Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein

All Sara Jane Rispoli can think about is that in 2 years she'll be able to go to Rome, Italy after graduating and finally see the place of her heritage.

That was the only thing worth being concerned about.

Until Sara Jane came home one day to find that her mom, dad, and younger brother were kidnapped from their house and a guy in a ski mask was there to get Sara Jane.

Thankfully, Sara Jane has been boxing for 10 years - since she was 6 years old. She knows how to defend herself. So after getting away from the Ski Mask Guy, she goes to her boxing coach.

And then Sara Jane realizes that she has been ignorant of her real family history. What she once thought of as her family's baking industry was really just a cover up for being part of the Outfit, an underground mafia where each family has a "front" business to the public to keep from getting caught by the government.

The reason her family is part of the mafia is because they have ghiaccio furioso - cold fury. When a Rispoli has ice blue eyes, they can get the gene of having cold fury. Sara Jane got that gene, even though most Rispoli's previously were male, so no one expects her to have it.

When Sara Jane gets extremely angry, she feels a blue fire inside of her that calms her in intense situations and heightens her reflexes. It also, when staring at another person directly through the eyes, will paralyze the other person with so much fear that they will agree to anything to get away from their gaze. That's cold fury.

Now Sara Jane has to use any and every force possible to find her family. And she will stop at nothing to find them. Will she become the next big Rispoli in the Outfit mafia to save her family? Will she find them in time before it's too late? Read Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Wow. I knew going in that I would like this novel, but it surpassed what I thought it was about.

The thing that I loved most was that Sara Jane was no damsel in distress. She is a boxer - she knows how to fight and to take care of herself, not needing a family member or a male to look out for her.

I also really liked Sara Jane. Most girls in her situation would have ran away scared or wouldn't know what to do with herself, but Sara Jane really delved into her family's history and was smart enough to find clues to hidden passage ways and figure out how to use the Outfit mafia for her own personal use.

There were some places where I glimpsed through, especially the detailed information about Sara Jane's ancestors and how the Outfit was created, but it was information that was needed to explain what Sara Jane was learning.

The fighting scenes were really well written and I loved how Sara Jane took punches along with giving them.

Also, there wasn't too much romance in this novel. There were ideas of romance, but the farthest Sara Jane got to a boy besides knocking him out was holding hands - that's it.

Because of that, I think that guy readers would like this novel. Tons of fighting, the mafia, and racing around Chicago in fast cars - what's not to like?

I would definitely recommend this to any reader. It is the first in a series, although I'm not sure what #2's title is or when it will be released. I will be watching out for it, though, and pick it up when it comes out!