Today’s team review is from Sandra.
Sandra blogs here https://www.firthproof.co.uk/index.php/book-reviews
Sandra has been reading The Debt Collector by Steven Max Russo.
The Debt Collector by Steven Max Russo is an unusual book, and one that’s quite hard to categorise. Abigail Barnes is a debt collector for hire, newly arrived in New Jersey and looking for work. In an impressive opening sequence she meets Hector, whose cousin Raffie agrees to hire her after she shows him that she is quite capable of getting the job done. As she is an attractive young woman, everyone underestimates her, but she was trained by an ex-Mossad agent and is really quite formidable. She recovers a debt for small-time bookie Benny Friedman, who is brutally murdered later that night. Soon the police, mobster Ronnie ‘Slacks’ Falcone, and Raffie Torres (who gave her the job in the first place) are looking for her with the aim of pinning the murder on her. In order to clear her name, she must find the killer, and they have all seriously underestimated how resourceful and determined she can be.
Most of the characters could be described as unsavoury, with the exception of Hector who sadly plays a fairly minor role in the drama. The pacing is uneven, with the middle section getting a bit bogged down in repetitive detail. Fortunately, the narrative comes to an exciting and satisfying ending that suggests a sequel might well be in the offing. The dialogue sounds authentic, is often humorous, and the atmosphere has a touch of film noir about it. Abigail is an interesting character, and I enjoyed the contrast between her petite stature and the stereotypical ‘tough guy’ that is usually employed in this kind of work. I look forward to reading more of her adventures in the future.
Book description:
Abigail Barnes is young, pretty and petite, but her looks and size can be deceiving. She’s a tough as nails drifter who makes her living collecting outstanding debts for low-end bookies and loan sharks, Abigail arrives in Hackensack, NJ, from Baltimore, MD, and gets a job collecting for a small-time bookie, who winds up dead.
With a large Wall Street firm moving into town bringing jobs, prestige, and money, the press is soon up in arms about the killing. So the cops to put the squeeze on Ronnie “Slacks” Falcone, a mobster who heads organized crime in the Jersey City area, to help find the killer.
Soon Abigail finds herself being sought by a gang of hoodlums, the mob, and the police. She knows she can’t run and she won’t turn herself in because she has a past that could send her to jail. She has little choice but to try and find out who killed the bookie – without getting killed in the process.