Raskin's World by Charlie Stella

Charlie (seeing as how we've met, I think I'm allowed to use his first name) ventures away from his typical crime/mafia genre venturing in the legal world. No, it's not John Grisham redux. Lawyers are just the subjects of Charlie's pen (make that keyboard). "They" say write about what you know and Charlie has spent a long time in legal firms (but he's not a lawyer) so one could wonder how much of this book was inspired by actual shenanigans in some law firm from his past. But it's not a legal procedural. Regardless, as with most of Stella's books where character development reigns supreme, a cast of characters is warranted (essential?):

MAIN CAST

Carol Delvicchio: a stunningly beautiful young woman . . . has worked in the lower levels of a few law firms . . . always on the prowl for her next conquest she can squeeze for money and a living arrangement . . . has a history of drug/alcohol abuse to go with a few failed attempts at rehab.

Tom Raskin: . . . The title character . . . Married to Maryanne, couple kids . . . a decent man who strayed once (with Carol when she worked in his firm) and feels genuinely guilty . . . cut Carol off immediately after his failure, freeing her up to track down her next target.

Bobby Medina: Good husband and father . . . neighbor of Tom's . . . Raskin's best friend at the firm . . . 3 kids . . . both have similar sporting interests.

Maryanne Raskin: obviously married to Tom Raskin. Good friend to . . . 

Alicia Medina: She's unhappy in her marriage to Bobby . . . been stepping out, the latest is also a lawyer, of course . . . 3 young kids . . . When the wives and kids spend a few days in Atlantic City, she quietly has a rendezvous with her latest paramour . . . 

Nicholas Delvicchio: Carol's brother, also in the legal field (I think) . . . has bailed Carol out of various jams gone bad . . . paid for her rehab . . . loyal to a fault to his sister.

Marsha: engaged to Nicholas . . . hates Carol with a passion . . . thinks Carol is just using her brother as an always-there safety net . . . a bit of a shrew . . . comes from money and daughter of a retired, but still connected, judge.

SUPPORTING CAST

Jerry Sloane: a partner in a firm where Carol has cast her post-Tom snare . . . well heeled, married in the process of a potentially messy divorce . . . trying to figure out how to minimize the financial loss coming from the divorce

Dominic DiNucci: NY mobster . . . meets Carol on the Atlantic City boardwalk . . . talks her into quit chasing lawyers and join his cadre of dancers at his posh Manhattan club.  

Parents: Carlos and Maria (of Alicia); Jorge and Rose (of Bobby)

Paul: Alicia Medina's current fling

Hope I got that all correct - apologies to the Knuckmeister if I've screwed up. Should've taken notes while reading. Oh, well. 

 

Here we go. Carol and Raskin engage in some 'harmless' flirting at his firm. One night, he gets too drunk with Carol and, despite knowing better, still allowed a front seat hummer that has him immediately angry with himself. Tells Carol no way to anything in the future and struggles with telling Maryanne. Carol moves on to her next conquest (Jerry) and scores pretty big despite him being a pig. 

Meanwhile, Medina is getting concerned that his wife is having an affair (with Paul). When the truth comes out, Medina goes off the deep end where his actions have devastating consequences far beyond himself that will likely affect multiple generations within his circle. 

From a basic summary of the plot, that's it. There's some tangential mob involvement. Otherwise this is a tale of broken families and the depths people struggle with when infidelity rears its ugly head. No one is left unaffected or unbroken. It's Charlie's skill with the spoken word that draws us in. The dialogue, always the centerpiece of a Stella novel, is convincingly realistic drawing the reader into the fears, regrets, guilt, and sympathy for those victimized by Carol's selfish and childish behavior. 

We also are torn between the back and forth of friends and spouses, adult children and their parents, as we attempt to find a winner and a loser in this complex foray into human shortcomings. Don't look for a bang up solution (typical of a Stella mob story) because I'm betting he wants us to question all sides of this mess. In the end, there are solutions of course, but there are also some unresolved actions that'll stay with you well after you close the book. 

Bottom line boys and girls: This is one helluva a story . 

Charlie's departure from crime may leave some fans scratching their collective heads, but when it comes to delivering a tale that is rife with complex character development and lean righteous dialogue, I defy to you find a better active writer than Charlie Stella.

 

due to be published in early in 2026. Keep checking with Stark House Press or Amazon