Title: Vice Enforcer
Series: Vice City #2
Author: S.A. Stovall
Publisher: DSP Publications
Release Date: April 03, 2018
Heat Level: 3 - a romping good time
Pairing: M/M
Length: 250 pages
Genre: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers
Genre: Mystery & Detective, Thrillers
Tags: Mob Crime, Private Investigator, Cops, Detective
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37796640-vice-enforcer
Synopsis:
Holding on to a life worth living can be hard when the nightmares of the past come knocking.
Eight months ago, Nicholas Pierce, ex-mob enforcer, faked his death and assumed a new identity to escape sadistic mob boss Jeremy Vice. With no contacts outside the underworld, Pierce finds work with a washed-up PI. It's an easy enough gig - until investigating a human trafficking ring drags him back to his old stomping grounds.
Miles Devonport, Pierce's partner, is top of his class at the police academy while single-handedly holding his family together. But when one lieutenant questions Pierce's past and his involvement in the investigation, Miles must put his future on the line to keep Pierce's secrets.
The situation becomes dire when it's discovered the traffickers have connections to the Vice family. The lives of everyone Pierce cares about are in danger - not least of all his own if Jeremy Vice learns he's back from the dead. Pierce and Miles face a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels - one that will gladly destroy them to keep operating. As Pierce uses every dirty trick he learned from organized crime to protect the new life he's building, he realizes that no matter how hard he tries, he might never escape his past.
But he's not going down without a fight.
Holding on to a life worth living can be hard when the nightmares of the past come knocking.
Eight months ago, Nicholas Pierce, ex-mob enforcer, faked his death and assumed a new identity to escape sadistic mob boss Jeremy Vice. With no contacts outside the underworld, Pierce finds work with a washed-up PI. It's an easy enough gig - until investigating a human trafficking ring drags him back to his old stomping grounds.
Miles Devonport, Pierce's partner, is top of his class at the police academy while single-handedly holding his family together. But when one lieutenant questions Pierce's past and his involvement in the investigation, Miles must put his future on the line to keep Pierce's secrets.
The situation becomes dire when it's discovered the traffickers have connections to the Vice family. The lives of everyone Pierce cares about are in danger - not least of all his own if Jeremy Vice learns he's back from the dead. Pierce and Miles face a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels - one that will gladly destroy them to keep operating. As Pierce uses every dirty trick he learned from organized crime to protect the new life he's building, he realizes that no matter how hard he tries, he might never escape his past.
But he's not going down without a fight.
My Review:
Back in 2017, I had a chance to read Vice City, which is the first book in this series. You can see what I said here. Not an elaborate breakdown for sure, but it didn't matter. I had read that book in a few short days and was instantly hooked with the gritty and dark underground of Stovall's crime-ridden, mob family novel.
I'm not a detective fiction kind of guy, but the main character, Pierce, just seemed to latch onto me - and the fact that a mob enforcer was also gay? Here...take my money.
And now we have book two! Stovall does a fantastic job creating her crime underworld - complete with bad neighborhoods, rotten cops, even more, rotten criminals, and derelict cityscapes. Pierce, once a brutal enforcer for a violent mob family, is now trying to make it 'straight' by becoming a Private Investigator. He clings onto the scraps of what's left of his human decency, an honor code if you will, of his own making, that served him well in book one, and also in book two. However, in this new installment, Pierce begins to grow as a respectable human being by questioning his past, what it means for him now, how that might influence his future. Most notably, Pierce constantly judges his relationship with his boyfriend Miles and the possible ramifications of his sordid past sullying Miles potential career as a cop.
But Miles is the glue. He holds everything together, confident and yet, still young and learning how to spread his own wings and be his own person. Miles is the 'don't worry, everything will be okay' kind of guy, and he's fiercely loyal. Pierce is trying so hard to be 'the good guy', but inevitably falling short. There are a few times throughout the story where his self deprecating evaluation of his abilities and worth gets to be a bit much - but then, it truly makes you feel for the guy. And that's commendable. After all - how do actually feel bad for someone whose special skill was back alley assassinations and sharp shooting gun fights?
And yet, here I am, rooting for Pierce, the once bad guy now turned sort-of good guy, the gay anti-hero, an ex-mob enforcer who loves his guy and will sacrifice himself to ensure a better life for his better half.
And then there's the whole human trafficking thing woven through this tale too! Honestly, Stovall did such a good job of making this seem as dirty and creepy and utterly disgusting as it really is...and makes me wonder - how DO you do research for that kind of story-telling? How do you become an expert in that?
This is not a warm and fuzzy read. This is gritty, dark, and violent (even the sex between Pierce and Miles is rough). But WOW, what a ride, and what a story.
Pick this up, and its predecessor. You won't be disappointed. Promise.
S.A. Stovall grew up in California's central valley with a single mother and a little brother. Despite no one in her family having a degree higher than a GED, she put herself through college (earning a BA in History), and then continued on to law school where she obtained her Juris Doctorate.
As a child, Stovall's favorite novel was Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. The adventure on a deserted island opened her mind to ideas and realities she had never given thought before - and it was the moment Stovall realized that storytelling (specifically fiction) became her passion. Anything that told a story, be it a movie, book, video game, or comic, she had to experience. Now, as a professor and author, Stovall wants to add her voice to the myriad of stories in the world, and she hopes you enjoy.
Back in 2017, I had a chance to read Vice City, which is the first book in this series. You can see what I said here. Not an elaborate breakdown for sure, but it didn't matter. I had read that book in a few short days and was instantly hooked with the gritty and dark underground of Stovall's crime-ridden, mob family novel.
I'm not a detective fiction kind of guy, but the main character, Pierce, just seemed to latch onto me - and the fact that a mob enforcer was also gay? Here...take my money.
And now we have book two! Stovall does a fantastic job creating her crime underworld - complete with bad neighborhoods, rotten cops, even more, rotten criminals, and derelict cityscapes. Pierce, once a brutal enforcer for a violent mob family, is now trying to make it 'straight' by becoming a Private Investigator. He clings onto the scraps of what's left of his human decency, an honor code if you will, of his own making, that served him well in book one, and also in book two. However, in this new installment, Pierce begins to grow as a respectable human being by questioning his past, what it means for him now, how that might influence his future. Most notably, Pierce constantly judges his relationship with his boyfriend Miles and the possible ramifications of his sordid past sullying Miles potential career as a cop.
But Miles is the glue. He holds everything together, confident and yet, still young and learning how to spread his own wings and be his own person. Miles is the 'don't worry, everything will be okay' kind of guy, and he's fiercely loyal. Pierce is trying so hard to be 'the good guy', but inevitably falling short. There are a few times throughout the story where his self deprecating evaluation of his abilities and worth gets to be a bit much - but then, it truly makes you feel for the guy. And that's commendable. After all - how do actually feel bad for someone whose special skill was back alley assassinations and sharp shooting gun fights?
And yet, here I am, rooting for Pierce, the once bad guy now turned sort-of good guy, the gay anti-hero, an ex-mob enforcer who loves his guy and will sacrifice himself to ensure a better life for his better half.
And then there's the whole human trafficking thing woven through this tale too! Honestly, Stovall did such a good job of making this seem as dirty and creepy and utterly disgusting as it really is...and makes me wonder - how DO you do research for that kind of story-telling? How do you become an expert in that?
This is not a warm and fuzzy read. This is gritty, dark, and violent (even the sex between Pierce and Miles is rough). But WOW, what a ride, and what a story.
Pick this up, and its predecessor. You won't be disappointed. Promise.
Rating:
Available At:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Meet The Author:
S.A. Stovall grew up in California's central valley with a single mother and a little brother. Despite no one in her family having a degree higher than a GED, she put herself through college (earning a BA in History), and then continued on to law school where she obtained her Juris Doctorate.
As a child, Stovall's favorite novel was Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. The adventure on a deserted island opened her mind to ideas and realities she had never given thought before - and it was the moment Stovall realized that storytelling (specifically fiction) became her passion. Anything that told a story, be it a movie, book, video game, or comic, she had to experience. Now, as a professor and author, Stovall wants to add her voice to the myriad of stories in the world, and she hopes you enjoy.
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