In the company of killers by Elora Cook

A first novel by a young Canadian author - set within the world of New York mafia families - unbelievable! This setting among the world of competing, wealthy and violently powerful New Yorkers is so provocative that it is hard to believe that it has made it to publication. Essentially though it is a story of the life of Tasha, a wealthy teenager negotiating school, family, friendships and two ex-boyfriends - Leo and Ravi, as she deals with intense grief. Her father and sister are gunned down in their own home, and this changes Tasha’s life forever. Both Leo and Ravi are both keen to restore their relationships, but Tasha must first work out who is to blame for the most recent murders and what her future role in her family ‘business’ should be. The succession plan seems to have been decided for her, but does she want to step up? Money and decadence, power and influence with limited morality are now her world. Who can Tasha trust in this environment as she finds her own power? 

I thought at first that this might be a Romeo and Juliet story, but it is murkier and less romantic from the outset, although teen attraction and romance is evident. What this book has is grimy power plays, guns and goons, and a female lead who attempts to take over the leadership of a familial mafia power, while grieving and coping with the violent assassination of her family. It has a dark, dangerous and evil underbelly to the romance story between two competing mafioso families. The main teenagers seem more moral than their parents in a limited way, but the corruption runs deep and makes this story more like a cross between TV dramas The Sopranos and Succession, mated with a teen romance from USA’s modern ‘Gilded Age’.  It is both a compelling action drama with weapons and a troubling glimpse into a very violent and selfish world, but it won’t be for everyone. It is a bit gritty and violent, and the world of mafia families is uncomfortable. The tale is told in the voices of Tasha and Leo, to give insight into their disparate view of their violence-impacted, criminal family histories. (Occasionally I wished for some punctuation to give clarity to some sentences without the need to re-read, but this may have been a personal issue rather than a major flaw.) Readers over 16+ only.

Themes: Mafia, Teen-romance, Murder, Corruption, Grief, Power.

Carolyn Hull