Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Double or Nothing

SERIES:  Double Trouble

AUTHORS:  Cari Z and LA Witt

NARRATOR:  Nick J. Russo

PUBLISHER:   Author’s Republic

LENGTH:  8 hours and 1 minute

RELEASE DATE:  April 21, 2020

BLURB:

Rich Cody joined the U.S. Marshals to hunt down bad guys, not babysit witnesses. Orders are orders, though, and now he’s protecting a hacker with ties to the Albanian and Sicilian mobs. It’s just another exciting day in WITSEC.

Leotrim Nicolosi was born into a world of crime and bloodshed. When that bloodshed hits too close to home, taking down Leo’s boyfriend — the son of a notorious mob boss — Leo is determined to destroy the Grimaldi family. He’s got evidence that will send every last Grimaldi to prison, he’s got the family’s wealth in an electronic chokehold, and he’s got a vendetta that can only be settled with the blood of the man who killed his lover.

When a routine transfer to a safehouse goes horribly wrong, Rich and Leo narrowly escape with their lives. With the Marshals compromised and Leo being framed for murder, he and Rich are on the run from criminals and law enforcement alike. They have no one to trust except each other, and nowhere to go that their enemies can’t reach.

And the only way out might mean making a deal with the Devil.

REVIEW:

Rich Cody, former Marine and now US Marshal, is tired of his assignment.  He didn’t sign up for the babysitting duties of witness protection before said mob witness and hacker extraordinaire Leo Nicolosi testifies and moves on to his new life, but so be it.  WITSEC is not his idea of a good time.  But he’s key to bringing down the Grimaldi crime family and so Rich does his job. Leo isn’t exactly thrilled to be there either, but he will have his revenge for the murder of his lover and he will make the family pay – literally – as well.

But just as the Marshals are set to move Leo, all hell breaks loose.  And the only way to keep Leo safe is for Rich to get out of Dodge (or Chicago in this case) with Leo in tow and trust no one.  Since somehow the family managed to get inside the Marshals to discover where and when Leo would be moved, there is no knowing just how far up or how deep the organization is compromised.  Rich can’t even trust that he can contact his own father who is a high ranking Marshal.

On the run and with limited resources and everyone looking for them, Rich and Leo try to throw their pursuers off the scent.  The change cars, use cash, get rid of phones, etc. in order to stay one step ahead.  And it’s obvious that things are going from bad to worse when the news broadcast that Leo has taken Rich hostage and they are on the lam.  Add to that Rich’s tiny little issue that he somehow was able to hide when applying to the Marshals and Leo wonders if there is any way for them to make it out of this alive.

Rich does have someone he can trust though.  Leo surprisingly agrees to try it Rich’s way, but when others are put in danger, both men will have to decide what they are willing to do in order to keep innocent civilians safe.  Who can they trust when they are trying to stay one step ahead of both the Marshals and the mob?  It seems like there is little they can do, but they have to try.

This is the second audiobook I’ve listened to by Cari Z and L.A. Witt and it’s once again a roller coaster of a ride.  Rich has a lot baggage from his tours as a Marine.  That baggage may be enough to derail both his new career in the Marshals and also his getaway plans with Leo after everything goes to hell in a handbasket in Chicago.  He can’t trust anyone at this point, which is not how he imagined it would be.  Leo is paranoid, but you know the old saying – it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.  And in this story, it’s absolutely true that everyone is out to get Leo and only Rich seems to really wants to keep him safe.  Their relationship is really rocky to begin with – neither trusting the other, but it’s clear that they probably won’t either last on their own so they come to an understanding if not necessarily a truce.  There are plenty of disagreements and then there is Rich’s PTSD issues that have Leo questioning if Rich is really up to the challenge.  They also come out to each other pretty early on in their flight as Leo explains why he’s so adamant about taking down the Grimaldi’s. It’s obvious that this very personal.  When Rich asks about it and it’s clear he understands why Leo is hellbent on making them pay and Leo relaxes a little when Rich doesn’t even bat an eye.  And of course they grow closer as things get more dire while they are on the run.  They give in to their desires, but it doesn’t distract them from the end game of taking care of business and taking the Grimaldi’s down.

As usual, Nick Russo does a fantastic job with the narration of this book.  There are a LOT of characters and he does a great job in making them all unique and easily distinguishable.  Leo and Rich and the many emotions that they go through are thoroughly believable in this performance.  I felt terrible for both of them and what they had and were going through and how much they were invested in each other and their plan to make things right.  I cannot wait for the next book!  Highly recommended for fans of mob/LEO pairings, action/adventure stories or just a plain old good time with two guys on the run stories.

RATING: 

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