Italia Tornabene’s Femme Fatale: Shades of Retribution is a gritty, heart-wrenching, and fiercely personal journey into the life of Italia Rossi, a dancer, single mother, sister, and survivor. Set against the neon-soaked backdrop of a strip club called The Velvet Viper, the story follows Italia as she battles poverty, motherhood, addiction (not hers but a friend’s), and the ghosts of a troubled past while plotting her quiet war for justice. It’s not just a tale of survival, it’s a slow-burning revenge story soaked in love, grief, and raw grit.

One of the strongest things about this book is its emotional honesty. The relationship between Italia and her best friend Olive hit me the hardest. There’s a real tenderness in the way they care for each other, especially in scenes like the one where Olive collapses in Italia’s arms, confessing her descent into addiction. It didn’t feel like fiction. It felt like something I had seen, or could’ve seen, in the real world. The slow unraveling of Olive’s spirit, and Italia’s growing sense of helplessness, was painful in a way that didn’t let me look away.

Tornabene’s writing is rich with atmosphere. She turns the club into a character of its own, dangerous, seductive, brutal. The opening chapters, where Italia and Olive perform together, are electric. Not because they’re flashy, but because they show power, women taking control in a world that wants to strip it from them. There’s this moment where Italia thinks, “They’re eating out of our hands,” and it’s not about ego. It’s about survival. About making the most of a broken system. There’s real complexity in how power is handled here.

The pacing can be a bit uneven, especially in the middle, where the narrative shifts toward Italia’s undercover attempts to infiltrate the drug world. Some of that felt a little rushed or too smooth, like she transitioned from grieving mother to spy a bit too easily. The story needed momentum, and the emotional stakes never went away. What redeems these sections is Italia’s constant return to her core motivation: Dominic, her son. Every risk she takes, every mask she wears, it all circles back to him. There’s this beautiful moment where she says, “He deserves the sun.” That line is so simple yet so powerful.

In the end, this book is for readers who want more than just plot. It’s for people who want to feel something deep and maybe a little uncomfortable. If you’ve ever lost someone, if you’ve ever had to fight harder than you should’ve had to, Femme Fatale will speak to you. It’s raw, it’s honest, and it doesn’t pretend to have all the answers.

Pages: 364 | ASIN: B0DS1JF9VZ