Book Review: Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline

Genre ~ historical fiction ~ Sicily 1810

Featuring ~ 4 part story, dual timeline, mafia, kidnapped boys, violence

POV ~ multiple 3rd person

Release date ~ March 28, 2023

Page count ~ 427

Audio length ~ 11 hours 21 minutes

My rating ~ 4.5⭐

My review:

I am not going to say too much about this one. There is A LOT going on and there are so many different characters to keep track of that the author provides a name key. Some of the names are interesting and there were some funny nicknames too ~ Pietro Hay (the man who sells hay), Donato Nuts (the man who sells nuts), Giuseppe Dry Beans, Antonio Wet Beans, etc….they just made me chuckle.

We start out in 1810, then have a 15 year jump. We follow a mafia and a mans mission to be the most powerful, a kidnapping and a lawyers mission to find the boy, Alfredo who makes charmed cheese and has a big secret and an albino girl named Lucia. There’s violence, there’s sadness and happiness too.

I was going back and forth with rounding my 4.5 down or up and I chose to go with up after reading the author’s note. When an author actually goes to the country in which she sets her book to do actual research that deserves an extra nod.

One thing about Dante (view spoiler)

*Thanks to Lisa Scottoline, Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

Add to your never ending TBR  ~ goodreads

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read it.

Book blurb:

Franco Fiorvante is a handsome lemon-grower who has toiled for years on the estate of boss Baron Zito. Franco dreams of owning his own lemon grove, but the rigid class system of Sicily thwarts his ambitions. Determined to secure a prosperous future, Franco will do anything to prove his loyalty to the Baron. But when Baron Zito asks him to arrange the kidnapping of a little boy, Franco crosses the point of no return, setting in motion the making of the world’s first Mafia family.

Gaetano Catalano is an idealistic young lawyer, whose devotion for justice is a calling. Gaetano is a member of the Beati Paoli, a real-life secret society of aristocrats who investigate crime, since corruption riddles Palermo. Gaetano and the Beati Paoli set out to find the boy and bring him home, but for Gaetano, the mission turns to obsession. He risks everything to right the wrong and bring justice to his beloved city.

The kidnapped boy, Dante, grows up in a madhouse without even knowing his last name. He doubts his own sanity until he meets Lucia, a girl with a tragic past of her own. They fall in love, then set out to find Dante’s kidnapper and learn his true identity.

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