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The Mafia Trilogy #1
The Kill
The Kill - Book One of the Trilogy
The son of the most ruthless Mafia boss in eastern Canada is killed, and the father wants revenge.
Darwin Kostas is a law-abiding Canadian, a writer with a new bride and a long list of phobias. His fear of the dark keeps him inside after the sun goes down. He also suffers from aichmophobia, an irrational fear of sharp and pointed objects. If confronted with a knife or a needle, his fear manifests as an out-of-control rage.
He's also the man who accidentally killed the heir to the Fuccini syndicate.
When the newlyweds honeymoon in Rome, a hit team follows. They keep waving things at Darwin--pointy things, like knives. He just can't control himself when that happens, and accidentally kills a few more 'made men.' The Mafia believes Darwin is a trained killer, hired to take them out, and declare all-out war on the neurotic novelist.
Darwin returns to Toronto, but the hits keep coming, the FBI closes in, and a local biker gang offers Darwin their help.
Darwin just wants to be left alone with a light on.
The son of the most ruthless Mafia boss in eastern Canada is killed, and the father wants revenge.
Darwin Kostas is a law-abiding Canadian, a writer with a new bride and a long list of phobias. His fear of the dark keeps him inside after the sun goes down. He also suffers from aichmophobia, an irrational fear of sharp and pointed objects. If confronted with a knife or a needle, his fear manifests as an out-of-control rage.
He's also the man who accidentally killed the heir to the Fuccini syndicate.
When the newlyweds honeymoon in Rome, a hit team follows. They keep waving things at Darwin--pointy things, like knives. He just can't control himself when that happens, and accidentally kills a few more 'made men.' The Mafia believes Darwin is a trained killer, hired to take them out, and declare all-out war on the neurotic novelist.
Darwin returns to Toronto, but the hits keep coming, the FBI closes in, and a local biker gang offers Darwin their help.
Darwin just wants to be left alone with a light on.
338 pages, Paperback
First published January 20, 2012
57 people are currently reading
618 people want to read
About the author
Jonas Saul
107 books391 followersJonas Saul is the bestselling author of the Sarah Roberts Series—more than two million sold!—and has written and published over sixty thrillers. After acquiring an agent, he signed several deals in Los Angeles, with MadRiver Pictures optioning his Sarah Roberts Series—over forty books!—(currently in development).
Jonas has often outranked Stephen King and Dean Koontz on Amazon over the past decade. He’s regularly invited to be a guest speaker, teacher, or workshop presenter at international writing conferences and film festivals worldwide.
He hosts multiple annual retreats in Greece, where he currently lives—writer’s, screenplay, and reader’s retreats. He focuses his teaching on how to get tension and emotion in every scene and on every page, how he made it as a creator/writer, the path to success in this business, and the pitfalls to avoid. Visit the Imagine Greece Retreats website at www.imaginegreeceretreats.com, or email him directly.
Jonas Saul is an acclaimed author, teacher, and professional freelance editor. He lends his editing prowess to several publishers and offers private editing services to clients. His website, www.imaginepress.org, is a testament to his editing skills, featuring numerous testimonials from satisfied authors. Jonas is an email away for those needing professional editing.
To book Jonas for a speaking engagement at a writer’s conference/festival, to have him on your jury at a film festival, or even to say hello, email Jonas directly at jonassaul@icloud.com.
Jonas has often outranked Stephen King and Dean Koontz on Amazon over the past decade. He’s regularly invited to be a guest speaker, teacher, or workshop presenter at international writing conferences and film festivals worldwide.
He hosts multiple annual retreats in Greece, where he currently lives—writer’s, screenplay, and reader’s retreats. He focuses his teaching on how to get tension and emotion in every scene and on every page, how he made it as a creator/writer, the path to success in this business, and the pitfalls to avoid. Visit the Imagine Greece Retreats website at www.imaginegreeceretreats.com, or email him directly.
Jonas Saul is an acclaimed author, teacher, and professional freelance editor. He lends his editing prowess to several publishers and offers private editing services to clients. His website, www.imaginepress.org, is a testament to his editing skills, featuring numerous testimonials from satisfied authors. Jonas is an email away for those needing professional editing.
To book Jonas for a speaking engagement at a writer’s conference/festival, to have him on your jury at a film festival, or even to say hello, email Jonas directly at jonassaul@icloud.com.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 2, 2024
The Kill by Jonas Saul is a fast paced mafia thriller.
The book begins a fast paced ride and doesn’t end until the last page. When Darwin accidentally hits a man and kills him, he doesn’t anticipate the consequences being at the wrong place at the wrong time could cause. When he elopes with his fiancé Rosina, their trip to Rome becomes a nightmare when the mafia place a hit on both of their lives. Violence and murder ensue in a series of violent situations. Somehow a seemingly mild mannered Canadian becomes a killer, trying to safe himself and his new bride.
“This was it. Do or die. He had an accident and killed a man with his Ford Mustang. That’s something he would have to live with for the rest of his life. But now people were trying to kill him and his bride. And that he could not live with “
The book is part of a trilogy. The book is a fast read as the action starts from the first page. I enjoyed the story although it’s definitely over the top.
The book begins a fast paced ride and doesn’t end until the last page. When Darwin accidentally hits a man and kills him, he doesn’t anticipate the consequences being at the wrong place at the wrong time could cause. When he elopes with his fiancé Rosina, their trip to Rome becomes a nightmare when the mafia place a hit on both of their lives. Violence and murder ensue in a series of violent situations. Somehow a seemingly mild mannered Canadian becomes a killer, trying to safe himself and his new bride.
“This was it. Do or die. He had an accident and killed a man with his Ford Mustang. That’s something he would have to live with for the rest of his life. But now people were trying to kill him and his bride. And that he could not live with “
The book is part of a trilogy. The book is a fast read as the action starts from the first page. I enjoyed the story although it’s definitely over the top.
May 5, 2012
Excellent thrilling read. We are never sure quite what the protagonist (Darwin) will do next. Sometimes, neither is he. An exciting ride to the very end.
July 29, 2016
Mr. Saul is apparently of the "Quantity, Not Quality" school of writing. I enjoy good crime fiction, even when the stories aren't terribly original. As long as the writing is good, the story makes sense, and the characters are at least nominally believable and well-developed, I'm happy. I am pretty stubborn about finishing what I start, and I can think of fewer than five books that I have not finished once started in my entire life.
This is one of them.
The "story" makes no sense and the characters are all hints of ghostly caricatures of what a character in a novel might be if the reader had no experience of other humans.
The only thrills I got out of reading a couple of chapters of this book were the kind of thrills mean people get from seeing people slip on the ice and fall on their butts.
Mr. Saul's idea of character development seems to be "I need to provide a surprising detail about this guy on this page so the next paragraph makes sense." For example, the main character was abused as a child, so seeing pointy things make him really angry. Thugs wouldn't like him when he's angry. When kidnapped by Mafia thugs, the main character actually tells one of the kidnappers to show him a knife so he can build up the steam to try and kick his ass. When the totally believable thug does just that, the main character kicks his ass, kills the Mafia co-thug, and escapes. Later, our magical main character (who, by the way, is an author who completes five or six novels A YEAR--just like Mr. Saul, apparently) holds another Mafioso at "gunpoint" using a thick lead pencil.
I got the second volume of this trilogy for free, and bought this book so I could start at the beginning. Thank goodness it was cheap. I guess $2 is not too much to pay for a life lesson. I will not be reading the rest of this book or reading its sequel, or buying book three.
So this review probably took me longer to write than it took Mr. Saul to write "The Kill". Be warned.
This is one of them.
The "story" makes no sense and the characters are all hints of ghostly caricatures of what a character in a novel might be if the reader had no experience of other humans.
The only thrills I got out of reading a couple of chapters of this book were the kind of thrills mean people get from seeing people slip on the ice and fall on their butts.
Mr. Saul's idea of character development seems to be "I need to provide a surprising detail about this guy on this page so the next paragraph makes sense." For example, the main character was abused as a child, so seeing pointy things make him really angry. Thugs wouldn't like him when he's angry. When kidnapped by Mafia thugs, the main character actually tells one of the kidnappers to show him a knife so he can build up the steam to try and kick his ass. When the totally believable thug does just that, the main character kicks his ass, kills the Mafia co-thug, and escapes. Later, our magical main character (who, by the way, is an author who completes five or six novels A YEAR--just like Mr. Saul, apparently) holds another Mafioso at "gunpoint" using a thick lead pencil.
I got the second volume of this trilogy for free, and bought this book so I could start at the beginning. Thank goodness it was cheap. I guess $2 is not too much to pay for a life lesson. I will not be reading the rest of this book or reading its sequel, or buying book three.
So this review probably took me longer to write than it took Mr. Saul to write "The Kill". Be warned.
February 20, 2013
Sure don't recommend this one! Poorly written.
February 26, 2013
Really enjoyed this book. Mysterious, thriller, romance and am looking forward to reading the next one in this series..
February 10, 2020
Excellent pace, unique protagonist
This book kept me turning page after page, the pace was quick and it is an easy to read work. But don't be turned off by it being easy to read, the story is excellent and the character development fantastic. Hoping the next two are just as good, this story would have ended well as a stand alone.
This book kept me turning page after page, the pace was quick and it is an easy to read work. But don't be turned off by it being easy to read, the story is excellent and the character development fantastic. Hoping the next two are just as good, this story would have ended well as a stand alone.
July 24, 2018
This was my first time reading this author. This was good. I would recommend NOT eating while reading this book. The author is really descriptive in the action scenes. Overall, a good read on a cloudy, rainy day.
August 30, 2014
A series of unfortunate events, has made Darwin Kostas into an accidental hit man!
If you read this looking for anything but a gruesome laugh, then you'll be disappointed.
Darwin's phobias is what made me look at the book. I started to read it the STOPPED. I thought, this is just ridiculous, I can't do this. It was like a train wreck, I can't stop looking! Well I found myself reading again thinking"oh come on,what else can happen". Oh never say that. Darwin enters an adult book store to purchase some body cream for his wife,it's not available anywhere else (assume close to where he lives). He returns a dropped piece of paper to a man in the store, but not before he reads it. This act of nosy/kindness send Darwin down a deserted road looking for a PHOBIA MEETING. this is not explained until MUCH further in the book. I wondered what the hell was he doing going to the abandoned plane hanger in the first place. The was a mob shoot out, a single survivor , who was then killed accidentally by Darwin who was busy watching a vehicle burn while diving with the interior lights on, because..... Wait for it.... HES AFRAID OF THE DARK!!!! Death ruled accidental, cops not interested in case because it is a mobsters son who is a really sleazy character. Well now the mob boss wants revenge . They tried kill tohim and his wife several times. Darwin takes his bride to Italy on a honey moon. She is oblivious of any anything wrong happening... I hope this was written as a farce, and no resemblance to any body real or fictional..they've been kidnapped, lied to by the FBI, his father been kidnapped and stabbed. I feel my self compelled to read the second book.
If you read this looking for anything but a gruesome laugh, then you'll be disappointed.
Darwin's phobias is what made me look at the book. I started to read it the STOPPED. I thought, this is just ridiculous, I can't do this. It was like a train wreck, I can't stop looking! Well I found myself reading again thinking"oh come on,what else can happen". Oh never say that. Darwin enters an adult book store to purchase some body cream for his wife,it's not available anywhere else (assume close to where he lives). He returns a dropped piece of paper to a man in the store, but not before he reads it. This act of nosy/kindness send Darwin down a deserted road looking for a PHOBIA MEETING. this is not explained until MUCH further in the book. I wondered what the hell was he doing going to the abandoned plane hanger in the first place. The was a mob shoot out, a single survivor , who was then killed accidentally by Darwin who was busy watching a vehicle burn while diving with the interior lights on, because..... Wait for it.... HES AFRAID OF THE DARK!!!! Death ruled accidental, cops not interested in case because it is a mobsters son who is a really sleazy character. Well now the mob boss wants revenge . They tried kill tohim and his wife several times. Darwin takes his bride to Italy on a honey moon. She is oblivious of any anything wrong happening... I hope this was written as a farce, and no resemblance to any body real or fictional..they've been kidnapped, lied to by the FBI, his father been kidnapped and stabbed. I feel my self compelled to read the second book.
February 26, 2016
This book is not for the squeamish.
This is a Mystery/Thriller
Darwin has a terrible past that has left him with phobias. He is working through them. One day he is out looking for something for his bride to be and happens on a possible therapy session. What happens next changes his life forever.
The story overall is not bad. I liked it but there was so much violence that I had to close my eyes at times. At the same time it seemed necessary to the plot. Others may not take offense or even close their eyes.
Warning: This is for Mature Audiences due to Graphic Violence, Adult Language, and Sexual Situations.
This is a Mystery/Thriller
Darwin has a terrible past that has left him with phobias. He is working through them. One day he is out looking for something for his bride to be and happens on a possible therapy session. What happens next changes his life forever.
The story overall is not bad. I liked it but there was so much violence that I had to close my eyes at times. At the same time it seemed necessary to the plot. Others may not take offense or even close their eyes.
Warning: This is for Mature Audiences due to Graphic Violence, Adult Language, and Sexual Situations.
July 14, 2012
This book was okay. I found that the protagonist was a little unrealistic -- everything just kinda worked out in his favor, nearly 100% of the time. It was almost like he was superhuman which detracted from the book. However, all in all, the story was interesting and the writing voice was effective. I'd read another Jonas Saul book to give it a whirl, but if the next one is as unrealistic as this one, I think I might be done.
January 22, 2015
The Kill (The Mafia Trilogy Book 1)
I love this author. I just finished his 12 Sarah Roberts Thriller books and they were fabulous! This book for me is too much on "is this for real"? Taking on the Mafia because you have phobias that give you a strength so fierce you can overcome bad guys every time. My curiosity is,how will the second book be? Will he and his wife now get through whoever is after them? FBI or mob?
I love this author. I just finished his 12 Sarah Roberts Thriller books and they were fabulous! This book for me is too much on "is this for real"? Taking on the Mafia because you have phobias that give you a strength so fierce you can overcome bad guys every time. My curiosity is,how will the second book be? Will he and his wife now get through whoever is after them? FBI or mob?
September 6, 2015
My one big complaint about this book is that I just had a hard time believing it. I recognize this story is fiction, but even fiction has to be believable to truly connect with the reader. Just too much happened, in too short of a period of time, with the hero impossibly coming out on top with no moral reservations, or internal struggle over becoming a killer, not just once, but multiple times.
March 6, 2013
Really believable! Ahem. If I hadn't paid for this I probably would have put it aside. Characters and story a bit flat.
September 29, 2013
Interesting protagonist. Part Incredible Hulk, Part Monk (the TV show detective). Easy read. Ending not quite satisfying.
Read
February 1, 2014I received this book free from goodreads. The story line is good but the characters need more depth. It is easy reading. It is not one of my favorite books but I do not hate it.
March 27, 2014
Alright story
June 16, 2014
Very easy read, really did enjoy this book, John Saul knows how to hold your interest
September 1, 2014
The synopsis was very intriguing but the story was not as good as it should have been.
Slightly unbelievable story of a young married couple who end up fighting the Mafia.
Slightly unbelievable story of a young married couple who end up fighting the Mafia.
September 15, 2014
It was pretty good but slightly unbelievable in that a phobia turns you into an unstoppable killer. Might read the second book in the series.
July 9, 2014
Fast read. Questionably characters. Finished but questioning reading the next book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews