Rating: 5🌈
Poison Hearts by Jennifer Cody was a real winner for me. It’s so entertaining, it’s characters so outrageously out there and engaging that it cries out for more adventures.
Pls pls I desperately need more stories of the merry insanity that is Orlando, Shannon, Minion , and hopefully, Linus.
Do not deprive us of this!
And it all starts so not so innocently with the blow dart murders of some bad guys in the Old Defiance neighborhood being protected by Orlando Ludovici, your neighborhood vigilante ninja assassin .
Cody has created a fabulous character in Orlando, complete with a fascinating family background and creative methodology for dealing with the baddies. There’s several authors that jump immediately to mind with their similarly charismatic assassins and Orlando easily ranks right in there with that crazy murderous fictional group.
Then there’s the fabulously insane scientist Shannon Mayburn, the tool peddler, brilliant inventor of tools of murder and mass destruction . He loves to dance and soon, he loves Orlando.
Plus his Minion. Whose name isn’t really minion and may kill Shannon at any moment because his boss annoys him so. I adore Minion. Who’s full of revelations and a delightful character in his own right.
Did I mention Linus the coroner who gets texts from Orlando about the bodies he’s about to receive? Theirs is a funny complicated anonymous relationship.
Ah, The Anonymous ! The elegant extremely private club where a crème colored invitation ushers you into a world of an utter criminality. The urbane of the world’s rift raft or this section’s of it, all secretly having cocktails and making connections in a lavish atmosphere in an art deco hotel.
It’s the meet cutely dangerous for Orlando and Shannon (as well as being the theme for the series). The characters Cody creates for the reason for Orlando’s entrance are mysterious and so beautifully written they scream for a story of their own. Especially since they come with such a scrumptious companion/bodyguard to boot.
Honestly, there’s no aspect, no element that Cody used in the many storylines that wasn’t a money maker in terms of its narrative use here. Thrills, excitement, more dead bodies, smooches and love talk ala crazy people. Yes! All there along with some explosions. And frogs.
I love this story and all the characters. Well, not the dead ones. The very much alive and deadly ones. And need more of them.
Hopefully Jennifer Cody is listening.
Yes this is a highly recommended read.
The Elite Multi-Author series (9 Books):
✓ Reckless Roulette by Alice Winters
✓ Leave No Trace by Michelle Frost and Sammi Cee❤️
✓ Ace of Maids by K.L. Hiers
✓ Poison Hearts by Jennifer Cody❤️
◦ Liar’s Gambit by Kelly Fox
◦ Dealer of Secrets by Davidson King
◦ Bullets & Butterflies by Maz Maddox
◦ Love for the Reaper by Charlie Cochet
◦ Chance Encounter by Luna David
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 