Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Cop vs. Capo
SERIES: Hitman vs. Hitman
AUTHORS: Cari Z and L.A. Witt
NARRATOR: Michael Ferraiuolo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 37 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2024
BLURB:
Wherever August Morrison and Ricardo Torralba go, chaos is sure to follow. The authors certainly know this, since their “standalone book” has now turned into a series with no end in sight, because…UGH. These two. We give up.
Anyway.
Detective David Chandler had no clue what he was getting into when he and his partner decided they were going to nail August for murder. They didn’t realize it was one of the few murders August didn’t commit, or that their homicide investigation would lead them into the middle of a mob war.
Cavalcante underboss Pedro Silva knew asking August and Ricardo for help was a terrible idea. Just mentioning their names is bad for Pedro’s blood pressure. Owing them a favor? Oh Lord. He still asked, though, because he was out of options, but he can’t say he didn’t know he’d regret it.
Neither man expected things to blow up this badly.
Now they’re both on the run from the mafia, the cops, and everyone in between… except for August and Ricardo. On one hand, that means they have two expert assassins in their corner. On the other, it means they have the biggest troll on the planet heckling them at every turn. And sticking them in a safehouse together. With only one bed.
And if August or Ricardo make one more comment about how Dave and Pedro should just hook up already…
Cop vs. Capo is 67,500 words long, and is book 4 of the Hitman vs. Hitman series.
CW: combat PTSD, alcoholism, on-page violence, discussion of abuse of a sex worker
REVIEW:
NOTE: this is the fourth book in a series and honestly you will probably be lost if you haven’t read/listened to them in order.
I had been wanting Silva to get his own book and here it is 🙂 The fact that he ends up paired with one of the cops from the cliffhanger ending of the last book is just icing on the cake. On the surface these guys are total opposites. Underneath though, they have a lot in common and despite some initial friction, turns out there is a lot of UST during their time in hiding together. Of course August and Ricardo are doing their best to keep Silva and Chandler alive and get out of this mess themselves – thus repaying the favor that they owe Pedro Silva and can move on 🙂
The problem of this story is knowing who to trust. Pedro is caught between a rock and a hard place. Both mob families don’t trust him after the whole mess with the distribution center blow up. Both families have lots of cops on their payroll. The first attempt for Pedro to talk to the Cavalcantes goes OK, but when they show up to the second meeting, well things go a bit sideways. Pedro was hurt in the original shootout and has a pretty severe concussion that is not helping matters.
Then there is the issue of Dave’s less than savory past, the loss of his partner/father figure, and being cooped up with a mob guy. He’s a clean cop – one of the not so many – and he doesn’t like any of this one bit. But given the situation, he could wind up dead at the hands of either the mob or one of the cops in the pockets of the mob families. Frankly no great choices.
Pedro and Dave are making the best of their isolation. August and Ricardo show up randomly with groceries, weapons, clothes, etc. while they are stashed at the safehouse. The get on each others nerves repeatedly, but as they try to figure out a way to get out of this mess with both of their skins, their options keep dwindling. When Dave makes a move that saves Pedro, their anger spills over and their attraction is no longer something they can ignore 😉 So of course that would be when things really start to go to hell in a handbasket. And despite an attempt at being the hero and at least trying to save one of their skins, neither is going down without a fight – thankfully with Ricardo and August as backup 😀
I absolutely love this series. I have been waiting for this audio for seemingly EVER! I am so happy it’s here 🙂 This one is a little unusual as the main characters are not the hitmen this time. Instead, the MCs are two individuals who got caught up in the shootout involving the distribution of deadly tainted drugs making the rounds that ended the last book in this series, Killer vs. Kingpin. Michael Ferraiuolo is an absolute ROCKSTAR narrating this series. I was really happy to see both couples – Pedro and Dave and Ricardo and August in a great place at the end of this book. But I sure hope that doesn’t mean that this is the end! I love Ricardo and August and their craziness 🙂 August is the funniest hitman ever. These characters are so unique and their relationship is a hoot and a half. I really hope this isn’t the end – I mean I know this was supposed to be a standalone and now we’re 4 books in, but come on. There has to be more 😉 Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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