A satisfying and potent Mafia tale.
An uncovered family secret and a child’s kidnapping unite two assassins in this crime comedy sequel.
Skilled assassin Angelica Fortuna, 30, of the Philadelphia Mafia is in New York City to carry out a hit ordered by her father, Don Vito, on retired hit man Sammy “Lover Boy” Vivino. A posthumous letter from Angelica’s mother stays her hand, and the two killers join forces, fleeing Don Vito’s inevitable revenge for Florida. There, Angelica meets Sammy’s friends, introduced in Lover Boy (2020). A year ago, Sammy and Mafioso assassin Tony “Ace” Esposito killed the abusive husband of Anna Franklin, a patient of Ace’s boyhood friend, ophthalmologist Joseph Peck. The assassins made the death look accidental. Homicide detective Jane Rieger of Nassau County saw the truth, but covered it up—not least because she fell in love with Anna. They married and adopted 9-year-old Felicity. Angelica fits right in with Sammy’s friends, feeling an instant attraction to Joe. When a Russo Family capo kidnaps Felicity to recoup gambling debts incurred by someone Anna knows, Jane calls in a favor from Ace that will bring new friends and lovers together in a mission both merciful and criminal. In his second novel, Kronwith offers a fast pace and snappy narration (“Lover Boy put his gun to the base of the man’s skull and fired, once––all that was necessary for a true professional”), although momentum is sometimes slowed by the complicated backstory. Angelica’s eye-rolling obsession with her own sexiness seems straight out of male fantasies (“My 34-C breasts and the rest of my shapely body”), and the story veers uncomfortably into father/daughter erotic territory. That said, the very entertaining caper plot folds in romance, suspense, action, family ties, and just deserts, often against the backdrop of Mafia culture with its codes of honor and brutality.
A satisfying and potent Mafia tale.Pub Date: June 7, 2021
ISBN: 979-8-51-687298-3
Page Count: 226
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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