This was an okay book, but not an awesome book, in my opinion. I didn't read The Gold Coast prior to this one, but there was enough backstory to explain what this book was about. In fact, the first 200 or so pages went on and on (almost ad nauseum) about John Sutter's ex-wife, Susan, and her affair with and subsequent killing of her Mafia don lover. This mantra was repeated so often I was ready at one point to shout "Okay, enough already! We know your ex-wife was screwing around on you and shot her lover! Now, let's move on to this part of the story!"

Because of the obvious bitterness and snarkiness that John Sutter expressed every time he mentioned the above reasons for his ten-year divorce from Susan, I was quite taken aback by how quickly he and Susan hooked back up again. What the heck? He was very reluctant to even meet with her after learning that she lived in the guest cottage just up the road from the gatehouse and, yet, (view spoiler)[within a short time of seeing her (an hour or so, at the most?), it was "Hey, all is forgotten. Let's get married again!" (hide spoiler)].

What saved the book to some degree was the humour. John Sutter was a sarcastic, wise-cracking smartass and some of his witty repartee was hilarious. But, even that became a little tiresome and annoying in places. How many times does he have to tell us hates his ex-father-in-law, William, and wants him to meet with some horrendous fate? We get the message already.

This was a very long book and I found the author spent an inordinate amount of time setting up the only real action that takes place in about the last 25 or 30 pages. I think the story could have easily been at least half as long without losing anything.