Will Adams is hunting crime boss Vito Adamo when Adamo's driver is killed and Will is set up for the crime. Will eventually ends up involved in a war between the Gianollas and Adamo and with the teamsters trying to take over his fathers electric car company. This is the second book in a series and I haven't read the first. There is a lot of mention of events in the first book so I think this series would be better read in order. I did like the history of Detroit. I found the writing to be somewhat stilted. ( )

Incredible plot with a crazy twist ending that will leave you stunned. I choses this book because second in a series, and my second cousin wrote it.

In this sequel to The Detroit Electric Scheme, Will Anderson is driven to avenge the murder of his friend, Wesley. It has been seven months since Vito Adamo terrorized Will and his love interest, Elizabeth, and murdered their friend, but Will’s determination for vengeance is still strong. No longer an alcoholic, Will is now addicted to morphine, a habit he acquired to ease the horrible pain due to the disfigurement of his right hand by sulphuric acid at the hands of Adamo’s men.

The novel begins with Will trailing an Adamo gang member with the motive of killing him. However, when Will goes to the man’s apartment, he finds that the gangster is already dead. Unfortunately for Will, he is spotted outside of the man’s apartment and is booked for the murder. When another man confesses to the crime, Will is let go by the police but promptly shaken down by a rival gang, the Gianollas. In return for getting Will out of jail by pressuring another man to confess to the crime, the Gianollas want Will to convince his father, the owner of Detroit Electric, to allow the Teamsters to represent the factory employees. Will is forced to work with Adamo to get the Gianollas off of his back. In a late story turn of events, we find out that both gangs have been played by yet another party who has it in for everyone.

Johnson bases much of his story around actual events that happened at the time his novels take place with historical settings that are thoughtful and keenly researched. He has a flair for suspense, drama, violence and double-crossings, resulting in intriguing, fast-paced stories.

Gritty realistic portrayal of Detroit at the beginning of the century. Great story lines and characters. ( )

First things first: don't read the blurb for this book if you at all think you're going to read the first book, Detroit Electric Scheme, as the description totally spoils book one. (And I think you'll want to read the first book first.) I enjoyed Detroit Electric Scheme and so was eager to read this book.

Set in 1911, Detroit, the novel continues to follow Will Anderson, a young man devastated by the last three years. Will finds himself framed for murder in Detroit Electric Scheme, and this book starts about seven months later. Sustaining a crippling injury from the first book, Will now struggles with a morphine addiction and an all-consuming desire for revenge. In trying to get back at the men who hurt him and those he cared about, Will becomes embroiled in a turf war between two Sicilian families.

I wasn't wild about the plot of this book as much as the first one, but I'm not a Mafia fangirl myself. However, knowing that the turf war depicted in this story was historically accurate made it more interesting to me, and it's apparent Johnson loves Detroit and Detroit history. As a result, I cared, too.

I noticed a change in Johnson's writing in this novel: there was less peppering of historical trivia in the narrative than in the first book, and I found the story read a little more effortlessly. Even though I loved the tidbits I learned in Detroit Electric Scheme, I was aware I was reading; now, I found myself sinking into the story and emerging only when nudged by my wife to eat dinner or go to bed.

Fans of historical crime fiction will enjoy this series -- I love the unique setting and the real place-as-character feel.  Plus, I think Johnson is working on a third book, which makes me very excited -- Detroit has been added to my list of places to visit someday thanks to his very obvious love for the city -- and I'm looking forward to Will's further adventures. ( )