeping deserving female attorneys from becoming partners; how unchecked sexual harassment by a senior partner pressuring Valerie Miller, a young female lawyer who works for him, resulted in date rape and perverse sexual abuse. The incidents of sexual harassment and mob representation converge, resulting in a climax of murder and harrowing escape, pitting Kohn and Miller, the two women lawyers, against a professional and ruthless mob contract killer.
Author had been a federal prosecutor for fifteen years, and then a criminal white-collar defense trial lawyer in private practice as a partner in a major law firm.