Very dark and violent crime drama set in the post-prohibition era of Detroit and centered on a successful, powerful family who control much of the business in their neighborhood - from printing to nightclubs to brothels. I found it a little to long and a bit tedious. Every book has its reader and I just wasn't well matched to this one.

Narration/Audiobook: 4/5
ARC/Overall Story: 3/5

This was a solid generational crime and historical fiction novel. After the release of Sinners I can see a lot of people being drawn to stories like this. There’s a lot of moving parts to this story and something in every chapter to keep us turning pages.

By far my favorite components of the story were the historical elements. I appreciated the intention to include those informational moments that enhanced our placement in the story.

Now I do have one grievance. This book should’ve been longer. It reads like a movie in the way so many occurrences feel like scenes shifting without time to settle in them. I enjoyed the fast pace of the book but in a story like this I would’ve loved more time to connect with the characters.

Thanks to Amistad for this ARC!

This is a crime story written as part of the Blair Underwood presents series, which follows the Carter family as they fled the Jim Crow south and establish a criminal empire in Detroit in the 1930s. This hits the familiar beats you would expect from this kind of crime drama. They do a nice job establishing the different members of the Carter family and establishing moments of conflict. The book never really veered from the expected though, and felt at times just like a season of a prestige television show, put into a novel form.