by Lia Matera
First published 1992
Willa Jansson carries the wounds from her year at a Los Angeles corporate law firm. The cynical ex-radical has returned to San Francisco, where her activist parents still fight the good fight. They ask her for a simple favor: help the new girlfriend of one of Willa's former boyfriends. Willa agrees, thinking it will be straightforward legal work. Instead, she finds herself trapped in a web where personal history collides with present danger. Old political grudges surface like poison. Conflicting interests pull her in multiple directions. Passions that should have died years ago refuse to stay buried. Each choice Willa makes draws her deeper into a case where the stakes keep rising. The favor her parents requested becomes a fight for survival. In San Francisco's politically charged atmosphere, Willa discovers that some convictions never fade and some enemies never forgive.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, political-thriller, activism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Los Angeles, San Francisco
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
196 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Fawcett