Review of Return to Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

Return to Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



When I first picked this up to read, I thought I could get away without rereading Poughkeepsie because it was such a powerful book that I thought I remembered it well enough to jump right in to Return to Poughkeepsie. I was wrong. I ended up rereading the first book and am so glad I did because there was so much about Eve and Beckett's relationship that I had forgotten. To be honest, there was quite a bit about Beckett himself I had forgotten and it would have been a real shame to not give him his full due.

Beckett is the best kind of bad guy. He does the wrong things but for the right reasons. He's a dealer. He's a pimp. He's a murderer. He's the kind of character we should hate because he's unrepentant for what he's done. But I find myself unable to hate him because he does what he does for the protection of the family he loves. While Poughkeepsie showed us that Beckett would kill to protect his family, in Return to Poughkeepsie he proves more than once that he's willing to die for his family. But he's not the only one. Eve is just as committed to preserving the safety of Beckett's family – which we learned at the end of Poughkeepsie is also her family. While Eve and Beckett are each scary in their own way, united they are an unholy force to be reckoned with, as more than one person learned. The chemistry between the two is even more combustible this time around, both in and out of bed.

I must admit that I was shocked to see how much time elapsed between Beckett's departure and his Return to Poughkeepsie What did not surprise me was the collection of misfits he had amassed. Nor was I surprised by how easily he slid back into place when he returned. While his methods are often unconventional, he takes care of the people close to him and they remember it, repaying him with loyalty. As this is the second book in the series and builds upon the previous one, there are a lot of specifics I can't discuss because of potential spoilers. What I can say is that I loved getting to catch up with everyone to see how their lives continued in Beckett's absence. Although I may not have cried as much as I did while reading Poughkeepsie, Ms. Anastasia still took me on one heck of an emotional rollercoaster ride with the intensity of the situations the Poughkeepsie crew faced this time around. I cannot wait to see what she has up her sleeve for Saving Poughkeepsie and fortunately I don't have to wait at all as it's next up.




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