De Marco Empire by J Lou McCartney *****

Amazon.com link De Marco Empire
Book Description:
Brothers, Antonio and Gianni de Marco originate from La Pregheira in Umbria, Italy. Having made their fortune and eager to escape their murky past they re-locate to London, England where they open a prestigious nightclub.

When Katie Saunders and Lucy Carmichael manage to get a couple of jobs in the club, little do they suspect what is in store. From their normal, law-abiding and steady lives they are entering a world of mafia-style rivalry, turf wars, extortion, vice, corruption, drugs and murder. They impress those around them but also encounter jealousy, back-biting and malice – but also love and romance. Katie is swept off her feet by Antonio de Marco, the club's owner, and Lucy by his friend Stevo.

But when a long standing vendetta against the de Marco family begins to rear its ugly head things begin to take a turn for the worse. With enemies old and new crawling out of the woodwork, just who is ultimately responsible for the devastation about to tear their whole world apart.

My Review:
Mystery? Romance? Thriller? J Lou McCartney’s first novel, De Marco Empire, manages to pull off all three with great style. Two brothers dealing with a generational family feud are on the surface hard-working business men. But in reality, the corrupt club owners seem to believe that they have clean hands because they had even more corrupt people doing their deeds.

Each character is carefully crafted, and their lives were interwoven with the others. I liked the fact that you know at the beginning of the book what is going to happen – you just don’t know how. Although blinded by love, the main female characters were strong independent women. Katie rarely did what Antonio told her to do and became an independent business woman without asking for his help. For me, the friendship between Katie and Lucy was the heart of the book.

The book flowed well, and even with the short chapter divisions, the story was never choppy. De Marco Empire is a rich and well-written novel.