ARC - Lawless by Jessie Keane

Lawless by Jessie Keane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - Pan

Pages - 493

Blurb from back cover


It is 1975 and Ruby Darke is struggling to deal with the brutal murder of her lover, Michael Ward. As her children, Daisy and Kit, battle their own demons, her retail empire starts to crumble.

Meanwhile, after the revenge killing of Tito Danieri, Kit is the lowest he's ever been. But soon doubt is thrown over whether Kit killed the right person, and now the Danieris are out for his blood and the blood of the entire Darke family.

As the bodies pile up, the chase is on - can the Darkes resolve their own family conflicts and find Michael Ward's true killer before the vengeful Danieris kill them? Or will they take the law into their own hands . . .


My Review

Ruby Darke is still reeling from the murder of her partner, Michael Ward. Kit, her son, is also taking it hard and hell bent on revenge which will put all their lives at risk. Retribution will be swift but who will pay for Kits actions?

The story opens up and flings us right into the mix immediately, Ruby is accosted on her way home and the story throws back a bit to give us the know of why we got to this point. The book is set in 1975, in England and crime was established and growing even then. People are hard to forgive or forget any indiscretions made against their family and soon the body count is rising. Ruby's daughter Daisy has some issues going on in her life too although nothing in comparison to Kit. Ruby's son has never forgiven her and never will, he is angry about Michael's death which he blames upon the Danieri family, especially Tito. An eye for an eye sees tension rising between him and the surviving brothers, Vittore & Fabio. Can the families work out their differences or will it be bloodshed all the way?

I do enjoy Jessie Keane, it is gritty crime, fairly fast paced and if you have read her before you know what your getting. Murder, bad language, sex, crime, betrayal and that is usually just scratching the surface. I have read a few of her books and the last one wasn't, I felt, as good as the others. This one sees her back on top, writing with an ease and drawing you into a fast paced dangerous way of life. The women characters in this tale are as strong or dominant as the main male characters, I felt, which is a nice change. There are a few shocks along the way and I could have read this in one sitting had time permitted. Overall 4/5 for me, thank you to Anne for passing this ARC along in exchange for an honest review. You can get your hands on a copy from the 17th of July, 2014 so not long to wait.

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