cover image Heartbreak of a Hustler's Wife

Heartbreak of a Hustler's Wife

Nikki Turner. Ballantine/One World, $14 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-345-51108-9

In the fourth installment of Turner's bestselling series (after Forever a Hustler's Wife), hustler Desmond "Des" Taylor has found a new gig raking in the money as head of the Good Life Ministry, to the dismay of his wife, Yarni. Not only does the once-wild hustler's wife have moral qualms, but as an attorney, she's gaining a new respect for the consequences of crime. Then masked men hold up a church service, gun down one of Des's closest associates, and force his accountant to wire them $10 million. Threats also mount against Yarni, their young daughter, and Des's mother, in violation of the gangsta code. Meanwhile, his previously unsuspected 18-year-old daughter turns up and announces she needs to move in with them. Turner has a gift for making her offbeat characters both sympathetic and memorable, and her entertaining series deserves to break out beyond its core urban lit readership. Author tour. (May)