Empires and Kings (Mafia, #1) by A.C. Bextor – Review by Jana Teppih

Empires and Kings by A.C. Bextor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Empires and Kings by A.C. Bextor is the first book in her Mafia trilogy and a solid five star read! It was the first book I have read by this writer and I was and am smitten! At the time of writing this review, I have already devoured the second book and I cannot wait for the third one to come out! I hope Carrie is not going to make us wait too long!
Yes, you can say that this book (and series) is a romanticized organized crime story but I do not care! The way the writer draws us in and the rollercoaster we are on from the page one, it is something. And yes, this book is dark and brutal, from the page one … the lives of Vlad and Klara and all the others in their ‘family’, all the angst and all the secrets … The complexity of characters, the surprising vulnerability of someone who appears so cold and in control (obviously I am talking about Vlad) when it comes to the people he loves … but let’s start from the beginning – Klara met Vlad for the first time when she was 5 years old and he was torturing her father who was betraying ‘the family’. She has lived with the Zalesky family ever since … Vlad is the head of the ‘Russian family’ in Chicago and as you can imagine, he carries many secrets.
If you like mafia stories and are curious about Vlad and Klara, I invite you to join us in the world the writer has created where no feeling stays untouched and unfelt and where you are not able to put the book down until you get to the end and then, most likely, like me, you will go and get the next one. I was lucky; I started reading over the weekend so I had time to read also the next one! Carrie, please do NOT make us wait too long for the third one!

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