Happy New Year to you!
I am honored and happy to share how I started this new year with a brand-new 5-star awarded editorial book review and “Author Showcase” at Reader Views!
I was so surprised by this new book review as the chosen reader did a beautiful review of this favorite book I enjoyed writing, “The Shaman and the Mafia.” I do hope you like reading more about The Shaman and Mafia. You may get a copy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shaman-Mafia-Elizabeth-Upton-ebook/dp/B09F7LYS7Q/ and read this mystery romantic thriller.
The Kindle is still on sale for $1.99 and comes in paperback, audio, and e-book within Kindle Unlimited.
You may stop by Reader Views >> https://www.readerviews.com/showcase/ and see it in their “Featured Books of The Week,” too! They have amazing reads by many different authors.
~Author Elizabeth Upton…
“The Shaman and the Mafia” by Elizabeth Upton
The Shaman and the Mafia
Elizabeth Upton
The Silver Woman of Fire Press (2021)
ISBN: 979-8469027942
Reviewed by Rachel Dehning for Reader Views (12/30/2023)
In Lakeshore, New York, in the 1960s, the mafia ran amok, a living entity focused on self-pleasure through drugs and child trafficking. For former nun Marietta Collins, this means a constant struggle at her youth drug rehab center to keep the teens sober and help them find their self-worth. For FBI Assistant Director Raymond Gleason and FBI Special Agent Jerry Young, it means backbreaking work as they attempt to inch closer to discovering the top of the mafia ladder. For Detective Riley, this means dealing with scumbag cops paid off to turn the other cheek.
With no prior knowledge of each other, Marietta, Raymond, and Jerry meet at the funeral of Joseph Gleason, Raymond’s younger brother – brutally murdered by an unknown assassin, and become immersed in the intricate workings of the mafia. What follows could never be guessed by any of them – lust, infidelity, revenge, and a full-fledged immersion into the spirit world are found in “The Shaman and the Mafia.”
Upton’s “The Shaman and the Mafia” includes something for everyone packed in a comparatively few pages; the reader will expect to be surprised, process the myriad of emotions throughout the story, and won’t think twice about remembering Elizabeth Upton for years to come. Complex characters add to the intensity and completeness of the storyline based on their backstory and how the past plays a role in the present.
The reader will develop attachments to the characters that cause scenes to touch on each spectrum of emotions, sometimes simultaneously. Related to emotions, multiple potential triggers are present throughout that have the capability of altering the overall reading experience for the reader if not understood within the context of the storyline and period and processed appropriately – spiciness level rated mid-range (3/5), sexualizing women is a common theme, much foul/coarse language (common and typical for the genre), much talk of sex/nudity, mental health struggles, prostitution, underage sex trafficking (maybe two references, but potentially painful for parents), and violence (torture and assassination).
I appreciate Upton’s incorporation of multiple viewpoints revolving around spiritual nature/forces; regardless of the reader’s views, for entertainment’s sake, the decision to include the shaman and Native American culture and beliefs alongside the Catholic Christian views makes for an enjoyable and thrilling read. I didn’t want to put the book down much of the time – the moments when I felt hesitant included material that I did not feel comfortable with on a personal level, yet when I continued, I went back to non-stop reading.
“The Shaman and the Mafia” from the title alone is not a storyline I would usually pick, but I am glad I took the chance because it paid off. The events in the story felt real – thrillers on the international and personal level. Readers who enjoy romance (with all the good and the bad), hunting the bad guy(s) (strategy and suspense), and twist endings that make you think (not too hard) and find the good at the end among the forest of darkness should read “The Shaman and the Mafia!”
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Elizabeth Upton Award-Winning Author & Writer 
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