Law of Attraction is the debut legal thriller by Allison Leotta, a federal sex-crimes prosecutor and graduate of Harvard Law School.
The novel tells the story of a strong, smart female prosecutor who fights to protect women from domestic violence. But it’s more than a courtroom drama—it’s part love story, part murder mystery. And when the prosecutor’s love life collides with her professional life, she learns she may be just as vulnerable as the victims she works to protect.
Law of Attraction introduces Anna Curtis, a newly-minted prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. The young woman has already developed thick skin to deal with the brutality she encounters with her daily stack of domestic violence cases. Yet when Laprea Johnson walks into Anna’s life—battered by her boyfriend on the morning after Valentine’s Day—there’s something about this particular case that Anna can’t quite shake, something that reminds the prosecutor of her own troubled past.
At the trial, Laprea makes a last-minute reversal, lying on the witness stand to exonerate her boyfriend. Shortly after he’s freed, Anna is horrified to hear that Laprea’s body has been found in a trash heap—and Anna’s own boyfriend, public defender Nick Wagner, is representing the accused. Torn between bringing the killer to justice and being with the man she loves, Anna makes a series of choices that jeopardize her career, her relationships, and her very life as she uncovers the shocking truth behind the murder.
Weaving expert knowledge with deft storytelling, Law of Attraction takes readers on a thrilling ride through D.C.’s criminal justice system—from the back rooms of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the flirtations and machinations of Washington’s Ivy League lawyers to the struggles of the city’s poorest citizens on the gritty streets of Anacostia. Early reviewers have described this debut novel as “stunning,” “compelling,” “filled with twists and turns,” and “beautifully written.”