Tag: Criminals/Gangsters

The main character or multiple leads are criminals or gangsters as their primary source of income.

Manhwa Review | Penthouse XXX by Bacong

Published by Eve Healy on May 27, 2023

Title: Penthouse XXX
Author: Bacong
Artist: Bacong

Siyeon is leading a double life. Due to his ex, who stole every dime Siyeon had before disappearing, Siyeon is in debt and forced to moonlight as an assassin to make ends meet. He doesn’t really know who his employer is. All he knows is that once or twice a month, he receives a package with a pill and information on his next target. So why would they choose a pretty boy like Siyeon to be an assassin? As it turns out, Siyeon is an esper who can manifest ice and change the temperature at will. The pill they send helps amplify his powers for a limited time, and with his abilities, he often causes his targets to have heart attacks by freezing their hearts, leaving no trace of any foul play. Otherwise, he’s just a regular guy with freezing hands.

With his debt steadily falling by the day, Siyeon can finally better his living arrangements and goes to see a room that is being rented out in a massive penthouse by the owner of the building, who also lives in the penthouse. The man who answers the door is party animal heir Taekyung. Though Siyeon has sworn off men due to his terrible dating history, Taekyung doesn’t make bad eye candy. Unfortunately, after a night of drinking, Siyeon’s self-control wanes, and they get hot and heavy in the bedroom. While Siyeon regrets it immediately, Taekyung is all the more intrigued. He wants Siyeon, and he’s going to do everything he can to claim him.

Manga Review | A Home Far Away by Teki Yatsuda

Manga Review | A Home Far Away by Teki Yatsuda

Published by Eve Healy on May 26, 2023

Title: A Home Far Away
Author: Teki Yatsuda
Artist: Teki Yatsuda

Alan never feels more uncomfortable than he does when he is at home. His parents are intensely religious to the point that they are stunted into praying their lives away at home, blaming even the most slight inconvenience on sin and the devil. This would be bad enough, but Alan suffers from a chronic disease that his parents blame on some sin he has committed and believes that prayer and repentance will heal him. Alan’s life is suffocating, but he has nowhere else to go.

One evening, having stayed out past curfew, Alan refuses to go home, though he knows he will be punished when he gets home. Instead, he hangs out on the front steps of a restaurant. While sitting there, he’s approached by one of the workers, Hayden, who offers to let him out of the cold after his nose starts bleeding, which is a common symptom of his disease. The two share a deep conversation that continues daily, where Hayden reveals that he’s a drifter and will be moving on soon. Alan is heartbroken, but what can he do?

The day Hayden is set to leave, after a desperate and emotional confession from Alan, Hayden offers him a chance to escape with him. Of course, there’s a chance, even if they run, that Alan will never find happiness, but at least it would be his choice. So the two escape together, trying to find any small moments of joy they can cultivate for themselves while their dark pasts loom over them.

Manhwa Review | Stigma by Marloong

Manhwa Review | Stigma by Marloong

Published by Eve Healy on April 29, 2023

Title: Stigma
Author: Marloong
Artist: Marloong

Sehyun’s life is shrouded in darkness. He has little to no hope due to the terrible trauma he has experienced at the hands of his guardian, Michael. The only way he can find any semblance of peace is by plunging into the dirty underbelly of the city he lives in, having unsafe sex with strangers, and confirming to himself what everyone believes: he’s trash. He has come to accept this lifestyle until he runs into Boris.

Boris is rude and standoffish, but when he finds a line to an open stall where Sehyun is being endlessly assaulted, he can’t just walk away. Stepping to the front of the line, Boris fights off as many waiting men as possible. Once he’s cleared them all out, he takes a worn Sehyun to a nearby hotel and lets him rest there. It is then that Sehyun admits that he wanted that to happen, which disgusts Boris. Still, Sehyun can’t help being drawn to this bristly white knight.

Sehyun is far from a damsel in distress, but could he still be someone worthy of Boris?

Manhwa Review | Gold Gray by Lee Green

Manhwa Review | Gold Gray by Lee Green

Published by Eve Healy on March 29, 2023

Title: Gold Gray
Author: Lee Green
Artist: Lee Green

Lee Rain has dreams of becoming an actor. He can sing, dance, and act, but having grown up poor and under mysterious circumstances, he’s had to claw his way up to achieve the bare minimum, much less his dreams of stardom. Along with the daily struggle of surviving, Rain has an odd ability to smell what he calls “perverts.” They smell so good; unfortunately, they are drawn to Rain like flies. Frustrated, Rain has finally saved up enough for a hail Mary. He plans to drop everything and travel to the United States, hoping to make it onto Broadway or die trying.

On the other side, there is Won Lukas. He’s a perfect alpha, bred and raised from the finest stock to take over Roenjoy industries one day. Unfortunately, following his father’s death, Lukas learns of a disgusting stipulation left in his father’s will for the company. The next president will be the child that can produce an alpha heir. The only way to create a perfect alpha is by an alpha having a baby with an omega, but due to a pandemic that swept through the world, omegas went extinct.

But Roenjoy has a seedy underbelly. Hidden from the public eye, they have managed to create artificial omegas, which they raise from fetuses to adulthood, and upon giving birth, they die within a week to prevent the secret from getting out. Lukas is prepared to artificially inseminate an omega to take his role as company president. Unfortunately, the building where all of the omega research took place is destroyed by none other than Joshua, a subpar alpha and Lukas’ half-brother. With his brother vying for his position, Lukas is desperate to find an omega and make an alpha heir, but with all of the known omegas gone, there is little to no hope until Lukas meets Rain.

Manhwa Review | Wish Me Love by once

Manhwa Review | Wish Me Love by once

Published by Eve Healy on March 20, 2023

Title: Wish Me Love
Author: once
Artist: once

Yijin has always dreamed of opening his own restaurant. In order to learn the business and get in on the ground floor, he ends up landing an awesome position in a company under the prolific Joohyuk, a famous restaurant franchiser. Yijin has idolized Joohyuk for so long that, finally, being in his presence is a dream come true. While Joohyuk’s accolades are well-known, something else that is very well-known around the office is his sexual orientation. Apparently, the prolific bossman is gay. Yijin refuses to believe it until he catches Joohyuk kissing another man in the hallway at work.

As much as Yijin loves Joohyuk, he despises homosexuality more and begins to distance himself from the president he once adored. Yijin just can’t understand why such a successful man couldn’t find a woman he liked. His boss’s sexual preferences, though, become the least of Yijin’s worries when he gets a call from his parents. As it turns out, his parents own a restaurant and recently got a loan to upgrade their business. Unfortunately, while they were doing that, the property value skyrocketed, and the moneylenders, seeing a perfect opportunity, disappeared.

Without a way to make payments, Yijin’s parents could lose their building to the moneylenders, which is all they have in the world. Yijin needs a solution and fast, but the only person with the resources and power to help him is none other than his boss. Yijin is willing to do anything to support his family, and Joohyuk will ask for the most.

Manhwa Review | Intense by Kyungha Yi

Manhwa Review | Intense by Kyungha Yi

Published by Eve Healy on March 6, 2023

Title: Intense
Author: Kyungha Yi
Artist: Kyungha Yi

Jiwoon Kang is nothing more than collateral. After his father, in debt to a large criminal organization, kills himself, the boss Yoonshik takes Jiwoon on as collateral. The boss trains him up so Jiwoon can someday work off the debt. In the meantime, Jiwoon learns to kill and becomes Yoonshik’s, right-hand man. In an open secret, Jiwoon also plays the cooperative, though the unenthusiastic role of Yoonshik’s lover. When Yoonshik is sent to prison, Jiwoon is hidden in the redlight district, where he protects the working girls. There, he meets Soohan Lee.

Soohan Lee is mute. He just happened upon the redlight district years ago and, ever since, has taken up residence there, doing odd jobs for a little bit of cash and a roof over his head. His life is rather mundane, even in the bustling streets, that is, until he meets Jiwoon. After getting beaten up while defending a working girl from a customer, Jiwoon comes upon Soohan bloodied up on the ground. Despite their odd circumstances, Jiwoon is compelled to kiss Soohan, which he does. This sends them down a dangerous path fraught with jealousy, violence, crime, and more.

But in the end, will it be worth the struggle?

Manhwa Review | Escape into Oblivion by Gawee

Manhwa Review | Escape into Oblivion by Gawee

Published by Eve Healy on February 3, 2023

Title: Escape into Oblivion
Author: Gawee
Artist: Gawee

Woojin is willing to do anything to escape. Escape from what? His family, school, his lovers, and life in general. He’ll do whatever it takes to escape, whether through sex, alcohol, moving away, hiding from school, or anything else. It’s almost like a game to Woojin, and it’s one that he wins often. That is until he meets Hwon.

Hwon does anything Woojin asks, even when Woojin does everything he can to either run from Hwon or hurt him. This intensity of love is new to Woojin, and it scares him. What scares him even more, though, is who Hwon might be. Part of why Woojin feels the need to escape is that when he was a child, his friend was beaten by a homeless boy they would occasionally pick on and who Woojin would confide in. Rather than save his friend, Woojin ran away, never to see the friend again.

Could Hwon be that friend seeking revenge? Or could he be the homeless boy, finally back to take what belongs to him, Woojin? Woojin’s not sure which he would prefer, but he knows one thing for sure. No matter who Hwon ends up being, Woojin has fallen hopelessly in love with him, which is something he can’t escape.

Novel Announcement | I Want You to Own Me by Eve Healy

Novel Announcement | I Want You to Own Me by Eve Healy

Published by Eve Healy on October 7, 2022

This is a boys’ love novel set in the Dom/Sub universe.

The heir to the Griff family company and wealth, Anthony Griff has everything going for him. He’s just graduated high school, looking to attend college fully paid for by his Dom parents, and all he has to do is get his secondary sex of Dom confirmed so he can attend his preferred Dom-exclusive college. Yes, everything in his life is set in stone until he gets his results back. He isn’t a Dom, despite his mother and father both being Doms. Instead, he is the worst possible option: a Sub.

Anthony can no longer take over the Griff family company, he can’t attend the university he intended to attend, and his parents no longer feel the need to support a child that can’t meet their expectations. With his world turned upside down, what Anthony had planned for his life is no longer a possibility. So begins his life as a Griff Sub, which entails being sold off to the highest Dom bidder, and in this case, that bidder is Daniel Abbott, a much older Dom and the brother to the current CEO of Abbott Industries. All Anthony can hope for now is that Daniel is kind and they can someday be happy together, his life no longer being his own.

That is until a pink-haired, golden-eyed Dom named Noah breaks into Daniel’s home while he is away, only to find Anthony there. Noah doesn’t seem that bad of a guy, all things considered, and he is a Dom to boot. On a whim and in an attempt to take control of his life, Anthony demands one thing from Noah:

“Steal me.”

Manhwa Review | Siren’s Song by Clarju

Manhwa Review | Siren’s Song by Clarju

Published by Eve Healy on September 30, 2022

Title: Siren's Song
Author: Clarju
Artist: Clarju

Yul has lived his entire life hopelessly strung along by others. “Lived” is a generous term. With his life never fully in his control, he has always been forced to follow the whims and commands of those around him. Even as an adult, that hasn’t changed. He currently lives in an apartment owned by his adopted brother, who has an unhealthy obsession with him that goes beyond a sibling relationship. In that home, alone and unable to leave, Yul spends his day under surveillance and composing music that is presented to the world under his brother’s name. His only solace is out on the apartment balcony, where he can sing and smoke to his heart’s content.

Yul’s small world is rocked, though, when one evening on the balcony, his singing is overheard by a neighbor on the balcony above. The neighbor Luan is immediately drawn to Yul for an inexplicable reason. However, Yul allows Luan to begin his plan for revenge against everyone who made his life hell, even if he has to destroy Yul in the process. Luan doesn’t expect that as he grows closer to Yul and begins to uncover the history behind his existence, Luan not only wants revenge for himself but for Yul as well. But what he fears more than anything now is losing or hurting Yul amid his vengeful warpath.

Manhwa Review | Wolves Behind Bars by Joy

Manhwa Review | Wolves Behind Bars by Joy

Published by Eve Healy on September 19, 2022

Title: Wolves Behind Bars
Author: Joy
Artist: SolWoo Lee

Kiyo is an omega and a struggling artist with an intense hatred for alphas due to his father. His father, a crime lord alpha, treated Kiyo and his mother as nothing more than commodities to earn money. Thankfully, Kiyo has escaped most of his father’s influence and has been surviving on commissions from people while he holds up in his small apartment. Unfortunately, after taking a gory commission from an anonymous client where he painted various murder scenes and posted them online under a series known as The Game of Darkness per the client’s instructions, Kiyo is arrested for the murder of various high-profile alphas, which were all depicted in his paintings with details that the police had never released.

Unfortunately, the client was using an untraceable online presence, and the payments all originated from the accounts of dead people, so Kiyo is the only one in the crosshairs for these crimes. He is arrested and taken to prison until his trial and possible sentencing are complete. Due to a clerical error, though, Kiyo is placed in an alpha-only institution. The head of the prison wants to avoid any complaints or scandals, so he quietly brushes the error under the rug while pushing for a transfer as soon as possible. In the meantime, Kiyo is forced to room with an alpha named Iri, placed there by the warden to protect Kiyo until he can be transferred out.

Iri doesn’t seem good or bad, which in a prison teeming with alphas that want nothing more than to break Kiyo is better than nothing. Even so, it is impossible to tell if Iri is truly Kiyo’s ally or his enemy, as there are plenty of people gunning for Kiyo both because he is an omega and because of his father. With no one else to turn to, Kiyo relies on Iri emotionally, but over time he soon begins to rely on him physically. As Kiyo and Iri start a physical relationship, Kiyo does everything he can to fight against the overwhelming lust and love he begins to feel for Iri because what is more important is survival. Will Kiyo be able to survive prison? Even if he does, will he be able to prove his innocence? And what are Iri’s true intentions for Kiyo?