Blood of Our Fathers

by Sonny Girard

Overview

"An authentic thriller from a mob guy who's obviously been there." -- Nicholas Pileggi, Author of Wiseguy (Film name: Goodfellas) With razor-sharp honesty, Sonny Girard, an ex-mobster himself, tells the story of "Mickey Boy" Messina, just paroled from prison for a crime he didn't commit, and in love with his brother's ex-girlfriend, Laurel, a complication on his road to becoming a "made man" in the Calabra Crime Family. Mickey Boy's mother, Connie, carries a secret of an affair that could cost her son his life. Chrissy Augusta, a top mobster's teenage daughter, walks a dangerous tightrope with a secret lover from another Cosa Nostra family. All three affairs collide with tragic results in the midst of a bloody mob war. From Little Italy social clubs to mob bedrooms, BLOOD OF OUR FATHERS is a tale of intimacy, loyalty and betrayal in the underworld - an underworld caught up in a war that threatens the life of everyone associated with it. Three love stories in a mob setting rather than a mob story, BLOOD OF OUR FATHER portrays family secrets, authentic organized crime politics, and bloodshed that crackles with vivid detail. "Girard shines as a storyteller...(he has an) authoritative grasp of the Mafia's inner workings." -- Publishers Weekly "This story is not just for guys. It's like Jackie Collins meets Mario Puzo. I loved it." --Katherine Narducci, Actor (Sopranos, Bronx Tale, etc.)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780982169629
Publisher:	R.I.C.O. Entertainment, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/30/2008
Pages:	540
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.09(d)

About the Author

Having spent his entire life as an active part of New York's organized crime, Girard was characterized by the New York Post as "...a middle echelon member" of one of New York's five mob families. After a number of arrests he was eventually sentenced to three years in NY State prison as a result of being targeted by New York's Organized Crime Control Bureau and was later convicted of racketeering, under the RICO statute, by Rudolph Giuliani's office, and sentenced to seven years in federal prison. During that last term Girard became interested in writing. Along with another inmate who had sold a manuscript to a major publisher, Girard helped form a fiction writers' workshop. It was during that time that he completed his first novel, BLOOD OF OUR FATHERS, first published by Pocket/Simon & Schuster. He has gone on to publish a number of mob related books and can be contacted through his website: www.SonnysMobCafe.com

Editorial Reviews

Though his prose is sometimes unpolished, the pseudonymous Girard, who wrote this first novel while serving time in a federal prison for violation of the RICO act, shines as a storyteller, especially when calling on his insider's knowledge of the Mafia. Michael ``Mickey Boy'' Messina has just been paroled from prison after having been set up by Little Vinnie Calabra, son of Don Vincenze Calabra, most powerful boss of the Five Families. Messina begins a steamy, explicitly described love affair with his younger brother's ex-girlfriend, Laurel Bianco, as Don Vincenze sets off a war among the Families in order to purge the Mafia of the unfit and reduce the number of Families to two. The gradually revealed relationship between Messina's mother and Don Vincenze, while no surprise, makes a nicely integrated subplot. Girard's authoritative grasp of the Mafia's inner workings, his narrative skills and ability to create credible characters easily compensate for his occasional lapses into clumsy prose. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Jailed for something he did not do, Mickey Boy Messina, an associate of the Calabra crime family in New York City, is paroled after six years and must put his life back together. He is caught between a parole officer who wants to catch him consorting with known members of organized crime so that he can return Messina to prison, and Laurel, with whom he falls deeply in love only to find that she hates his way of life. At the same time he is invited to join the Calabra family as a man of rank and is close to discovering who his father is. Written while the author was in prison for racketeering, this first novel vividly portrays the American Mafia, showing how Messina could live in that ambivalent world of violence and honor. Girard captivates the reader with his insider's knowledge but neither romanticizes nor denigrates the Mafia's vast power and wealth. He is an accomplished storyteller. This has been optioned for a film.-- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., Ohio

Library Journal