Portobello Book Blog

I’d like to start by thanking the author for asking me if I’d be interested in reading her book. I haven’t read anything by her previously but had read very good reviews of her last novel, Brake Failure, so accepted her kind offer. Today is publication day and if you like the sound of the book, you can order a copy online here: Zenka. At the time of writing this, it is only 99p for Kindle.

First of all, what’s the book about?

Devious, ruthless, and loyal.

Zenka is a capricious Hungarian with a dark past.

When cranky London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not. Happily, she now has easy access to pistols, knives and shotguns.

Jack discovers he has a son, Nicholas, a male nurse with a heart of gold. Problem is, Nicholas is a wimp.

Zenka takes charges. Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts, she will make Nicholas into the sort of son any self-respecting crime boss would be proud of. And she succeeds!

Nicholas transforms from pussycat to mad dog, falls in love with Zenka, and finds out where the bodies are buried – because he buries them. He’s learning fast that sometimes you have to kill, or be killed.

As his life becomes more terrifying, questions have to be asked:

How do you tell a mob boss you don’t want to be his son?

And is Zenka really who she says she is?

Now I have to be honest and say I really wasn’t sure if I would like this book but bloggers I respect, such as Anne Williams at Being Anne, always spoke so highly of Alison’s writing that I agreed to give it a go. I said to Alison that if it wasn’t for me I would be honest and tell her and she could perhaps write a guest post instead. After all a book featuring a pole dancer, gangsters and guns is most certainly not my usual kind of read!

But as you can tell, since you are reading a review, I was surprised to find myself enjoying it! Alison Brodie has created some very memorable larger than life characters not just in Zenka (whose letters home made me laugh!) but also in mob leader Jack and his son, the hapless Nicholas who couldn’t be more different from Jack if he tried. There is a lot of sharp, witty dialogue throughout and plenty situations throughout the book where the term black humour can aptly be applied!

Zenka is a book I found lots of fun to read and quite fast paced as it moved from almost farcical situations that made me laugh to much more tense scenes which I read with not a little dread. I couldn’t wait to find out how it was all going to end as many twists made it very unpredictable too. Alison Brodie’s colourful and imaginative writing really brought this story to life for me. If you are looking for something a crime novel with a difference, I’d say give Zenka a try – I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. And if you’d like a taste of Alison’s witty writing, have a look at this very funny guest post she wrote for me recently: How Books Can Get You Divorced

About the author

Alison Brodie is a Scot, with French Huguenot ancestors on her mother’s side.

Alison Brodie is an international best-selling author.  Her books having been published in hardback and paperback by Hodder & Stoughton (UK), Heyne (Germany) and Unieboek (Holland).

Alison has now gone “indie”.  Here are some editorial reviews for her recent books: 

BRAKE FAILURE:  “Masterpiece of humor” –Midwest Book Review

THE DOUBLE:   “Proof of her genius in writing fiction”  -San Francisco Book Review.

ZENKA will is released on 6 Nov, 2017. 

Find out more or contact Alison:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/alisonbrodie2

Website: http://alisonbrodiebooks.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35845259-zenka

Facebook PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonBrodieAuthor/

Zenka buying links

US:    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07534Y6QZ

UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07534Y6QZ

Canada:  https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07534Y6QZ

Australia:  https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07534Y6QZ