BOYSTOWN Season 9 by Jake Biondi #LGBT #Review #ReleaseDay

Dana reviews BOYSTOWN Season 9 by Jake Biondi (Published December 14, 2018, 291 pages) A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 1 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 2 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 3 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 4 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 5 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 6 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 7 click here. To read the review for BOYSTOWN Season 8 click here.

Blurb:

 

“Logan looked in the kitchen for Dustin or Max, while Keith walked deeper into the main room. Looking down, Keith noticed a small blood stain on the floor. ‘What the hell?’ Logan rushed over to his side and the two immediately noticed a trail of blood, which seemed to get bigger as it reached the bedroom. Logan yelled out again, ‘Max?’ Keith and Logan rushed toward the bedroom where they found a bloody handprint on the wall and doorway. Looking into the bedroom, Logan gasped as Keith cried out, ‘Oh, my God!’” –BOYSTOWN Season Eight

The horrific discovery in the apartment of Max Taylor and Dustin Alexander leaves a life hanging in the balance and begins a mystery that involves many of Boystown’s prominent residents. And with Marco Ciancio’s killer still on the loose, no one in Boystown is safe. 

Members of the Ciancio and Mancini families continue to live in fear as the murderer manages to stay one step ahead of Commander Michael Martinez and Detective Jack Kramer.Meanwhile, Franco Armani’s twisted plan for revenge against Patrick Provenzano reaches a fatal finale, Justin and Emmett Mancini rush their brother Derek to the hospital, Gino Ciancio responds to Victor DelVecchio’s marriage proposal, and a snowstorm strands Cole Mancini and Jensen Stone in Boston where they make a decision that will impact the lives of those they love.

Later, when the suave Massoud Ahmed arrives in Chicago seeking investors in the River Pointe project, the Ciancios and Mancinis quickly become ensnared in a devious scheme masquerading as a business opportunity. In the process, some relationships are ruined while others are revisited, Jesse Morgan turns on those who love him most, and Marco’s murderer strikes again…and again. 

It all leads up to a wedding the likes of which Chicago has never seen and BOYSTOWN readers will never see coming.

There’s no place like BOYSTOWN!

 

Buy links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Smashwords   Add to Goodreads

What to say about this book? I just finished reading it as I write this and I want to laugh and scream at the same time. I’ve reviewed every book of this series so far and always feel the same while reading them. I say it in every review but, as a reminder, this series is like a soap opera in print. There is backstabbing and cheating and murder. There are male/female relationships, gay and lesbian relationships, and transgender characters all vying to bring the most drama to this neighborhood in Chicago. Most of the characters are wealthy or semi-famous and while their lives aren’t something I can relate to and the constant relationship shifts make me raise my eyebrows, I am usually entertained reading the books. Entertained, and frustrated; trying not to scream at my reading device when bad things happen to my favorite characters, that is.

BOYSTOWN Season 9 starts like most of them. After the cliffhanger in the previous book, I look to see which characters have survived the aftermath of whatever craziness befell them. It’s like searching for survivors after a natural disaster. In this book, most of the characters I liked made it, though not everyone. Some characters I hated saw their demise or were about to, and there was some relief in that. The problem with soaps is that the bad guy appear to win to often at least for a certain amount of time. They usually reap what they sow but the length of their staying power always makes me so frustrated. I want justice and I want it quick. But that would be too easy, I know. Some of our known baddies do seem like they will keep up their dastardly work throughout this book, though. And as things start to stabilize halfway through the book, I know not to get comfortable because the end isn’t here yet and there are so many things that can happen.

The author did something very different in this book than the previous books, and I was quite surprised. Even now there is a squealing, keening feeling behind my chest trying to escape. Even though I am home alone, I feel quite ridiculous letting it out. Quite a few characters create an explosive ending that might seem similar to the endings of the previous books. A fall down the stairs for a pregnant character, shots fired and several peoples lives might have been taken, a car bomb goes off, and a business deal looks to take down two powerful families. Normally, I’d have to wait half a year to find out what happened that fateful night to these characters, biting my nails.

Surprise!! There is one more episode (chapter) left and we are sent 25 years into the future. We discover casualties of that night and some other losses that happened over the years between. Things seem settled for so many couples as they gather to celebrate a wedding for the offspring of two families. I nearly sighed with relief that the drama seemed to be over for all of the BOYSTOWN characters. They are older and wiser and maybe the wrongdoings of the bad guys in the past have taught them something. WRONG! We might be seeing the settling down of some of the characters, it’s true, but some still have some surprises in them, and now there is another generation of schemers and cheaters to entertain us. Eek!!!

This series isn’t for the faint of heart, for those who hate cliffhangers. The ending of this book left me excited and nervous. While there is some romance going on, this definitely isn’t a m/m romance and some of the sex just feels wrong to me, knowing how awful these people are. I might have skimmed those parts. There are characters you will definitely root for, and those you can’t wait to see karma have their way with. But if you are a fan of TV soaps and dramas, I think you will definitely find these books enjoyable. The author has definitely created a unique world with interesting characters and I will be reading to see what happens next.

9/10 Pots of Gold (90% Recommended) – Compares to 4.5/5 Stars

JAKE BIONDI

Jake Biondi began BOYSTOWN in June of 2013 as an online story and intended to release one “episode” online per month, each ending in a cliffhanger. The story became so popular — and the online reading audience grew so quickly — that people from all over the country began to email him demanding to know what happened to their favorite characters and wanting the episodes to be released faster. They also had suggestions for future storylines. Excited by and grateful for his readers’ responses to BOYSTOWN, Biondi began to write and release installments more quickly.

In November of 2013, Biondi moved BOYSTOWN offline and published the first ten installments in book form as BOYSTOWN Season One.  The book became an international hit, with fans all over the globe clamoring for more.  BOYSTOWN Season Two was published in July of 2014. Season Three was released on May 1, 2015, Season Four was released on November 13, 2015, Season Five was released on June 1, 2016, Season Six was released on December 16, 2016, Season Seven was released on July 7, 2017, Season Eight was released on February 14, 2018, and Season Nine was released on December 14, 2018.
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​Because of the popularity of the book series, fans have suggested that BOYSTOWN be turned into a television series. Biondi recently completed the TV scripts for the first season of BOYSTOWN and hopes to bring the series to television in the very near future.

Welcome to BOYSTOWN.