Our Thing by Daniel Kowalski-review & excerpt
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 26, 2026
Loyalty is a loaded gun.
Dishonorably discharged Marine Mike DeFino arrives in New York with nothing but a duffle bag and a loan shark’s address. What starts as muscle work alongside a Russian enforcer turns into something completely different, as Mike is pulled into the inner circle of a rising crime boss.
As Mike proves himself—disposing of enemies, burying bodies, and enforcing debts—he draws the attention of NYPD lieutenant Frank Sasso. Sasso believes Mike is the key to toppling the crime boss, Pete Amuso, and he’s willing to bend the law to make it happen.
After the woman Mike is falling for becomes leverage, the war turns personal. Caught between a paranoid mob boss and a crooked cop obsessed with control, Mike faces an impossible choice: should he betray the man who gave him purpose, or sacrifice the only chance he has at a life beyond violence?
A story of power and survival, Daniel Kowalski’s OUR THING is a gritty, razor-sharp thriller set deep in the criminal underworld.
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REVIEW:OUR THING is the first instalment in Daniel Kowalski’s contemporary, adult, crime world, suspense thriller focusing on former US Marine turned Mafioso hitman Mike DeFino.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from first person perspective (Mike) and a smattering of second person, OUR THING follows dishonorably discharged US Marine Mike DeFino as he finds himself working for loan sharks and the mob in the wake of arriving in New York City. Desperate, broke and homeless, Mike begins ‘working’ as a debt collector, ‘collecting’ from the dirty and desperate but quickly discovers a more lucrative opportunity working for the mob but all does not go according to plan when local law enforcement begin closing in, and Mike finds himself facing the wrong end of the law.
The world building follows Mike as he goes from US Marine to debt collector to mob enforcer for the New York underworld. The proverbial mix of cultures, desperation and the street politics pushes Mike into a world he knew nothing about but a world that would quickly become part of his own.
OUR THING reads like a blend of Good Fellas™ and The Sopranos™. The character driven premise is gritty, dramatic and detailed as Mike DeFino reflects and contemplates about what is happening and why. A Marine vet left to hang for a crime he did not commit, let down by the people in charge, in more ways than one. The characters are desperate, determined and questionable as Mike is pulled into the seedy underbelly of the New York crime world. OUR THING ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
one looked at anyone else. Everyone just stared straight ahead in
silence. I checked the map behind me and saw that it would be
about ten stops before mine. I leaned back and tried to relax but
didn’t dare close my eyes since I knew I would start to pass out.
The best thing to do when exhausted was to stay awake and keep
going on. One of the main lessons I took away from basic training
that got me through.The train moved on, and I couldn’t see anything out the
window. This went on for a few minutes as we passed under the
East River. Finally, I could see another station as the train slowed
to a stop. A couple of people stood up and waited at the doors for
them to open. When they did, they got o#, and only one person
got on.It was a dirty white dude who was most likely in his twenties
but looked over thirty because he was very obviously on something
that was slowly killing him from the inside. The man looked
like the walking dead. He quickly glanced around the train. There
were about ten people now, including myself.
“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen,” he announced. “I was
recently released from the Brooklyn Detention Center this
morning and need money to buy something hot to eat. Anything
you can give will help. It does not matter how small it is.”
No one looked up at him. His eyes flitted around, and he
spotted a skinny-looking blonde girl who had to be nineteen tops.
She was reading a book. He walked right over to her. She was
maybe five seats away from me, far enough where he thought I
was not a threat and close enough where I could hear his words.
“You got twenty dollars for me?” he asked.
She ignored him and kept her eyes on her book.
“I was away because I stabbed someone. I’m not afraid to do it
again,” he said, like he was begging her to give him a reason not to
hurt her. “I really don’t want to stab anyone again. So do us both
a favor, baby. Unless you like that type of thing. Do you like it?”
She was trying not to shake, but wasn’t altogether successful.
This guy was making me a little nervous too, but I felt like I could
take him if need be. What was worse was that other people were
watching it too, but no one was saying anything.
I stood up and got next to him. He turned and looked up at
me. I was about six inches taller and in good shape.
“You got twenty dollars for me?” he asked with a grin.
I didn’t say anything in response. All I did was stare him in
the eyes. I wanted him to try something with me. I was angry
about everything that had happened that got me to be on this
miserable train. Lashing out at him, a predator—perhaps there
was some destiny or meaning to my getting kicked out of the
Marines.
He sized me up too, probably thinking at first that I would be
a pushover. But after looking into my eyes for a few seconds, he
lost his nerve. He walked away and opened the door to go into the
next car to try his luck with the people there. I didn’t move
until he was gone.
“Thank you,” the girl whispered.
“Don’t mention it,” I said as I took my seat. I knew then that
my first impression was right. I was going to hate this city.
