“I do loves me some Crusie/Mayer.
I guess you've figured out that I finished this one last night. I neglected the poor devil pup (who, btw, was feeling much better last night and back to her old devilish tricks. lol) in order to do so, bless her heart.
Agnes, also known as Cranky Agnes--newspaper columnist and author of Mob Food--finds herself in the midst of Mob craziness after a young man shows up to steal her dog. Enter Shane--government hitman and supposed nephew of Agnes's former Mob friend, Joey. Joey enlists Shane to come protect "little Agnes". What follows is a wild ride down some slippery slopes of the mob world, insanity and more tangled webs of lies and half-truths than any poor food columnist and hitman should ever have to endure.
While some parts of the "mystery" are easily figured out the bigger picture takes me until it happens to figure it out and even now I'm saying, "Huh?" in bewilderment. Good bewilderment, though. The action is smooth, easily read and actually fun. Shane and his partner Carpenter are true pros and it reads as though they are, as well. Agnes is witty and a little crazy (in a fun "I wish I could say/do/behave like that" kind of way), Shane is intense, hawt and typical guy with a hint of old softie hidden behind his Glock.
All the secondary characters fill out the plot as opposed to draw attention to it and gives the entire novel a sense of life that a lot of novels lack. The characters just seem so natural and real and even in the midst of what one might call absurdity, they make a strange sort of sense.
My only complaint is that it ended. lol I enjoyed it immensely. It was so fast paced, quick witted and fun--not to mention sexy as all get out--(the first love scene both scorched my eyeballs and left me breathless) that when I closed the back cover, mixed with the satisfaction of a good read was the sadness that I had to kiss these characters good-bye.
Truly exceptional work by two exceptionally talented authors. I can only hope that we haven't seen the last of Crusie/Mayer.
”
Janabelle wrote this review Thursday, September 6, 2007.
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