Review: Second Of All by Genevieve Dewey

Posted September 4, 2013 by Karen in Authors, Book Reviews / 1 Comment

17998546Title: Second of All

Author: Genevieve Dewey

Published: January 1, 2013

Genre: Contemporary Drama and Romance, and a wee bit of everything in between.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

ASIN: B00AVKFIPQ

 

Synopsis:

…for there is nothing so perfect as a thing with no ending and no beginning such as a family of souls intertwined…

This introspective sequel to First, I Love You takes you deeper into a tale of interwoven roles, divided loyalties, and personal conflicts.

Detective Tommy Gates and Agent Ginny Sommers struggle to balance their growing personal relationship with their task of finding his father. Back home, Kiki Downey and James Hoffman are facing their own internal and external pressures. After Mary Gates is led on a different trail by Mickey’s Irish kin, they are all given pieces of a puzzle that it will take the whole family to solve. Interlocked within the narrative are glimpses into how Mickey Downey became the man he is today.

Throughout their journeys, past and present, they all must struggle with what loyalties and loves come first, and what comes… second of all.

Review

The saga continues in Genevieve’s Dewey’s family drama Second of All, which is book two of The Downey Trilogy.   We start with the disappearance of Mickey Downey, once head, now retired,  and on the run, mob boss.  Everyone is in search of him and he’s leading the FBI and his family on a merry chase from one country to another, and it all seem to be a very intricate plan that Mickey has devised.

The beginning of the book starts off with Mickey in his home. He is sitting in one of the many hiding places his mansion holds, courtesy of the past homeowners who lived during a time of speakeasy parties, and when prohibition was alive and well.   All of his life, Mickey has been a bit of schemer, always trying to stay ahead of everyone else, especially his ex-wife’s mobster family that he married into.  The marriage itself was a calculated alliance, not made of love but of power.  But the most important underlying denominator to everything Mickey does is his complete adoration for his family.    I suppose that is why Mickey is my favorite character out of all the characters in the book.  Internally,  he loves them without bounds.  But his tough, exterior persona makes it very difficult for him to show that love, and oftentimes he displays it in not the best of ways.   A control freak to the extreme, Mickey does however balance his addiction for control with his other favorable traits of charm, charisma, and his undying love and devotion to his family.

“And maybe then when they were all a family, Tommy would be able to see what Mary used to see, what his other children saw, not just a man who would kill for them but a man who would die for them…the man underneath it all.”

The slang the author uses from time to time offers the reader a cinematic feel almost.   I think of an era gone by has been placed in the present day setting when I read her series and it gives the book quite a unique feel.   For example, the author’s use of  “Darn” or”Ninny”.  It’s as if the author is giving us a semblance of sweetness and vulnerability in the corrupt world,  that is the Mafia.  The author continues to offer another wonderful book that goes beyond the traditional.  Not all romance, not all suspense, not all action,  but always consistent with entertaining the reader.

 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book directly from the author or publisher I was not paid to read or review this book. All opinions are my own, and I was never influenced by anything or anyone.

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