With her debut novel, Antonella Caruso spins a tale of mirrors and identity theft. Thirty-two-year-old Nationality waived her family’s wedding ring for an unknown man with the promise of financial freedom. In exchange for this ring, the man committed three felonies and disappeared, leaving behind a trail of confusion and distrust for the woman he left behind.
Now, thirty-four years after the crime, the woman is a professional in international criminal consultancy; there is no longer any need to hide her identity or occupation. But that does not mean that her career will be easy. Dealing with multiple fronts and fending off those who would see her life crumble before her eyes can be a daunting task even for the most seasoned professionals. Not only must she protect her partner and family, but she must also keep herself out of the public eye; working for a private firm requires some discretion, which Antonella Caruso ably demonstrates in the stories she crafts in The Profession.
As the story begins, one of Antonella’s clients is a charismatic Brazilian mogul with connections to the highest levels of both the government and the mafia. When word gets back to President dos Santos, he demands the arrest of the mogul’s wife and ex-wife. But the two aren’t the only ones with ulterior motives. In addition to his wife and ex-wife, several Brazilians of Asian and African descent are also in the mix, using their connections to curry favor with the president. To complicate matters even further, the mob boss has other agents from his own office among the targets; the task force assigned to execute Antonella and her colleagues’ faces many obstacles as they try to bust this hidden mafia war.