Synopsis from Goodreads: Chris Massi has been running from his world his entire life. The son of a Mafia assassin and the former son-in-law of a mob kingpin, Massi has tried to stay on the right side of the law, building a prestigious career as an attorney, and insulating his children as much as possible. But now a series of tragedies have left him without a law license and without several of his loved ones. And at the same time, his teenaged son is beginning to gravitate toward the gangster world Chris has tried so hard to protect him from. 

Michele Mathias has been running away from her life for more than a decade. Once a promising young woman with a future, she’s now a drug addicted street player living with the knowledge that her daughter – the only bright thing in her life – was taken away from her. When her roommate is murdered in a mob-related hit, her life intersects with Chris’s life – and their worlds change forever.  For Chris, a showdown is coming. The only way for him to save his son and regain his future is to face – and maybe even embrace – the demon he’s always avoided. For Michele, her last chance at redemption has arrived. How their journeys collide with the dark New York underworld is the stuff of the kind of suspenseful, passionate drama we’ve come to expect from James LePore.

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I love a good crime story, and I was not disappointed by LePore’s newest novel, Sons and Princes, which hits bookstores today.  You know the story is going to be good when it opens with a dismembered body of a hit man.  LePore is a wonderful storyteller, captivating the reader through his prose.  Just enough background information is given to entice the reader as the plot thickens, making it an impossible novel to put down.

I really enjoyed the different sections of the novel, zoning in on particular characters to help solidify and explain their actions throughout the story.  As the crimes unfold and the main character, Chris Massi, deals with his internal and external struggles, he must find balance between the Mafia’s world and his own life.  In reality, the synopsis of the novel doesn’t do it justice as it’s about so much more:

• A priest trying to make amends.
• A father trying to save his only son. 
• A son trying to avenge his father.
• A Mafia don looking to secure his family name with a successor.
• A junkie attempting to make things right.
• A prosecutor with a vendetta.
• A mother trying to protect what is hers.

LePore paints a very intricately woven story as he connects all the characters through the past and present.  As the twists and turns develop and the story begins to solidify, you will be shocked by the choices and actions that take place within the novel.  A twenty-five year veteran of the law, LePore has vast knowledge that he brings to his book as it analyzes the underground Mafia life in this gripping tale.  I truly hope there will be a sequel to the novel, and I am excited to read LePore’s other novels, Blood of My Brother, and A World I Never Made.  Four stars!

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.