Mystery

They Always Win: Inspired by a True Story by Anthony M. Pesare Review

In the 1970’s Gino Peterson is a man trying to make his way through the Intelligence Unit of Rhode Island. During this time, the Mobs are in full force and he knows first hand of how cruel they can really be. Gino grew up in Providence’s Federal Hill and has been surrounded by wise guys since he was a kid. The main focus of the Intelligence Unit is fighting the mob, and he’s more then willing to do it. His superior’s are worried about where his loyalty lies because some of his childhood friends are in the mob. Following the story of Gino and three mob men as they go through the hoops of trying to get justice.

They Always Win: Inspired by a True Story is a great read. I was fascinated by this story. From his tales of growing up around the mob, to helping convict some notorious mob bosses. Anthony does not fail in keeping the reader invested in the story. There is the use of the f” word, but it is based on a true story about the mob, so I took that into consideration. I felt the romance was sweet but was not upset that he didn’t go into further detail with the romance, because I was more interested in the mob story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t mind some violence and swearing. I would read another book by Anthony Pesare and hope he writes more!

Rating: 

Content: 

Title: They Always Win: Inspired by a True Story

Author: Anthony M. Pesare

Format: eBook, Paperback

Page Nos.: 469

AISN: B006GHBZHI

Publisher: CreateSpace

Release Date: November 2011

Available for purchase: Amazon

Reviewer: Jocee

 

**I received a copy of this book from the author but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

Anthony Pesare Guest Post: Mobsters in Real Life

Novel Reaction is excited to welcome author Anthony Pesare. Anthony is here to share with us a little more about he gained the inspiration and experience for his novel, They Always Win.

Chief Anthony M. Pesare assumed command of the Middletown Police Department in 2004. Prior to doing so he served as Dean of the School of Justice Studies at Roger Williams University and was a member of the Rhode Island State Police, where his law enforcement career spanned twenty-four years. He began his career as a uniform trooper before joining the Intelligence Unit where he investigated organized crime and rose through the ranks of the agency.

Chief Pesare has lectured at the Rhode Island State Police Training Academy, the Rhode Island Bar Association, and the Rhode Island Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners. In 2007 he received the Gerhard O.W. Mueller Innovator Award from the Northeastern Association of Criminal Justice Sciences. He has taught Organized Crime at Roger Williams University, Johnson and Wales University and Salve Regina University. Chief Pesare received his B.S. degree in Administration of Justice from Roger Williams University, his Master of Public Administration from the University of Rhode Island, and his Juris Doctor from the New England School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts.

I grew up in the Italian section of Providence, RI known as Silver Lake.  It was a close knit neighborhood married to the Southern Italian culture of mistrust of government and the belief that everything was handled by the elders of the neighborhood. Disputes amongst neighbors, getting a job or opening a business were all controlled by these so called men of respect.

As I was growing up in the 60’s these men of respect had morphed into a band of criminals known to us as the Mob. They were vicious individuals who preyed on their own kind who cared only about money and power. It was the allure of money and power that tempted many a young man and I was no different. Only a strong family and the eventual realization that “the life” was not a life at all but a perpetual fight to survive which led me to choose a career in law enforcement.

In 1974 I was lucky enough to be selected to become a member of the Rhode Island State Police one of the finest law enforcement organizations in the country. In the early 80’s I was assigned to the Intelligence Unit of the State Police which primarily investigates organized crime. During this time the Unit was able to persuade three mobsters to turn state’s evidence and testify against the mob. I along with other members of the unit spent three years keeping these witnesses safe in protective custody and using their testimony against the mob.

As the result of their testimony we prosecuted several members of the New England Organized Crime family with various crimes including; murder, robbery, extortion, and gambling. The three years I spent with these individuals was an education into their lives and a realization that the line between leading a destructive life and a productive one is easily crossed.

I also learned that, although criminals, they face many of the same problems we all do. Family issues, petty jealousies and financial problems were just a few of the issues we helped these individuals with while they were under our care.

Three years ago I decided it was time to write about my experiences. I chose fiction as a vehicle in order to take advantage of being able to interject the personal issues that the mobsters and the investigators deal with when forced to work together. Most movies and books about organized crime seem to be written from the prospective of the mobster and police are often unfairly portrayed as inept or corrupt. I thought it was important to tell this story from the perspective of a detective who although flawed, ultimately is focused on bringing vicious criminals to justice.

Det. Gino Peterson the lead character struggles with many of the same issues we all do in life, trying to balance our personal lives with our professional lives. Gino’s struggle is no different and only compounded by the suspicion he brings to the Intelligence Unit because of his background. As he struggle with trying to gain acceptance he falls for his supervisor Michelle and their personal lives suddenly become intertwined with the success or failure of the cases they are investigating.

My hope is that as the reader follows Gino’s struggles the truth about organized crime is revealed. The reader will learn that it is not the glamorous life portrayed in movies and in reality deals in misery and violence without any regard to the people who stand in their way.

There is a reason that Italian-American organized crime is the longest ongoing criminal conspiracy in the United States and readers of “They Always Win” will be able to answer that question. It will become readily apparent to the reader, as it does to Gino, that they will use any means to achieve their ultimate goal of money and power.

Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal and author of several books told me that writing a book is like have a child and sending it out into the world. You never know what that child will achieve and how those achievements will be brought back to you. I have been overwhelmed how “my child” has brought back many stories about the affect this story has had on them.

Perhaps the greatest gift I have received was a reader who called to tell me that his father in law is ill and he has been reading my book to him a chapter at a time. He told me that when he reads the book it brings them both great enjoyment, if that’s all I’ve accomplished by writing this book that’s more than enough.

___________________________________

Thanks Anthony for sharing some of your life experiences with us. You can read our review of They Always Win here.

 

James LePore Blog Tour and Excerpt of Gods and Fathers

Novel Reaction is excited to welcome James LePore as part of the blog tour for his latest release Gods and Fathers. Let’s learn a little more about James.

James LePore is an attorney who has practiced law for more than two decades, and an accomplished photographer. He is the author of three previous novels, A WORLD I NEVER MADE, BLOOD OF MY BROTHER, and SONS AND PRINCES, as well as the story collection, ANYONE CAN DIE. He lives in Westchester County, NY with his wife, artist Karen Chandler.

Nationally bestselling author James LePore has established a reputation as a writer whose vividly drawn characters and morally complex plots have kept readers up to all hours turning pages. His new novel promises more sleepless nights and more nonstop thrills

Connect with James Lepore:
Website: www.jamesleporefiction.com

You can read Jocee’s review of Gods and Fathers here. Novel Reaction is pleased to be able to share with its readers some of Gods and Fathers. 

“Why can’t you stay at your mother’s when they’re away?”
“I told you, Basil’s worried about security.”
Though this statement was challengeable on several levels, Matt let it pass. The marriage six years ago of Debra DeMarco, nee Rusillo, and Basil al-Hassan, a rich and handsome Syrian businessman, had marked the beginning of the end of Matt’s long and tortured fight for a place in his son’s heart. Armed with the ultimate weapon—-her new husband’s money—-Debra had made quick work of destroying the last vestiges of Matt’s hopes. A penthouse on Park Avenue, a beach house in Easthampton, a flat in Paris, a “cottage” in Bermuda, clothes and cars virtually on demand, Matt had no way of competing with all this, and no way of expressing his anger—-until tonight.
“What about Mina?” Matt asked.
“What about her?”
“Why aren’t you seeing her?”
“She’s studying.”
“Studying?”
“Yes, studying. You keep repeating what I say. She’s a student. Students study.”
This statement was delivered dismissively, not sarcastically. You’re stupid, Dad. I’m tired of you. Why am I bothering with you? are what Matt heard, and it occurred to him, with a clarity that shocked him after all these muddled and painful years of effort and rejection, effort and rejection, ad nauseum, that he could not hurt Michael, that his own son was indifferent to him, and this was a blow, and strangely a release.
“Well, your friends are assholes, and you are too, Michael. You’re an arrogant, shallow asshole. Where you came from, I don’t know. But not from me.”
“That could be. Maybe Mom had an affair–like you did–and I’m not your son. Do I care? No, I don’t. Can I go upstairs now? I’ll leave in the morning.”
In the kitchen, Matt poured himself another scotch. He took the pizza out of the refrigerator and sat down to eat it, surprised to find that he actually had an appetite. Until tonight, despite the bad cards he had drawn, he had never stopped trying to break through to his son. It’s over, he said to himself, over and done. He’s not your son. He’s Debra’s son, Basil’s son. You lost him a long time ago.
He finished the pizza and was wrapping the garbage to take out in the morning when the doorbell rang. Looking out the kitchen window he saw that it was snowing heavily. Those idiots, he thought, they’re probably stuck someplace. No choice but to let them in. But when he swung open the front door, it wasn’t Adnan and Ali, but his friends Jack McCann and Clarke Goode, homicide detectives who he had worked with for many years, standing facing him. He could see their unmarked car at the curb, and behind it, blocking his driveway, a Pound Ridge patrol car, its engine running and headlights on, two uniformed officers in the front seat. McCann, a florid Irishman whose blue eyes were usually lit by some inner secret joke, looked grim; and Goode, a gnarled black man who never failed to greet Matt with a big smile, was not smiling. Far from it.
“Come in. What’s up?” Matt said. Then, nodding toward the street where the patrol car sat: “What’s with the uniforms?”
The two detectives stepped into the foyer.
“Take your coats off,” Matt said. He could see they were dressed for work, sport jackets and ties on under their trench coats.
“Matt…,” McCann said.
“Talk, Jack,” Matt said. “Is somebody dead?”
“Is Michael home?” Goode asked. He had not taken off his coat, and neither had McCann.
“That’s his car out there,” Matt said. “You know that.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s upstairs.”
Matt looked from McCann to Goode, then back to McCann; looked in the eyes of each, and did not like what he saw. “What about Michael?” he asked.
“We’re here to arrest him,” McCann replied.
“For what?” Drugs, Matt thought, good, let the kid get a taste of the pain he’s always inflicting on others. Him and his two Arab suppliers.
“For murder, Matt,” Goode said.

Gods and Fathers by James LePore Review

Matt DeMarco is an unhappy District Attorney in Gods and Fathers by James LePore. His marriage failed years ago, and his only child, Michael, hates him. When Michael is arrested for rape and murder of his girlfriend, Matt jumps in to help Michael prove his innocence. Matt enlists the help of his cop friends and they uncover a plot that involves more then just Michael and his girlfriend. Debra, Michael’s mother, is married to Basil al-Hassan, a political figure in Syria. When Matt uncovers a connection of al-Hassan and the murders, he must find out if it is Basil involved or someone working for him. Can Matt save his son, and does he really want to?

Gods and Fathers is a very intense book. It took me a little bit to get into it, but once I did, I couldn’t put the book down. It is an interesting story involving Syria and the CIA. It was a little difficult to keep up with which character was who, especially at the beginning. There is some sex and quite a bit of violence that would keep me from recommending this book to everyone. I felt James LePore did a great job of giving the characters justice and keeping the suspense through the entire book. It is a short book and a good read!

You can read an excerpt here.

Rating: 

Content: 

Title: Gods and Fathers

Author: James LePore

Format: Paperback, eBook

Page Nos.: 300

ISBN: 978-1611880298

Publisher: The Story Plant

Release Date: February 2012

Available for purchase: Amazon

Reviewer: Jocee

 

**I received a copy of this book from the author but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

Why Ratings?
It is true you can't judge a book by its cover, you also can't judge a book's graphic content by its cover. NovelReaction's goal is to provide readers with a graphic content so they can make an informed decision regarding the books they want to read. (Also, to have a great place for people to discuss books.) So sit back, pull up a beverage, and read on!
Ratings*

1 = kissing
2 = kissing, some fondling
3 = descriptive stripping but no sex
4 = sex scene but not descriptive in details
5 = full descriptive sex scene

*I am rating a specific book by an author, not the author's style. If I am aware an author writes a specific way, I will let you know.

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