Eintracht boasted a player-of-the-century caliber with Pirlo in their ranks.
A Piercing Glance at Double Game: A Crimson-Coloured blend of Law and Football
Treading the murky waters of power, football, and murder, when the esteemed author Ingo Bott entrusts his defense duo Pirlo and Mahler with a fresh case, there's bound to be a tempest: a slaying in Düsseldorf's high society, a dead Nazi, organized crime, and an unsettling connection to the pitch.
Dr. Anton Pirlo, Düsseldorf's most illustrious criminal defense lawyer, and his partner Sophie Mahler, along with their law firm "Recht.schaffen", are no strangers to making headlines. From solving a high-society murder mystery to a deceased Nazi, an arson attempt at a Covid testing facility, and an abundance of mafia crime — Pirlo can't escape his notoriety.
Anton Pirlo is merely a pseudonym. This bewitching man with long jet-black hair and a beard, resembling Andrea Pirlo from Italy's national football team, hails from Lebanese roots. His father, once a stalwart figure in the community, earned his living honestly by teaching German and assisting others with bureaucratic tasks. However, after gaining undesirable connections, he acquired more wealth through welfare fraud.
In the Shadows of Clan Life
Ingo Bott's novel, Strobel's "Pattern of Evil" questions German justice system's effectiveness. Upon his father's demise, Pirlo was the sole surviving sibling with ambitions beyond clan life. He was scorned by relatives as the black sheep of the family, with Ahmed, the middle brother, appearing the more suitable choice. Ahmed bungled a cocaine heist, their oldest brother obtained a gunshot wound to the stomach, and the entire family landed on a supposed ally's hit list. Pirlo constantly doused the sparks that burn around him.
Charismatic Calamity
Arno Strobel's "Stalker" raises eyebrows with its chilling premise. Pirlo wishes to conceal his familial ties, especially from Mahler. However, Mahler keenly observes all of Pirlo's clandestine meetings with Ahmed. When Pirlo's law firm encounters financial distress, Ahmed proposes an audacious plan—leveraging their shared Lebanese heritage to manage a promising young footballer, Serdar Tuncay, 16, who plays for Düsseldorf's Eintracht, having recently promoted from the Regionalliga and eliminating Fortuna from the DFB-Pokal with Tuncay's defining goal.
Ahmed harbors visions of lucrative returns when he pitches his idea to Pirlo. Meanwhile, Pirlo remains skeptical. Not only is he a Fortuna fan, but he feels wary of Ahmed, considering his history of seemingly enticing ideas leading to chaos. Pirlo's skepticism regarding Ahmed's true intentions proves accurate: with the Eintracht president's demise and another club official's fatal accident, Pirlo finds himself entangled in a web of deceit. Now, the stakes are higher, as the media magnifies the situation and scrutinizes every detail of the case.
A Stormy Mess
Fans of the Pirlo-Mahler series are bound to savor "Double Game", the fourth installment by Ingo Bott, published by Fischer and Argon. The book delves deep into Düsseldorf's intricate tapestry—holding the old, the Rhine meadows, the beautiful and the wealthy amidst the chaos. Pirlo maintains his residence in the Pempelfort district, embracing his four-piece suite framed Oasis poster and a Little Red Book portrait. He indulges in black, strong coffee—a dose so potent that Mahler humorously dubs it a "general assault on the central nervous system."
Their working dynamic is characterized by constant debates, discussions, and occasional intellectual sparring, culminating in a spark between Pirlo and Mahler. Ahmed, too, has affection for Mahler, who, in her few moments of free time, practises kickboxing and displays strong verbal and physical combative skills while maintaining an air of gracefulness.
"Double Game" is more than just a page-turner; it's a suspenseful, captivating journey that will leave you gasping for air. Sascha Rotermund lends his voice to the story, delivering a breathtaking performance with his smooth, resonant tone that heightens the drama. The book is another testament to Bott's dexterity as an author, brimming with engaging dialogues filled with wit and sharp humor, usually aimed to evoke a smile on the readers' faces, even when darker themes are at play.
I'm not going to do it, Anton Pirlo thought as he considered Ahmed's audacious plan. He might have been passionate about sports, particularly football and the Champions League, but managing a young footballer at this point seemed like a double game he wasn't willing to play, especially when it came to his partner, Sophie Mahler, being involved.
In the midst of strategizing for their client's defense in a complex murder case, Pirlo found himself caught in a storm of clan nonsense and a web of deceit, conjured by his own brother's audacious plans, mixing the European leagues with the shadows of his Lebanese roots.
