Disorganized Crime

Kat Makris #1

by Alex A. King

Kat Makris was just a kid when her father spun wild and gruesome bedtime stories about Baboulas, the Greek boogeyman, a fearsome creature with a penchant for stealing gold and clashing with the gods.

Now Kat is twenty-eight, single, an only child halfway to orphaned, and her father's weirdo fairy tales lie crumpled at the bottom of her childhood closet, in the house where she still lives. But when her father is abducted by men with crooked noses, she discovers his old stories were true—true crime, that is. What does Kat know about crime? Nothing, that's what. Her only transgression, to date, is underage drinking. Even her driving record is pristine.

Her couch-to-cubicle existence shattered by his kidnapping--and the discovery of his secret and deadly past as a mobster for the Greek mafia--Kat is determined to find her father, even if it means forming an unholy and felonious alliance with Greece's boogeyman …

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Humor, Crime, Amazon, Cozy Mystery, Ebooks

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2015

Reviews

[W. J. Kissel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a trap!

Aside from the occasional bouts of typos the story was fairly entertaining. The problem is the book just stopped. All the way through the book you're wondering about the father and you're still wondering when the book ends. I'm sorry but I resent being set up to buy another book just to finish the story that was started in the first one and I don't trust the author to finish the story in the next book.

[Connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me the author missed the mark on about every level with this book. If it hadn't been a book I was reading for my book club I would not have finished it. I felt the author bantered on at times with no substance. The attempts at humor was seriously lacking, often time degrading and distasteful. Yes, its a story about a mob family, but the deadpan attempts just wasn't all that good. I had trouble concentrating, just nothing I could grab on to with this one.

[Karin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes, I realize that the person who suggested this to me enjoyed this at 4 stars and she is a very intelligent, educated woman, so you can read this with a grain of salt (humour is subjective)--this is all IMO.

So, is it just me, or is this a formula with comic mafia books with young women? 1 part is young woman grows up having NO IDEA that her dad is in the mafia (haven't read one where it was the mother yet), 1 part she finds out when a parent dies or goes missing or some other way by accident, 1 part she is TSTL, etc?

I am all for the comic caper, but just for once, could the protagonist not be utterly stupid? Just once? Surely there are other ways to be funny--in fact I know there are--than to make the protagonist TSTL. I did like the fact that it turns out her Grandmother was the head of this mob family instead of it being her grandfather, but, to be frank, it's like this 28 year old had her head up her nether regions. At first I thought there would be a learning curve for her, so I carried on past the point of no return, only to find out that she just stays stupid, and I mean right up until the doggone climactic scene of the book.

I will not be reading any more of these even if the end of this, while resolving one problem, did not solve the mysterious disappearance of her dad. It was all I could do to keep reading and reading and reading. I am going to celebrate when this 10 month long reading game is over and will make, once again, a vow to never play another competitive reading game that involves so much reading thinking that somehow I will manage to keep it only in fun and not too competitive longer than, I don't know, a week or two?

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea

I can see why this book is on the best seller list. The writing style is breezy and informal, easy to read and keep reading.
However I don't like the heroine, who does stupid thing after stupid thing and is always surprised at the consequences of doing that stupid thing. I also found the sheer number of pop culture references, which were on about every other page, distracting.
It's the first book in a series so it is to be expected that there is still unraveled plot threads, but the main conflict introduced isn't solved by the end, so watch out for that if that's not your thing.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The humor and story are enjoyable. I would recommend this book If you don’t mind a very abrupt ending. I won’t read anymore of the series in case they all end this way. (There appear to be at least 9 books in the series. ). It seems as if the purpose of this book is to get the reader to read the next one.
Books in a series which can also stand alone with some sort of conclusion are much better.

[thecursed_Reader💫📖📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 16, and I remember laughing crazily at 2:45 am. so my rating is based off nostalgic feelings.
Don't judge me

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread (for the third or fourth time) May 24th, 2019
This is still a pretty good book, don't get me wrong. It's very funny, has lots of action, and the characters are quite intriguing. King creates a good MC, and setting. Greece isn't something you read about in a lot of English language books, and she does a really good job of introducing it. I will say, the fourth or so time around, I'm pretty ready to get to the really good stuff (and book two is a favorite of mine) which does make this first book slightly less interesting. However, for a first time reader that likes humor, family, and Greece (and doesn't mind the mafia), I'd highly recommend this book (and series!) as it's in my top twenty all time favorites. 5 stars.

[Cherie Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of Stephanie Plum give it a go I don't think you would be disappointed.

[Tien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't particularly sure what I was getting into here so I started with a little bit of hesitation but you know, for the sake of my team reading challenge ;) I was pleasantly surprised, however, as it was HI-LA-RI-OUS!! Okay, so you have to suspend disbelief and try hard NOT to think at all but gosh, it's funny. I love all quirky humour and Greek sayings etc. I loved the grandmother (why is she not referred to as yia-yia?!), Aunt Rita (transgender but totally kicks ass), and silly cousins. Nothing wrong with some eye candies either (or is that brain candies?), one the silent strong type and the other handsome in uniform. Oh yes, hours of entertainment which I've truly enjoyed.

If you're a fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, I think you'll love this one too.

[Ted Tayler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The laughs won out"

As a crime thriller with Greek characters in the US this would have sunk without trace. However, shifting the scene to Greece and overloading the story with lashings of humour somehow kept my interest. The plot was ordinary. Some of the characters were crazy-good and some crazy-bad. Then there were the laugh-out-loud one-liners that I'll take with me to my grave. The laughs won out.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

2020 bk 315. I enjoyed Alex King's Greek Ghouls series so much that I had to try her Greek Mafia series and luckily for me the book arrived yesterday. No ghosts in this one, but a grandmother who is the head of a Greek crime family, an abduction, a missing father, and being whisked off to Greece all adds up to another fun series. I really enjoyed her character descriptions and continue to learn a few Greek words. Definitely I'll try book 2 of this series.

[Rosemary Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best ever

You can not put this book down after you start to read it. Extremely funny and captivating. Written with just the right amount of sarcasm and realism. This is a must read and I want more like this. I am now a big fan of the author, Alex A. King and Kat Makris with a S.

[Sherry Herndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. There were times when plot moved slow but overall a good book!

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disorganized crime is a fast paced read with some pretty colorful characters laugh out loud funny at times. Katerina's Dad supposedly gets kidnapped. Two Cousins whom she has never met nor did she even know they existed convinces her to travel to Greece with them ( A Syringe was the convincer) When she wakes up she discovers she is in Greece and whats even more shocking is she has Family there. She learns her crazy baking Grandma is the scary Bogeyman Baboules in the stories her Dad told her as a child. And Kat finds out thats she's a Female God Father of a crime family who lived together in a protected compound with a weapons armory. She meets Aunt Rita Grandmas accountant who is also a fashionable cross dresser a cute body guard who is mute and a bunch of cousins. The Baptist is a goon who wants her dead. Grandma drugs her and ships her back to the States but Kat comes back to Greece she has to stay on the trail to find her Father. If you enjoy books with plenty of action and puzzling happenings I highly recommend you read Disorganized crime. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Martha Bratton · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK--it kept me reading to find out what happened (I didn't, because it didn't close on the main question in the book), and it was lively. However--It seemed very imitative of Janet Evanovich (as Evanovich books are self-imitative), and was a little too contrived.

There were moments when I wondered if the author took a Mad Libs approach and sat with a group of friends to plug in an unexpected word in a phrase that didn't have enough life in it. There were some delightful passages.

I was thinking of recommending it to a Greek girlfriend, but it was too irreligious for a traditional Greek-American. I may simply not appreciate the crime family situation in Greece.

[Judith Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointment

The book grabbed me from the beginning. I was looking forward to an e notable summer read. Some of the cha e caters were quirky. I grew to appreciate them. Then, why not a better rating? SPOILER ALERT. Don't read farther if you plan to read this book.
Usually if I am reading a mystery, I know that by the end of the book the mystery will be resolved. By not answering the biggest question in the book the author, I feel, is using this first book in the series to get you to buy the next one. I feel that I spent my time for nothing. Sorry

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

kat realizes her dad has been kidnapped by 2 mobster thugs. soon after she is taken also by what turns out to be her family. she is drugged and flown to Greece where she meets her grandmother for the first time. she slowly starts to realize the fairytale so her father told her growing up are true and about her family. absolutely a funny read with very fun you characters, I can't wait to find do what happens next with katlynn, her grandmother, father and the rest of family!!

[Grace Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I was hooked by the 3rd page. Will enjoy following the series. This author is so great at telling stories!

[Maria Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

reviewed at the blog.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining read! Loved the pop culture references, and look forward to reading more of the series.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie Plum meets Tony Soprano and his family on Mt. Pelion, Greece. That's the only way I can describe the high octaine entertainment of this first in a series centered on The Family, Greek-style.

Katerina, the only daughter of a Greek national truck driver and an average American woman, is living in Portland, OR,and finally at 28 moving out of the family home into her own apartment. Your initial impression is that Kat is a bit of a wastrel - working a dead-end job when not binging tv from the livingroom couch, still adjusting to her mother's death 9 years earlier from cancer. She appears to have no other family, and knows little about her father's life in Greece before he came to the US 30 years earlier or about family there. What she does know are lots and lots of stories about Baboulas a/k/a the Greek Bogeyman.

Coming home for dinner, she arrives to find her father missing, having been abducted according to the neighbor by two mafiosos earlier that day. While Kat waits for a ransom call after calling the cops, debating on how to find her father, two goons show up at her door - more Keystone Kops than evil henchmen, tranquilize her and bundle her off into a private jet to ---- you guessed it, Mt. Pelion, Greece. There the romp begins, starting with Kat meeting a formidable tiny grandmother she never knew, discovering that her 'new' family is Family, and that there is one hunky Greek to be drooled over after another. Technically Kat is looking for her missing father, as is the Family, but someone else is stalking her, leading to plenty of surprises and action.

Colorful characters abound - trans-Aunt Rita, Melas the local cop, a true villain named the Baptist, Dad's crazy ex-girlfriend (from 30 years before) Dina, sidekicks and henchmen galore, a goat who adopts Kat, a pink scoorter and a yellow convertible VW Bug. I found myself snickering out loud many times, but how could you not enjoy colorful funny turns of phrase like The air crackled like empty chip bags, and the grass lay panting on top of dry dirt.

Or this: Greece is like an aging drag queen...

Or this: An outhouse is just a bunch of bushes with ambition but no real skill.

Told from Kat's perspective, you can't help but like this surprising spunky spirited young woman who is definitely a lot more than she seems when ou first meet her. I can't wait to continue the adventures, and I really hope we find and rescue her father soon because boy will he have a lot of 'splainin to do!

[Judah Kosterman · Rating 2 out of 5]

For about 150 pages, Katerina Makris is a snarky Greek-American millennial stuck in a one-star fish-out-of-water-story. She's been kidnapped by her Greek cousins and spirited away to the mother country for safe keeping after her Greek immigrant father was kidnapped by who knows who. Turns out her whole family are mobsters, every guy she's not related to is a gorgeous sexist who wants to manhandle her (which it turns out she likes) or infantilize her (which she tolerates), every new situation is an excuse to drop a pop-culture reference or a male-on-male sex joke, and every door she knocks on in search of dad's old frenemies just earns her another enemy of her own. And then her cousins dump her back in America, out of the reach of her new enemies. And then she uses an old contact to get a quickie U.S. passport and return to Greece. And with this restart, the book finally gets good.

Kat's transperson Aunt Rita - the mob accountant who rides to her rescue in a pink convertible, guns a-blazin' - is a consistent and consistently interesting character through the book. Kat's grandmother finally gets multi-dimensional, Kat's hunky but silent bodyguard's backstory begins to be illuminated, the complicating ties between Kat's family and the Greek detective she's crushing on are revealed, her dad's loony ex gets to redeem herself a bit, people who matter start dying, and Kat claims her mob heritage (sorta) to get out of the peril of actually being kidnapped by a new enemy who wants her dead.

FInd her dad? Not so much, or there'd be no reason for books two and on. Find herself? Yes, so that mercifully the self-reflection recedes to a normal level and action (heck - even just conversations) can flow. Worth reading book two? Yes - now. But this three-to-four-star book end would've done so much better without the dragged-out one-star beginning.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh; another case of it was incomplete because it's part of a series that depends on its successors to tell the whole story :-(. I understand that some books are part of a "requisite" collection, but I prefer that that necessity be indicated BEFORE the money, the time, and effort are invested. Don't get me wrong, I believe that series of books are a reasonable thing. But when I start reading a book, and in the beginning it states a goal, UNLESS it is downright advertised as just the start of the story, it p*sses me off.
That said: overall the book was amusing and mildly likable. I found the motivations and actions of the main character to be a bit lacking, but that may just be me – I just don't think that I personally would get that wrapped up in this sort of undertaking. The variety of characters is complex, and despite the fact that they are for the most part a big part of organized crime, their individual personal values clearly play a big role in how they run their lives. The consistent underlying GOOD in most characters is almost surprising but redeemable. I sort of want to continue the series just to see those characters and what their individual life solutions and up, but I sort of don't want to get involved in a story whose endpoint is unclear – not the question of what exactly the end of the story is, but how many books exactly are required to find out…

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a dog you know where you stand. With a cat all you know is where you can't sit. [p. 44]

Kat Makris is twenty-eight, single and lives in Portland with her Greek father: she's just about to tell him that she's moving out when he disappears -- and before Kat can do more than panic, she too is abducted by persons unknown.

Kat's dad used to tell her stories about a monstrous creature known as Baboulas, known all over Greece for theft and murder and silencing the opposition. 'There were only two ways to escape Baboulas, the way he told it: death or the Witness Protection Program—and the second one was kind of iffy.' Now Kat, whisked away to Greece and confronted with a plethora of relatives that she's never met, discovers that Baboulas is not at all mythical, but horribly real: and she is going to have to face Baboulas or give up on her beloved father.

That makes this novel sound very grim, which is far from the case. There is romance, humour -- a great deal of humour, some of it not wholly appropriate to circumstances -- and a great deal of good food. (I snacked so much while reading this!) Kat is somewhat prone to leaping in where angels, and her unangelic family, fear to tread: I mean, obviously you march up to the local crime lord to demand information on your father's whereabouts, yes? (The correct answer is 'no'.) But she is constantly witty, surprisingly sensible when she needs to be, and resilient.

A light, uplifting, enjoyable read -- though be warned, there is more story to come (eight book series!), and only a few sub-plots are wrapped up in this volume, currently free on Kindle UK.

[Jody Kary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comic mystery in the Mediterranean

I need to start by saying I'm Greek and loved that the story is set mostly in Greece and has lots of references to Greek food, societal norms, etc., so I really enjoyed that aspect. There is a lot of humor and does somewhat have the feel of the Evanovich/Stephanie Plum stories in that the main character is funny and probably too brave for her own good. There could also be a relationship triangle like the Plum books. I liked how more and more about Kat's father's family and past is revealed as the book goes on. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I can see where there's a lot of room to grow the characters and story development. I read this book for free on my Kindle but I'm purchasing the rest of the series today! The one thing that bothered me were lots of typos/misspellings that were distracting, hopefully better in future books in the series. Btw, I'm good at finding those mistakes of anyone needs iy.

[Henriette · Rating 4 out of 5]

When trying to have her usual Sunday dinner with her father Kat finds out that her father was kidnapped by people who look like mobsters. Shortly after two Greek mobsters show up, drug her and smuggle her to Greece. However, these two hoodlums happen to be her cousins as unbeknownst to get, she is a mob princess. And the bogeyman her father told her about all her life is indeed her grandmother.

The book was very humorous. Not only the characters comments but also the way the author described the scenery. I also love it when I get the references. I get the impression that the author and I have a similar taste in movies. It was so fun that I will even overlook the fact that for the most part, the heroine acted as if she were a character in a horror movie. I wouldn't suggest antagonizing mobsters and psychopathic killers even if you are looking for your father.

I will definitely read the next one, even if I fear that a love triangle (I just hate those) is about to start.

[Nicole Hughes-Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breath of fresh air

Wow this was a great read!

Picked because I love the front cover and the title. Thought it might be funny.

I love the writing style of King. Straight away I was alert to her unique style of story telling and I enjoyed that she is consistently on point throughout.

There is a little Greek in there, which I love, not enough in my personal opinion, but then I do love languages.

The story is a really great length as well, and I enjoyed how the relationships evolved with Grandma, Takis and Stavros, Melos and Aunt Rita. All memorable and distinguishable characters well thought out. The Baptist was believable too.

I found it refreshing, easy to read, few mistakes (couple of minor ones I believe) and memorable.

Would definitely buy and read more from this author. Great.

[M.J. van der Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book but WARNING : it has a lot of sarcastic humour. If you don't relate to that, don't read it ... It is a relatively short book, easily 'eaten'. Has an open ending with which you must be able to cope. But then of course you can just start reading part two. And have others wondering where your good humour suddenly comes from.
Furthermore it has a lot of short fast sentences that gives it a special atmosphere and creates great by-lines, but then of course you have to like short sentences compared to those books where the lines go on endlessly and in the end confuse you and having you wondering what the start of the sentence again was or why the h*ll the phone has to ring while you are halfway and finally understanding what the writer has to say or at least you think you do, sort of, or didn't.

[Frank Carver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, and its cover, seemed to categorise itself as a "cozy mystery", but I felt it was too violent for that. The genre-typical light romance was at odds with the almost gritty danger faced by the protagonist, who is nearly killed on several occasions during run-ins with a psycho serial killer ex-cop. A lot of the set piece situations feel like lightly-modified tourist experiences loosely tied together with a mystery. Plot lines and most of the characters, particularly those in the "family" are two-dimensional at best, and did not really contribute to either the romance or the resolution of the central mystery.
The book kept me interested until the end, but I won't be reading any more of this series.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're after a very funny action mystery, then grab this book. It is bulging with funny action, funny dialogue, funny character thoughts, and a lot of funny innuendo. It is pretty well proofread also.

Okay, it's the start of a series and there's a cliff-hanger involved, but don't let this stop you from enjoying this book. (Once you've read the book, you'd be looking for more from this author anyway.) There's a lot of negative reviews because of the cliff-hanger and silly actions, but these 'academics' forget to just to lose yourself for a while from your daily stresses the same way you would go to a circus to see the clowns. I'll be making sure that I follow this series when I'm searching for a just plain old laugh.

Highly recommended.