The Love Killers

"The Love Killers" was the fourth novel from English author Jackie Collins, published in 1974 by W.H. Allen. Originally titled "Lovehead", it went under a name change in 1989 to its now standing title

Plot summary

Margaret Lawrence Brown - female rights activist and feminist - has taken up the cause of the prostitute to get them off the streets. While delivering a speech at Central Park she is assassinated. Rio Java, a former underground film star with four kids and no husband had been saved from a life of porn films and was now a staunch supporter. After the assassination Rio gets together Margaret's two half-sisters Lara Crichton and Beth Lawrence Brown to plan revenge on Enzio Bassalino, head of the all-powerful mafia clan. Unhappy with the hookers leaving the streets and going on strike, he had a hit put on Margaret. They decide to go about with their revenge by targeting Enzio's three sons: Frank, Nick and Angelo Bassalino. Their weapon: sex. The result: a bloodbath of sexual mayhem through the dangerous corridors of organised crime.

Response

She magazine called it "Sensational, bitter, completely compulsive..". Reviews were strong for Collins fourth novel. Unlike anything she'd ever done up till then and different somewhat from anything she'd done since. This would be Collins first foray into the world of the Mafia, a subject matter which she later chronicled in her future novels. On the novel's basis Collins said many years later: "its funny, what happened in the book ended up happening six months later. The hookers in New York came out and went on strike. Reaching the bestseller list, solidified Collins position as "Queen of the bestseller", although she still hadn't made as much a name for herself in the U.S. as she would in later years.