Elicit - Review

Elicit (Eagle Elite #4)

By: Rachel Van Dyken

Published: August 11, 2014

400 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

(Goodreads /Amazon)

Summary:

Cursed, numb, rejected, scorned, wicked, sinister, dark, twisted...my name is Tex Campisi and this is my legacy. I killed my father in cold blood and lost my soul right along with him. 
I crave war more than peace, and I'm about to take my place in history as the youngest Capo dei Capi in the Cosa Nostra...that is until someone stops me, saves me from myself. 

But the only person able to do that...is my best friends sister, Mo Abandonato, and she just ripped my heart out and asked me to hold it in my hands while she put bullets through it. 

Im cursed so I did it. 
I'm numb so I held it. 
I'm wicked so I liked it. 
I used the pain Mo caused as a catalyst to turn into my biggest nightmare--the five families greatest enemy. It's my turn to take a stand, knowing full well I'm going to lose my mind to the madness that is the American Mafia. I've always been told Blood is thicker than life. I wish I would have listened. Because regardless of who you love? You will betray. You will kill.
Blood Always Wins. 
The only way out is death...yours. 

Welcome to the Dark Side of the Family.

MY REVIEW:
I loved this book almost as much as I loved the first book in the series, Elite. It's often hard to beat or match the feelings I get from the first book in a series. It's all because of Tex. He and Nixon are my favorite of the 4 Elect (Nixon, Chase, Tex and Phoenix). In this story we got back to the Romeo/Juliet vibe of the initial story that I loved so much. Only this is Mafia families we are dealing with. 5 of them to be exact. The largest and most powerful among them in America is the Abandonato family, of which Nixon is the boss. Tex is a made man, meaning he was abandoned by his blood, raised by another Mafia family and has no money or honor from his blood family. Tex was raised by the Abandonato family since he was little and now that he's an adult, he has to make a choice: protect the family who took care of him, those he grew to love or choose to lead the most notoriously evil mafia family, the Campisi's. His one hangup is his love for Monroe Abandonato, Mafia princess and twin sister to Nixon. She will be his one and only weakness.

The prologue leaves you with an overwhelming sense of dread and the whole book was pushing me to understand what on earth was going on. There was a definite "woah, I didn't see that coming!" moment. I even teared up a few times. This was definitely a book I didn't want to put down.

Of all the books in this series, this Kindle version I read had the most spelling and grammatical errors which I found uncharacteristic for Rachel Van Dyken's books.

Currently there are no other books listed on Goodreads but I have a feeling that Phoenix will get his own story at some point.

Favorite Quotes:
In the end...he would choose Campisi. In the end...she would choose Abandonato. In the end...there would be bloodshed.

Because no man would ever compare to the broken one in front of me. My heart beat to fix him. My soul yearned to join him.

It's all I want in life, your happiness. It's why I live, why I breathe, why I bleed - for your smile.

I cried for the boy I knew, the boy that turned into a man. A man who was forced to make a choice, his past or his future.

Being a part of the Mafia was like being in a chess game where you had no idea if you were the queen or a pawn, until it was too late, until you lost the entire game or until you won.

"Know this...my heart will always beat for you and you alone, my friend, my lover, my enemy, my soul."

Final Rating: 4.5 stars!

Check out my other reviews in this series:

Book One, Elite (5 stars)
Book Two, Elect (4.5 stars)
Book Three, Entice (4 stars)