A Promise of Ruin

Written by Cuyler Overholt

Narrated by Carly Robins

To stop the trafficking ring plaguing her city, Dr. Genevieve Summerford must dive into New York's underworld In early 1900s New York, the formidable crime syndicate known as the Black Hand has been terrorizing the city's Italian community with bombings and kidnappings. When a young Italian girl is found drowned and sexually defiled, Dr. Genevieve Summerford suspects the organization has expanded into forced prostitution, and she won't rest until the trafficking ring is brought to justice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781501955723

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This excellent mystery series continues, once again brilliantly depicting early twentieth century New York city, from the point of view of a strong, intelligent, woman physician. This particular book centers on the Italian immigrant community and on the illicit sexual slavery trade. Some parts are horrifying, most are deeply moving, and Genevieve's character continues to develop. I also really love the somewhat ambiguous representation of the Tammany political machine. In some ways it seems more effective at taking care of the poor than anything we've come up with since, but we've yet to see the trade-offs really come due.

[debkrenzer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was the second book in this series that I have read. I really enjoyed the first book a lot. This one, not so much. I had a really hard time trying to get into the character Dr. Genevieve Summerford this time.

While it did turn out to be a decent read, it just didn't have the ability to keep me focused as I read. I found myself with my thoughts wondering a lot throughout most of the first part of the book. Once it did hit me, it was barely enough to keep me going.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.