Marisa Merico's autobiographical 'Mafia Princess' plays out like a film script. In fact, the book has inspired a series entitled 'Bang Bang Baby' on Prime. I look forward to checking that out. I listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated by Rachel Atkins. I found it to be an interesting foray into a world previously unknown to me outside the realms of fiction.

This was a fascinating read. It was not extremely detailed so therefore didn't come across boring. It the story of the Mafia circle and the difference between that world and her life with her mum.

The narration by Rachel Atkins superbly sets the tone for this interesting autobiography about a life that involved excitement, money and notoriety, both inside and out of a prison cell.

Marisa Merico was born into the mob after her mum Pat, a Blackpool teenager working as an au-pair in Milan fell for Emilio Di Giovine, the son of a powerful 'Ndrangheta family. Although her parents split when she was young and her mother returned to Lancashire taking Marisa with her, summer holidays spent with her fathers family gave Marisa an insight into a lifestyle that offered rewards she found hard to resist and at 17 she returned to Italy, married one of her fathers henchmen and herself became a key player in his operation.

The authors account is straight talking and matter of fact telling of highs, lows and the risks involved. The character I found most interesting was her grandmother Maria, about as far flung from the grandmother figures most of us remember as you can possibly get.

An interesting read about family, power and wealth that comes at a cost - a lifetime of looking over your shoulder, of family members being absent or killed.

Wow just wow. This was such an amazing read. I seriously couldn't put this book down. I listened to the audiobook and just had to finish it in one sitting it was that good. I loved the narrator's voice. It really made this book all the more enjoyable and brought out the great sense of atmosphere and tension that the book held. It is definitely an amazing read full of thrilling , interesting and scary moments. It was such a fascinating read about a real life high up mafia family and there envolment in drug smuggling and money laundering. There were many shocking moments when my jaw hit the floor. I definitely recommend reading this book if you want to know the ins and outs of a mafia family or if you love engaging true crime books. This book will definitely take you on areal roller coaster ride full of ups and downs that will have you flipping those pages so you can find out what will happen next.

I especially loved reading about the wars between families. Also how the police caught up with them and how they were treated inside prison. This has to be one of the most amazing true crime books I have ever read. I also found it interesting that for some of her life she lived in Blackpool which is quite local to where I lived.

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this story of what it was like living in a mafia family. You really won't be disappointed. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/mafia-princess-by-marisa-merico-wf-howes-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

There is something delightfully trashy about this Memoir. The story of Marisa Merico’s Criminal family connections in Italy are always fascinating and surprisingly down-to-earth.

Despite the incredible wealth gathered by her father’s family through their sense of “enterprise” it really shows how essentially tawdry the whole mafia set up is. Death is never far away but the whole thing is so far from glamorous despite the cars, the flashy clothes and the gun toting uncles! This may be aided by the fact that Merico’s Mother was a plucky blonde from Blackpool
Who may have fallen in love with the wrong man (twice) but Nonetheless knew when to get out!

The most engaging character in this memoir is arguably Marisa’s Nonna Guiding her families criminal empire from her apartment in the backstreets of Milan. This remarkable woman who was an Active participant in large-scale campaigns of fraud, embezzlement, protection rackets and even in some cases murder, was able to give out cold death sentences while simultaneously adoring grandchildren and stirring the pasta sauce!

What is much harder about the story is seeing the clear damage that it did to Marissa and her sense of what a “proper man” is. Her mafia husband Bruno Was a vicious killer as was the man she later met through prison letters. Trauma is generational and I hope that her daughter is able to escape the loop, her chances are greatly increased by the fact that most of her mafia family is currently locked up! I am sure however, that the temptation is still there.

The ravages of drug abuse and crime are writ large through this memoir and that is a good thing because you don’t come out of this book thinking that it must be great fun to be a part of that world. The story ends rather abruptly and I would like to know what has happened in Marissa‘s life since she completed the book. It’s interesting, it’s compelling and I would recommend it for anyone with an interest in this topic.

Amazing true story although as i started to read it I didn’t know this. About 25% in I thought this is for real so I googled the author. The book tells the story of a mafia princess who’s father is a mafia lead in his day. The family look after each other and as you would expect terrorised neighbours. Family life moved up a level with drink and cigarettes then onto the more lucrative and serious drug markets. Spanning US, Italy and UK the book covers three to four generations and falling in love with the wrong guy, or maybe the right guy but the wrong family. Fascinating facts & figures, legal stuff, survival and finally finding peace in a mad world.If you like bios then this is for you. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.