Book ~ "Murder Takes Time" (2012) Giacomo Giammatteo

From Partners in Crime ~ A string of brutal murders has bodies piling up in Brooklyn, and Detective Frankie Donovan knows what is going on. Clues left at the crime scenes point to someone from the old neighborhood, and that isn't good.

Frankie has taken two oaths in his life—the one he took to uphold the law when he became a cop, and the one he took with his two best friends when they were eight years old and inseparable.

Those relationships have forced Frankie to make many tough decisions, but now he faces the toughest one of his life; he has five murders to solve and one of those two friends is responsible. If Frankie lets him go, he breaks the oath he took as a cop and risks losing his job. But if he tries to bring him in, he breaks the oath he kept for twenty-five years—and risks losing his life.

In the neighborhood where Frankie Donovan grew up, you never broke an oath.

I enjoyed this book ... a lot!  The story was good.  Nicky "The Rat" Fusco, Frankie "Bugs" Donovan, and Tony "The Brain" Sanullo became friends when they were young and remained friends as they became adults, even after Frankie became a cop and the others went to prison and/or became involved in the mob.  Their loyalty and friendship are tested as members of the mob start getting brutally murdered.

I enjoyed the writing style ... it kept me wanting to read more.  The style was interesting in that a chapter would take place in the present time with the murder investigations and then the next would go back (in chronological order) to when the boys were younger and what shaped them to be who they are today.  Don't worry, it's clearly indicated at the top of the chapter what time period it is so you don't get confused.


The writing style has two points of view ... when it was in the present day, the point of view was in third person and when it was in the past until the present, it was first person (Nicky's voice).  Sometimes during Nicky's chapters (his point of view), it changed back to third person again.  It took me the first couple of chapters to get used to this.

The good guys are likable and I even liked some of the bad guys.

Warning:  there is mature language and violence.

My only complaint about the book is that there were so many characters at times (mainly mobsters) and I had a problem keeping them some of them straight.

This is the first book I've read by this author and will put him on my "to keep reading" list.  This is apparently the first in the series and I look forward to many more to come.