The Shaman and the mafia

4.8/5 ( ratings)

Marietta Collins leaves the cloistered life of the convent in order to experience an independent existence. Now in charge of a drug rehab center for young people, she believes that by dedicating her time to ridding her small town of crime and drugs she has brought true peace and meaning into her life. But as Joseph Gleason, Marietta’s close friend and a local drug informant, is found murdered in what appears to be a Mafia hit, Marietta’s soon realizes that life outside the nunnery is going to be more challenging that she expected.

Devastated at the loss of her friend, but determined to track down his killer, Marietta teams up with Joseph’s brother, Raymond, who works for the FBI. Sheltered and inexperienced, Marietta has never even had a lover, but sparks fly between her and Raymond, who quickly becomes her first sexual encounter. Unable to investigate his own brother’s murder, Raymond charges FBI agent Jerry Young with the task of hunting down the Mafia’s kingpin. Jerry has his own inner demons and when his past comes back to haunt him, he turns to his childhood mentor, a mysterious shaman from the Cherokee reservation where he was raised. An unexpected love triangle, wracked with guilt and conflicted emotions develops, as Marietta, Raymond and Jerry must all come to terms with the truth and try desperately to make sense of their lives.

The Shaman and the Mafia, Elizabeth Upton’s thrilling debut novel, explores themes of devotion, loyalty, guilt and faith as three unlikely allies must work together to solve the murder of their friend. Like Marietta, Upton joined a convent as a young woman. Her decision to become a nun was inspired by her very difficult childhood, which involved two years in an orphanage where she witnessed the suffering of many other children. Determined to live a life of service and help others, the convent seemed an obvious option, until certain factors, including a forbidden love affair and many conflicting emotions about spirituality, drove her from the convent and into a new life helping children and teens who were abused or struggling with drugs. Upton artfully draws upon her eclectic life experiences, as well as her years studying mysticism, reincarnation and spirituality, to excellent effect in The Shaman and the Mafia.