ha, fantastic read! i really enjoyed this book. it had me hooked to both the plot and the characters. it has the light touch of wit, that dark noir, and that character list that you just cant help but want to read more from.
this book brings us to John McGinty who's agreed to manage the restaurant of his friend Lou. but this isn't exactly the job role you see in the ads. for Lou this wannabe gangster type really wants John to be his running man, his detective, his wing man of sorts, there to sort out, do and watch anyone he wants, doing odd dodgy jobs or finding out what the previous manager was up to.
but as if this wasn't getting bad enough, as John digs are undertakes his boss's wishes the more dirtiness he finds and the more darker things get. shady characters and dodgy dealings with drugs mixed in to the mix is not what he thought he was signing up for.
somehow suddenly all these characters you just cant get enough of. you want to know more and what will happen to them all. you want to know more from the settings too and the author does a great job of describing locations so i felt like i could truly feel or picture them and what was happening in each.
this clan has so much more to give and i really want to be able to read more from them if this is what the author has planned. there are certain relationships and open ending to people that i think could be great to get back into exploring.
its twisty and turny in all the right places but mostly allowing you to just be one this ride with a character driven story.
i was having such a good time with this book that i was sorry i came to the end. which i did very quickly as i just didn't want to stop reading.
some books have something about them. and this is one of those books for me. loved it.

I enjoyed this book! There were a few places that fell flat for me but overall this was a great story and written well! Would recommend

I requested this book because I spent my entire childhood through college vacationing in Wildwood and I wanted the nostalgia. Unfortunately this was incredibly slow moving and I the writing didn’t do it for me so this was a DNF.

Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it won’t be for you. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

This was a fun read for someone who vacations in Wildwood every summer.

This is a story about secrets, violence, and corruption. Beneath the sunny exterior of Wildwood with its beaches and boardwalk, there is something much more sinister at play. Ginty finds himself in the middle of a dangerous situation when he says yes to a job at Lou Scolletta's restaurant in Wildwood. Lou recently had to fire his former manager for stealing money and asked Ginty to look into it while working as the new manager.

Ginty quickly discovers there is much more to the story than just stealing cash from the register. Drugs are being dealt, secret alliances are formed, and people are acting ruthlessly.

This story is fast paced and keeps you wanting to find out more!

There's no better beach read for this summer, than a "Jersey Noir" story taking place at the Jersey Shore, principally Wildwood and Cape May, with a little Cape May Point thrown in for good measure

John McGinty is a down on his luck "Mick" who agrees to run a Wildwood Restaurant as a favor to Lou, a South Philly wannabe gangster. Even before he gets down the shore, trouble finds "Ginty" on the Garden State Parkway and his problems snowball when he learns that the previous Manager was skimming from the restaurant and Lou tasks him with finding out what happened. He also is tasked with finding out what is going on with Lou's wife Concetta when she goes down to Cape May.

Written in the style of Raymond Chandler or James M. Cain, the more Ginty looks, the deeper into trouble he gets as he encounters drug dealers, a gorgeous French Canadian Paralegal on vacation, crooked cops, tough guys and junkies, including Lou's Son Davy. Eventually he has to help unravel a blackmail scheme that could cost him his freedom, or the life of someone close to him.

Having gone down to the NJ Shore for decades, and having a summer home in Cape May Point, I truly enjoyed this hard boiled thriller going to many of the places that I've gone to, or driven by all these years.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good beach read, especially anyone with a soft spot for the Jersey Shore.

I give this book 3.5 stars. I immediately was interested when I saw Wildwood in the title. I grew up in new Jersey and seeing a book about the Shore peaked my interest. The writing was not always the easiest to follow, but overall I really enjoyed the story. The ending was to abrupt for my taste. I think this is a great beach read with mystery, likeable characters, and comedic relief.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

I decided to give this book a try purely because I go to Wildwood, NJ every June to attend Barefoot Country Music Fest.

I found the writing style to be very choppy and disjointed. There were times when I had a difficult time following along with what the author was trying to say. It was very obvious that this book was written by a male author. It lacked descriptions, back stories, and "fluff." The writing was very much "to the point."

The cast of characters was very colorful, and for the most part, the characters were likable. I really wanted to know more about Concetta and Lou's relationship.

I felt that the ending was very abrupt, and it just came out of nowhere.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.