ZENKA
by Alison Brodie
Goodreads
Amazon
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07534Y6QZ
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Ruthless, stubborn and loyal.Zenka is a Hungarian pole-dancer with a dark past.
When cranky London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not. Happily, she now has easy access to pistols, knuckle-dusters, and shotguns.
Jack learns he has a son, Nicholas, a community nurse with a heart of gold. Problem is, Nicholas is a wimp.
Zenka takes charge. Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts, she aims to turn Nicholas into a son any self-respecting crime boss would be proud of.
And she succeeds!
Nicholas transforms from pussycat to mad dog, falls in love with Zenka, and finds out where the bodies are buried – because he buries them. He’s learning fast that sometimes you have to kill or be killed.
As his life becomes more terrifying, questions have to be asked:
How do you tell a crime boss you don’t want to be his son?
And is Zenka really who she says she is?
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My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
A man vith a face like crumpled
McDonald bag takes us outside.
He glanced around, dismayed to see all the seats were taken
by tattooed teenagers who looked as if they were bored with stabbing people.
Jack says I have “balls” - this means man’s testicles. This
is compliment. He also calls me “spitfire”. This is a plane that shoots the
Germans in the Second Vorld Var. This is also compliment (I think).
Nicholas sang as he pulled the bath plug, raising his voice
to compete with the gurgling of water vacating the bath, ‘We three kings of
orient are, one in a taxi one in a car, One in a scooter blowing his hooter,
Following Ringo Starr …’
Harsh lines scored cruelty and bitterness into the leathery
skin. If a face could show the history of war and devastation, then Nicholas
was looking at Dresden.
My Review:
Don’t be fooled by
the cover or synopsis, Zenka was a cleverly amusing, intriguing, and
sneakily insightful novel. It was not
really a romance, but several romances occurred. It was not really a mystery, although several were solved; nor was
it a mafia story, although several criminal gangs were featured. It wasn’t just a comedy, but it is funny as
hell and kept me smirking and well entertained throughout. What Zenka actually was… an engaging,
well-crafted, witty, and amusing tale.
The main character of Zenka was Hungarian and her accent had me hearing Natasha
from Rocky and Bullwinkle, who was only one of my favorite childhood cartoon
personas of all time. I adored this
clever story from start to finish and am well pleased to have a new phrase to
enter into my Brit vocabulary word list - playing silly buggers. After all, I am a seeker and life-long
learner of high culture pursuits ;)
Empress DJ
Alison Brodie – Bio
Alison Brodie is a Scot, with French Huguenot ancestors on her mother’s side and an international best-selling author. Her books having been published in hardback and paperback by Hodder & Stoughton (UK), Heyne (Germany) and Unieboek (Holland).Alison has now gone “indie”. Here are some editorial reviews for her recent books:
BRAKE FAILURE: “Masterpiece of humor” –Midwest Book Review
THE DOUBLE: “Proof of her genius in writing fiction” -San Francisco Book Review.
AUTHOR LINKS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alisonbrodie2
Website: http://alisonbrodiebooks.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35845259-zenka
Facebook PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonBrodieAuthor/
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