Description
In the summer of 1957, two boys join forces when the neighborhood kids taunt them. Ten-year-old Dean is experiencing the usual hostility that greets a newcomer to the Bronx. Guy, one year older, is a Jew, whose racketeer father, Peter Prince, has disappeared, possibly murdered. When Dean punches and kicks one of his antagonists to death, he and Guy are incarcerated for manslaughter.
On their release in 1966, Dean, believing Peter Prince is alive, sets out to find him. Guy, who has by this time professed his love for Dean, is unsure whether he even wants to see his father. Their search is complicated by Peter’s past. The Carpetti crime family are also after him because he could have evidence that would incriminate one of them. And the police want him to turn state’s evidence against the Carpettis.
The intricate story plays out amid explosions, stabbings, and beatings; the “how” of the action often proceeding the “why,” a clever technique that keeps the reader guessing but, at times, can be frustrating. Ditto the author’s idiosyncratic use of words––mostly effective, occasionally jarring. The interaction between Dean and Guy, the pace of the telling, and the powerful ending make for a memorable novel.
