Book ~ "Murder Has Consequences" (2013) Giacomo Giammatteo

 From Goodreads ~ It's easy to give your life for someone you love. It's much harder to kill for them.

For a select few people, friendship lasts forever. 

Nicky Fusco and Frankie Donovan were friends like that but that was years ago. Now Frankie's a detective in Brooklyn's Homicide department and Nicky is a reformed hit man. But when Frankie gets in trouble - and the law can't help him - he turns to Nicky. The problem is that Nicky promised his family, and God, that he'd go straight.

When Frankie's father dies, he goes home to Delaware to attend the funeral.  A couple days later, his brother-in-law, Bobby, is killed and the cops have their eye on Frankie for the murder.  Frankie is a cop in New York and has to return to work on a case.  So he asks his friend, Nicky to ask around and see what he can find out.

There have been a couple murders that are linked and that's the case that Frankie is working on.  The murderer keeps leaving clues and Frankie and his partners are determined to find him before he kills again.

This is the third book I've read by this author and, like the others, I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style and the story kept me interested.  The story is written in first person when it's Nicky's point of view and third person the rest of the time. This book is for mature readers due to the language and violence.  Despite being part of a series, it can stand alone because there is enough references to the past when needed.  I'm looking forward to the next one!

I liked the characters.  We were introduced to a lot of them in the first book, Murder Takes Time.  Despite going their different ways and making various choices in life (Frankie's a cop and Nicky's is a former hitman), they are still friends and have each other's backs when it counts.  I liked the new cop, Sherri, and the interactions between her and Lou.  Though Frankie hasn't settled down, Nicky is now a family man and trying his best to stay on the right side of the law.

Book ~ "A Bullet for Carlos" (2012) Giacomo Giammatteo

From Goodreads ~ Detective Connie Gianelli's life has been torn apart several times. First when her mother died and then years later when she found out her Uncle Dominic was in the mob. Her life is about to be shredded again, and this time it could destroy her.

Connie’s love of family and her badge are both threatened when an undercover drug bust leaves two cops dead and the drugs missing. Internal Affairs is looking for any excuse to take her badge, but she’s not worried about them finding the missing drugs—her secrets could prove to be far worse.

Now Connie’s racing against the clock to figure out who killed her partners and took the drugs—dirty cops or Uncle Dominic’s friends. And she has to do it before IA pins the whole damn thing on her.

Thirty years ago, after killing someone, mobsters Dominic and Zeppe discover a baby in the apartment of the deceased.  They can't leave her behind so they give her to the love of Dominic's life, Maria, who raises the baby as her own.  Maria, though, doesn't approve of what Dominic does for a living so never lets their relationship progress passed friendship.  Thirty years later, we discover that the baby has become Connie Gianelli, an undercover cop.

After a drug bust goes bad, Connie's two partners get killed, the drugs disappear, Connie is shot in the leg and she is suspected of being a dirty cop.  Rather than taking the early retirement she is offered, she is transferred to another precinct where she starts investigating a cold case, the murder of a woman who was beaten and had her lips cut off.  This leads her to Houston as they also had victims with the same MO.  She uses these murders as an excuse to go to Houston to investigate her own case since it has ties to there.

Frankie Donovan, who we met in Murder Takes Time (which I enjoyed), is back ... he and his partner are investigating Connie's case in New York to discover whether she is a dirty cop or not.  Connie doesn't trust a lot of people but Uncle Dominic vouches for Frankie, who is a good cop.

Like Murder Takes Time, I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the writing style and it kept me wanting to read more.  I liked the characters.  Despite her toughness, I liked Connie ... she's torn between being a good cop while being true to her mobster family. Tip, Connie's partner in Houston, is a hoot ... he likes to look at women's butts and he's not afraid to comment on them, which gets him in trouble.  Plus, he's a dog lover ... he has three of them.

I'd recommend this book and I look forward to the next one in the series.

Book ~ "Murder Takes Time" (2012) Giacomo Giammatteo

From Partners in Crime ~ A string of brutal murders has bodies piling up in Brooklyn, and Detective Frankie Donovan knows what is going on. Clues left at the crime scenes point to someone from the old neighborhood, and that isn't good.

Frankie has taken two oaths in his life—the one he took to uphold the law when he became a cop, and the one he took with his two best friends when they were eight years old and inseparable.

Those relationships have forced Frankie to make many tough decisions, but now he faces the toughest one of his life; he has five murders to solve and one of those two friends is responsible. If Frankie lets him go, he breaks the oath he took as a cop and risks losing his job. But if he tries to bring him in, he breaks the oath he kept for twenty-five years—and risks losing his life.

In the neighborhood where Frankie Donovan grew up, you never broke an oath.

I enjoyed this book ... a lot!  The story was good.  Nicky "The Rat" Fusco, Frankie "Bugs" Donovan, and Tony "The Brain" Sanullo became friends when they were young and remained friends as they became adults, even after Frankie became a cop and the others went to prison and/or became involved in the mob.  Their loyalty and friendship are tested as members of the mob start getting brutally murdered.

I enjoyed the writing style ... it kept me wanting to read more.  The style was interesting in that a chapter would take place in the present time with the murder investigations and then the next would go back (in chronological order) to when the boys were younger and what shaped them to be who they are today.  Don't worry, it's clearly indicated at the top of the chapter what time period it is so you don't get confused.


The writing style has two points of view ... when it was in the present day, the point of view was in third person and when it was in the past until the present, it was first person (Nicky's voice).  Sometimes during Nicky's chapters (his point of view), it changed back to third person again.  It took me the first couple of chapters to get used to this.

The good guys are likable and I even liked some of the bad guys.

Warning:  there is mature language and violence.

My only complaint about the book is that there were so many characters at times (mainly mobsters) and I had a problem keeping them some of them straight.

This is the first book I've read by this author and will put him on my "to keep reading" list.  This is apparently the first in the series and I look forward to many more to come.