Menace: Scarlet Scars Book One
Menace is the first book in the Scarlet Scars series, written by J.M. Darhower. If I had to sum it up in a sentence, I'd say it's part mafia, part romance, and a whole lot of messed up as it follows the two main characters, Lorenzo and Morgan.
Lorenzo Gambini, often referred to as Scar because of the scar on his face (yeah, so clever), is a scary dude. He's a complicated character in that he's definitely got psychopathic tendencies and won't hesitate to kill someone, but there's this really human side to him as well. He's a cunning mob boss, but he also raised his younger brother and made sure he didn't go down the same path as him. His inner dialogue and witticisms were the best of the story for me. As a reader, I love up close and personal glimpses of characters because it makes me relate to them, which of course makes them feel like real people.
"You shoot one scumbag in front of a pretty little blonde and suddenly you go from being James Dean to Charlie Manson."
Morgan started out as an interesting character, but that didn't last long - for me, anyway. She went from this fearless, brazen girl who robs guys and then ditches her Laboutin heels to get away faster, but her backstory just played out for waaaay too long. And yes, those extra A's were totally necessary. Basically, she's running from a Russian mobster but we aren't privy to the why and what for until the very end of the novel, at which point I just didn't even care anymore.
That's my main issue with this novel. It's well-written and quite clever, but it just felt like too much time was spent on that cleverness, be it Lorenzo's witticisms or the back and forth banter between the characters. As a result, the plot was just too drawn out and I lost interest. The pace picked up at the ending (of course, right?) and although it ended on a cliffhanger, I'm not sold on reading the next novel in the series because I suspect it'll be more of the same.
I initially picked up this novel because of the many good reviews on Goodreads, so obviously a lot of people liked it. I just wasn't one of them. Again, this was a well-written work and I don't want to diss the author or book in any way, but I just wasn't feeling it. If you're a fan of mafia stories and/or messed up characters I'd say go ahead and give it a chance, though.
Lorenzo Gambini, often referred to as Scar because of the scar on his face (yeah, so clever), is a scary dude. He's a complicated character in that he's definitely got psychopathic tendencies and won't hesitate to kill someone, but there's this really human side to him as well. He's a cunning mob boss, but he also raised his younger brother and made sure he didn't go down the same path as him. His inner dialogue and witticisms were the best of the story for me. As a reader, I love up close and personal glimpses of characters because it makes me relate to them, which of course makes them feel like real people.
"You shoot one scumbag in front of a pretty little blonde and suddenly you go from being James Dean to Charlie Manson."
Morgan started out as an interesting character, but that didn't last long - for me, anyway. She went from this fearless, brazen girl who robs guys and then ditches her Laboutin heels to get away faster, but her backstory just played out for waaaay too long. And yes, those extra A's were totally necessary. Basically, she's running from a Russian mobster but we aren't privy to the why and what for until the very end of the novel, at which point I just didn't even care anymore.
That's my main issue with this novel. It's well-written and quite clever, but it just felt like too much time was spent on that cleverness, be it Lorenzo's witticisms or the back and forth banter between the characters. As a result, the plot was just too drawn out and I lost interest. The pace picked up at the ending (of course, right?) and although it ended on a cliffhanger, I'm not sold on reading the next novel in the series because I suspect it'll be more of the same.
I initially picked up this novel because of the many good reviews on Goodreads, so obviously a lot of people liked it. I just wasn't one of them. Again, this was a well-written work and I don't want to diss the author or book in any way, but I just wasn't feeling it. If you're a fan of mafia stories and/or messed up characters I'd say go ahead and give it a chance, though.
Comments
Post a Comment