Bad Bishop by L.J. Shen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
He’s Deathless. She’s trying to find a reason to live.
Bad Bishop
Lila
My innocence was ripped from me one fateful night under the starless sky. Resulting in an unwanted teenage pregnancy and a secret the Camorra must bury. My father decided to hand me off to the highest bidder. The lucky winner? Tiernan Callaghan, psychopath extraordinaire. The Irish mafia prince wants me for all the wrong reasons. Alliance. Money. Prestige. War. I am but a pawn in his twisted game. The man who sits on a throne of his enemies’ skulls thinks I’m a weakling. Little does he know, in this chess game, the underdog wins. Because the thing about bad bishops? They protect good pawns.
Defiant Silence Meets Deathless Chaos
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💜💚🩷🤎
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😋😀😍🤨🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Duet Narration
🛡️ Audiobook Review: Bad Bishop (Society of Villains, #1)
Author: L.J. Shen
Genre: Dark Mafia Romance
Narrator: Corvin King and Lucy Rivers
🦸🏻♂️ The Hero: Tiernan Callahan
Tiernan “Deathless” Callahan is the kind of anti-hero who thrives in shadows. While Don Vello of the Camorra controls 90% of New York, Tiernan rules the Bronx—the last 10%—and sees himself as the mafia’s future, determined to build a throne on the skulls of his enemies. The story opens with him imprisoned in the Ferranté family’s basement torture chamber, captured after killing Igor Rasputin, head of the Bratva. His vendetta against the Russians is personal, but also strategic: he knows they’re buying up Manhattan and sees their encroachment as a threat the Camorra foolishly ignores.
🦸🏼♀️ The Heroine: Lila Ferranté
Lila Ferranté has lived her life surrounded by monsters, but she’s no victim. Deaf and brilliant, she’s spent years pretending to be developmentally disabled to avoid being married off for her father’s alliances. One night, she witnesses Tiernan staggering from her family’s basement—bloodied, missing an eye, clutching a skull. Instead of cowering, she meets his threat with defiance. That moment sets the tone for her resilience.
Her backstory is heartbreaking: a crush on Tatum Blackthorn that ends in humiliation, followed by a brutal assault at a wedding reception. Lila survives by leaning into her false persona, but vows revenge. When she later discovers she’s pregnant, her father insists on marrying her off to protect the family’s reputation. The solution? Tie her fate to Tiernan, who owes the Ferrantés a favor.
📚 The Plot
What follows is a collision of power, vengeance, and survival. Lila’s pregnancy forces her into a marriage of convenience with Tiernan, binding two families in a fragile alliance. Beneath the mafia politics lies a deeply personal war: Tiernan’s obsession with eradicating the Russians, and Lila’s determination to reclaim her agency after trauma.
🌟 What Worked
• Corvin King’s narration is magnetic—his voice embodies Tiernan’s dangerous allure, making even his cruelest moments compelling.
• Tiernan quickly sees through Lila’s disguise, though he misinterprets her motives, adding tension to their dynamic.
• The morally gray edges of Tiernan—cheating with women styled to resemble his wife—make him unsettling yet fascinating.
• Achilles and Tierney (Lila’s brother and Tiernan’s sister) are standout supporting characters, hinting at rich stories to come.
• Crossovers with The Monster (Sam Brennen aiding Tiernan) add depth for longtime L.J. Shen readers.
• The siblings on both sides provide texture and emotional grounding.
💔 What Fell Short
Tiernan’s characterization sometimes veers into excess. His fixation on pain, lack of empathy, and disturbing treatment of women—especially early in his marriage—make him difficult to root for in the beginning of this book. His fantasy of a “fair-haired mistress” to impersonate his wife underscores his cruelty rather than complexity.
🎙️ Narration
Dual POV told via duet narration by Corvin King and Lucy Rivers elevates the audiobook. King’s deep, commanding voice is tailor-made for anti-heroes, and he does accents really well, while Rivers brings youthful vulnerability and emotional nuance to Lila. Together, they capture the raw intensity of the story.
💭 Final Thoughts
This audiobook is dark, brutal, and unapologetically twisted. Tiernan is not a hero you love—he’s one you endure, fascinated by his ruthlessness. Lila, however, shines as a heroine of resilience, her defiance and hidden strength anchoring the chaos. With stellar narration and layered supporting characters, this is a mafia romance that lingers, daring you to wrestle with its moral ambiguity.
💬 Quotes
“I was promised a docile little maiden and ended up with a venomous demoness.”
“You bring out the violent murderer in people, Tiernan…That’s your thing.”
“Life had taught me that anything that could entice you could weaken you. I ate like a beggar and fought like a king, and I never loved anything that could die, other than my siblings.”
“She was everything I couldn’t control, and it drove me wild.”
“They call me Deathless, you know…I survived six assassination attempts and fck knows how many gunfights.”
“I’m not letting you go, you know…You’re mine, only fcking mine, till my last breath.”
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