Sons and Princes: A Novel of Suspense by James LePore

Sons and Princes: A Novel of Suspense. James LePore. The Story Plant. April 2011. 352 pp. ISBN #: 9780984190522.

Chris Massi is the son of a father who was absent and far from a true role model to Chris, at least that's what Chris thinks. But involvement in the Mafia and the acts that flow from there have ramifications that spread wide and far, beyond in fact one's very limited imagination. After making a life for himself in the so-called normal world as a lawyer on the side of justice, Chris finds that his father was responsible for the death of a friend's father, that man, now a dire enemy, who has spent his whole life trying to destroy Joe Black Massi's family.

Now, Chris is disbarred from practicing law, divorced, and watching one son acting like a wanna-be Mafia man and the other one drugging and womanizing himself to death. Not a happy family scenario for sure! Readers now enter the completely sordid world wherein secrets are revealed of who killed whom, of who was responsible for destroying Chris's career, and of the origins of a loss that completely spins Chris Massi's life in a different direction that will leave the reader flipping pages to find out what happens next.

The plot thickens with the introduction of a drug addict, Michele Mathias, who has lost her daughter to her addiction but who has a glimmer of hope that rises strongly when she meets Chris Massi. Ironically, it turns out that the bosses behind the drugs, porn, etc. have more to do with the Mafia Chris knows so well.

Who can be trusted? Is Chris being tested for a new crime career as he is offered the opportunity for revenge? What is it about Joe Black Massi, the father, and Joseph, Chris's brother, that Chris discovers and wishes he knew long before this cycle of confusion turns into a vortex of death and disaster leading only to prison or the grave?

To say more would spoil the suspense flying through so many pages of this crime drama that, given more public exposure, is sure to become a best seller.

James LePore, as in previous books, knows his subject well, including the gray rather than black and white world of the Mafia. Trust is the issue of honor that is the essence of Sons and Princes, a trust the redeems when one realizes that things are not what they truly appear to be! Thrilling read for all crime and mystery lovers!