Rating: 4.5🌈

Trigger warnings:

“This book contains on-page violence, torture, attempted rape, and abuse.”

That out of the way, and yes, I think most readers appreciate that the warnings are put at the beginning of the book so any reader can make a quick judgement as to whether they should read the story or not, rather then search it out at a website or wait until the end of the book for them when it’s too late, War of the Wicked is an exciting, violent mob romance.

King has created a city in New York, Lucifer’s Landing, that’s completely owned, and operated, however illegally, by various mob families. There’s the Italians, the Japanese, the Irish, the Haitians, and the Greeks, all fighting against each other to ensure their territories and weaken their opponents.

These are the main characters, primarily, so the violence and warnings make sense.

It starts with the Italians. Dante Scavo, who’s just buried his father, the now former head of their mafia family. It’s Dante, in this time of mourning for his father, who must gather the family together, keep their businesses and territories intact against the other families, and find out if his father’s death was murder.

King builds a strong sense of who Dante is in this moment of crisis and grief, as well as the people closest to him. That includes his family and the men who worked under his father, like his consigliere, Edward.

That these people are violent predators, criminals who are also capable of being loving family members is inherently important to the plot and their characters. King’s creations get that across beautifully.

If there is an “innocent” person here, it’s the high end prostitute/escort, Rainn Blessings, who works at one of the Scavo businesses, The Magic Mirror. The sex workers here aren’t forced to work here. They’re paid highly and treated extremely well and with respect. It’s a matter of perspective or level.

And while their initial meeting and discussion of future plans is that of a business plan, which I found interesting and pretty relevant to the situation, King still builds on a chemistry happening between them.

This is a book I gobbled up. The action and events just start speeding up as the Scavo family comes under attack, Dante has to fight back against forces inside and out, while his relationship with Rainn builds.

The warnings at the beginning are there for a reason. It gets intense when the families go to war and start slaughtering each other. If this is a trigger, this might not be the book for you.

I’m recommending it for lovers of this trope and fans of this author. I absolutely enjoyed it. And moved onto the sequel.

Lucifer’s Landing

✓ War of the Wicked #1)

✓ Rise of the Ruthless #2

Buy Link:

War of the Wicked (Lucifer’s Landing Book 1)

Blurb:

Lucifer’s Landing is full of unscrupulous people: five families desperate to own every inch. For years, under the watchful and most powerful eye, there has been peace. With the murder of the most powerful man, it’s as if the gates of Hell have opened.

Dante Scavo is trying to fill his father’s shoes, find the person responsible for killing him, and stop Lucifer’s Landing from becoming a war zone. He has to focus, find out who the traitor among his ranks is, and end them. The last thing he needs is a distraction, but when he meets Rainn, one look, one touch, takes his breath away.

Rainn Blessings is no stranger to strong and powerful men. His life is about survival and getting to a place where he finds his peace, though sometimes that means being the fantasy of others. Working as a high-class escort he’s seen a lot…done a lot…and not much surprises him. Then Dante walks into The Magic Mirror and turns his world upside down.

With an unlikely ally, Rainn and Dante try to survive the storm, but no one is bulletproof or untouchable in the game of violent delights. Getting out unscathed is impossible; the question is: will they get out alive?

***Please see start of book for trigger warning

(This was previously released through Maple House Publishing. War of the Wicked has been reedited and minor changes have been made from the original content)

• Publisher: (January 4, 2023)

• Publication date: January 4, 2023

• Print length: 235 pages