{"id":9558,"date":"2018-01-08T16:35:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T21:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9558"},"modified":"2021-12-15T21:52:52","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T02:52:52","slug":"the-black-hand-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9558","title":{"rendered":"The Black Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Black Hand<\/a><\/em> (2008) Will Thomas<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The fifth Barker & Llewelyn book finds the inquiry agent and his apprentice asked to find a solution to mafia killings that have come to London.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre many of them Sicilian?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSicilian?\u201d Dunham asked, as if it were a new word to his vocabulary. \u201cDunno \u2019bout that. One I-talian\u2019s pretty much like another, I reckon.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no,\u201d I put in. \u201cThey\u2019re all different. Italy\u2019s only been unified in recent times, and even now, the country is in discord. Most of the south is full of secret criminal societies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s something familiar:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if I have to deport a hundred unlawful immigrants in order to stop a handful of Mafia criminals knowledgeable about making bombs and killing people, I won\u2019t lose any sleep over it. I have public safety to consider and I can\u2019t afford to be subtle.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And something else familiar:<\/p>\n

The Italians are willing to work for a wage that, frankly, the English workers won\u2019t accept, but they have begun to demand a minimum number of working hours per day, which is madness, because we can\u2019t guarantee the work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here’s a fascinating tidbit:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sicilians hate the French, of course.\u201d \u201cThe French? Why?\u201d \u201cSicily was ruled by the Bourbons for decades. The Mafia was formed to combat them. The word Mafia is an acronym for \u2018Kill the French is Italy\u2019s cry.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However.<\/p>\n

This bothered me a bit.<\/p>\n

He attended no theater, was tone-deaf, and read few novels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He is a fluent Chinese speaker. Can you really be fluent in any dialect of Chinese and be tone-deaf?<\/p>\n

To sum, I really like this historic portions of these books. The mysteries are interesting, but to be honest, this wasn’t a really a mystery.<\/p>\n

I started the next book, but it wasn’t holding my attention, so I moved onto something else. We’ll see how long it takes me to pick the next book back up.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: Touchstone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Black Hand (2008) Will Thomas The fifth Barker & Llewelyn book finds the inquiry agent and his apprentice asked to find a solution to mafia killings that have come to London. \u201cAre many of them Sicilian?\u201d \u201cSicilian?\u201d Dunham asked, as if it were a new word to his vocabulary. \u201cDunno \u2019bout that. One I-talian\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,33,8,43,41],"tags":[396,557,395],"class_list":["post-9558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-private-eye","category-reread","tag-barker-llewelyn","tag-victorian","tag-will-thomas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2ua","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1366,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1366","url_meta":{"origin":9558,"position":0},"title":"The Black Hand","author":"Michelle","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Black Hand (2008) Will Thomas Barker is called down to the docks, where a barrel containing a dead Italian had been pulled from the river. This single body draws Barker and Llewelyn into a case involving an attempt by the Sicilian mafia to start in London--something Barker, Scotland Yard,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Black-Hand.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1085,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1085","url_meta":{"origin":9558,"position":1},"title":"The Limehouse Text","author":"Michelle","date":"April 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Limehouse Text (2006) Will Thomas The book starts with Barker getting ready for a fight--a fight that is entirely Llewelyn's fault. As with the last book, we then go back to see how Llewelyn got himself (and Barker) into that fix. (Everything isn't Llwelyn's fault, they are investigating the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/The-Limehouse-Text-e1510879960825.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1005,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1005","url_meta":{"origin":9558,"position":2},"title":"To Kingdom Come","author":"Michelle","date":"March 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"To Kingdom Come (2005) Will Thomas The sequel to Some Danger Involved find Barker and Llewelyn involved in a case involving the IRB. Fearing that Scotland Yard and the Home Office will be unable to solve the problem, Barker proposes that he and Llewelyn go undercover and attempt to help\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/Kindgom-Come.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1116,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1116","url_meta":{"origin":9558,"position":3},"title":"The Hellfire Conspiracy","author":"Michelle","date":"May 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hellfire Conspiracy (2007) Will Thomas Barker and Llewelyn are pulled into an ugly case--girls are going missing and then later turning up violated and dead. There seems to be a connection--however tenuous--to Charity Organization Society. Once again Llewelyn falls in love, and once again he gets beat up--although this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Hellfire-Conspiracy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":965,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/965","url_meta":{"origin":9558,"position":4},"title":"Some Danger Involved","author":"Michelle","date":"February 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Some Danger Involved (2004) Will Thomas Thomas Llewelyn is at the end of his rope. He's spent time in prison, his wife is dead, and he cannot find a job--all but a death sentence in Victorian London. So he eventually applies for the position as assistant to the private inquiry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/Some-Danger-Involved.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9171,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9171","url_meta":{"origin":9558,"position":5},"title":"Some Danger Involved","author":"Michelle","date":"July 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Some Danger Involved (2004) Will Thomas Set in London in 1884. I believe I started with series when Grandmom was living with us--both of us loved it for certain. Thomas Llewelyn is a young Welshman who is at the end of his rope. He was kicked out of Oxford, spent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/Some-Danger-Involved.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9558\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}