Genre: Romance, Thriller, Crime, Mafia
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Maryann
Get It On Amazon
About The Book
Two unlikely men—a Mafia boss’s son on a mission to find his would-be assassin, and an aimless youth seeking to break the life pattern he always finds himself in—must join forces to stop a desperate criminal who seeks to kill them and overthrow the infamous Spadaro clan.
Nico Spadaro, the son of an infamous Cosa Nostra boss, is on a mission to find and kill the mob leader who sent a hit man after him and his family two years ago.
Rei Evans, who has no real direction in life, just lost his job and is on the verge of losing not only his boyfriend, but his livelihood.
When he takes a new job at Nico’s gentlemen’s club, Rei realizes that things aren’t what they appear to be. The head man-in-charge is using the club for illegal and shady dealings with Nico’s wealthy clientele. Rei tries to warn Nico about his right-hand man, but Nico is too consumed with his own obsession for vengeance to even notice, let alone care. It’s only when the situation takes a dark turn, threatening to upend Nico’s progress and targeting Rei, that both men will have to join forces to stop the operation before things turn deadly.
The Review
Rei Evans has a lot of issues, many of them caused by himself. He has low self-esteem and low confidence, and is also somewhat naive. He lost his job, and fears that he will be kicked out by his boyfriend Eric and have no place to go. Eric isn’t good for Rei, but Rei doesn’t see it. In fact, Eric has declared an open relationship with Rei, which he doesn’t really like. Nevertheless, he stays with Eric and his controlling ways.
He can’t go home, even though he has a wonderful family that would help him. But his drug and alcohol use has caused issues in the past. He does have two good friends: Wendy and Daniel. Both try to offer him good advice, and Daniel has no problem offering Rei a place to stay, even though he has a roommate.
Rei takes a chance at a high-class club called “Sapphire”. He hears about it from Eric, who can’t wait to go there. Rei goes for an interview and meets his soon-to-be boss, Gabriel.
Gabriel isn’t such a nice guy. He gives the impression that he thinks he’s better than everyone else, and talks down to the staff. He acts like he owns the club. Rei learns real quick that Gabriel is someone he doesn’t like. Then he sees the real owner of the club, Nico Spadaros, who is very attractive.
Nico Spadaros is tightly connected with the Cosa Nostra – the mafia – but he wants out. He has one last thing to do – find the man who almost took his life.
Rei get’s lucky and is immediately hired at “Sapphire,” but he doesn’t know what he’s gotten into. His boss Gabriel has given him strict orders never to bother Nico. But Rei and Nico start to have a growing friendship. Rei becomes suspicious of some of the club’s business. He’s finding out too much, and he has no idea that he’s put his own life in danger.
St. Claire’s mafia thriller is exciting and suspenseful – a fast-paced story and a page-turner that I found hard to put down. The author left me feeling that there’s more to Nico then just wanting out of the mafia life. Rei wants something new in his life too, since he feels he’s made a mess of it. I like the slow-burn relationship that develops between Nico and Rei. It’s not rushed, and they take time to talk about other things than club business.
I highly recommend Hunted, the first installment in the “Crosshairs” series. It’s well written with all the qualities of an intense Mafia story. Drama, danger, gore, excitement, suspense, deceit, and secrets carry the reader along, and set things up for the next story for the series. Entertaining and riveting.
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.
