I will start by saying that this book was WAY outside of my genre. This book is a far cry from the dragons, elves, and magic that I'm used to reading about. So, when my co-worker lent it to me I was reluctant to read it. But, I felt it would be impolite of me not to, seeing as she'd been so nice to bring a book for me after she found out I liked to read.

I was very surprised by how much I liked this book. The old-timey gangsters and organized crime aspects were very interesting. Ever since taking a tour of the Moose Jaw tunnels I'd been intrigued by bootlegging and crime syndicates, so this aspect of the book really kept me glued to the pages. I liked the true darkness of the criminals. The author didn't water down the crime lords; make them soft. No, they were hardened and deadly. But still, the main characters could do something illegal and morally condemnable, but the author always kept you on their side.

I also thought that the lifestyle of the criminals was not glamorized beyond truth. It was very realistically portrayed how crime pays, but there are consequences. This was another fascinating point for me in the book. How the consequences and downfalls of a criminal lifestyle affected the relationships of everyone involved.

Another positive for me was the way all of the characters lives intertwined. I got a thrill when they ended up crossing paths. Their lives were so well entwined together that the people, places, and events couldn't help but feel real.

The author, I think, is truly great at writing. She switched perspectives so many times, even paragraph by paragraph, but it was never annoying or hard to follow. A lot of authors could not pull that off as well as she did. The ending, with the constant switching of perspectives as everything was coming to a head, set the frantic pace so well that I began to actually feel nervous, excited, and fearful for how it would all turn out. For my heart to pound like that, she must have crafted her story expertly.

On the negative front, I think, was the smut. I'm not used to it and that aspect of the book sometimes took away from the greatness of the true story. I did like how the sex was used in parts to demonstrate the hardships or darkness of some of the characters. But, for the most part, it was annoying to be taken away from the excitement of the criminal happenings for a page about some bedroom romp.

All in all, this was a good read. While distracting sex scenes did take away from my enjoyment of this book, the true story is a gem and I would recommend it to people who either like the smut or can ignore it and enjoy the rest.