The fitful sleep of immigrants /

In this heartfelt if plodding legal thriller set in 1997 San Francisco from Ortega-Medina (The Savior of 6th Street), attorney Marc Mendes, who's been estranged from his family for years because he is gay, takes on a client, mechanic Alejandro Silva, who proves especially difficult. Silva has filed a sexual harassment claim against the hotel where he worked, alleging that he was fired after spurning the advances of his male supervisor. Mendes, who's in a committed longtime relationship with a paralegal at another firm, Oscar Perez, is disturbed to find himself attracted to Silva. He's later shocked to learn that Silva is being held for violating parole for auto theft. On top of that, Silva reveals that he pleaded no contest to manslaughter for killing a man who he also claimed was interested in him sexually. The mechanic insists the death was accidental, but Mendes becomes increasingly suspicious of Silva. None of this builds much suspense. Meanwhile, Perez, an immigrant from El Salvador, is threatened with deportation, and Mendes's efforts to help his lover soon overshadow Silva's case. This works best as a novel about romance and relationships. Agent: Olivia McCoy, Smith Publicity. (Apr.)

A gay lawyer copes with relationship problems, addiction, and a seductive stalker in this twisty thriller. San Francisco attorney Marc Mendes seems to have it made, with a thriving employment-law practice and a blissful relationship with his boyfriend, Isaac Perez. But problems percolate, including his struggle to maintain sobriety after years of drug abuse; his estrangement from his father, Gabriel, a Syrian Cuban American rabbi and Talmudic jurist who frowns on homosexuality; and Isaac's precarious position as an undocumented refugee from El Salvador. (It's 1997, so Isaac can't marry Marc to gain legal residency.) Infinitely complicating things is Alejandro Silva, Marc's client in a workplace sexual harassment lawsuit that starts to go south when it emerges that Alejandro is on parole from a manslaughter conviction and has a history of sketchy imbroglios with older gay men. Young, handsome, and edgy, Alejandro also bears a strong resemblance to Simon, Marc's first love, who died tragically. When Alejandro starts coming on to him, Marc is captivated despite his better judgment. The infatuation strains Marc's relationship with the jealous Isaac, who is facing deportation, but when Marc pulls away, Alejandro only pursues him more cunningly and finally lures him into a night of drugs and debauchery that imperils his future with Isaac. Ortega-Medina's novel works on many levels--as a twisty romantic melodrama; as an exposé of the cruelties of immigration law; and as a meditation on family and homeland that grows more poignant as Gabriel, with his own history of migration and loss, warms to Marc's bond with Isaac. Ortega-Medina's prose captures characters' psychologies in the subtleties of gesture and language, and he makes Alejandro into an electrifying homme fatal who gets under Marc's skin with his coy, tantalizing advances. ("Noticing my distraction, a faint blush colored his cheeks, and he sat up. 'You like this, don't you?' He touched his index finger to his birthmark….'You couldn't take your eyes off it the first time we met at your office.' ") Readers will enjoy watching Alejandro throw a monkey wrench into everyone's best-laid plans. A riveting yarn with a charismatic tempter. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.