Review: First Novel... Off To A Good Start
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 8, 2014
The author has subtitled his first novel "A Mafia Thriller'. Mafia is a generic word synonymous with Italian Organized Crime. What does Mafia really mean?It is an acronym for the old 13th Century phrase "Death to France, Italy Forward, in Italian "Morte Alla Francia, Italia Avanti.In 1963, an Italian-American turncoat (Pentiti) Joseph Valachi testified in a Senate hearing that mafiosos refer to their oranization as "Cosa Nostra" meaning,"our thing" "this thing of ours". When meeting with another mafioso to introduce a felllow "made man," he would say "this is Carmine, He's a friend of ours". If Carmine was not a mafioso it would be "hey, meet Carmine, he's a friend of mine".The author has chosen South Boston as the setting where his story begins with the antagonist, Gabe Adelade, the son of the "Padroni" the Godfather, Victor Adelade, who has just been acquitted of protection racketeering charges.  He is giving a victory speech to a crowd of reporters to the chagrin of Bruce Hudson , the District Attorney. Hudson and the Boston Police have invested years of hard work investigating the crimes of the "Cosca" (family) who have murdered business men, burned restaurants, and intimidated jurors to win acquittals for the young successor to the family power throne.Gabe shouts over the crowd,  to Hudson,"I will get you your boy". Hudson takes this as threat. Believing that this young mafioso will harm August, the young boy now living with foster parents, that Hudson is trying to adopt.The tension builds as Gabe follows through on his threat to Hudson. Hudson is suffering with an internal illness that is made worse by the stress of fighting Social Services in his attempt to win adoption od August.A rival Cosa Nostra family, the Fillipos (oddly an Italian First Name...Phillip) out of Waterton, Mass is growing aggessive towards Adelade challenging their sovereignity over the borgata of South Boston.The author has moved the story line along at a fast pace. Flashbacks fill in back stories that provide more information about the characters example That Gabe was an adopted child himself that is why he is soft hearted regarding August even though he is the lethal underboss of the Adelade crime family.There are enough twits, turns, and surprises to keep a high level of interest. We think we know how things will turn out but.events unravel the assumed direction causing us to reboot to keep up with changing developments. I like that. It's challenging.I enjoyed the story, but I do have a suggestion for future novels I'm sure will be forthcoming from this very talented youngauthor.Many readers of Crime mysteries are also very experienced with and knowledgeable about Guns. Count me among them.We cringe when we see the word "CLIP" being used instead of "MAGAZINE" when the author is describing loading ammunition or carrying extra ammunition for a handgun.A Clip is something that is used to attach a holster to your belt or a necktie to your shirt--or moon clip loading pistol ammo like a .45 ACP into the cylinder of a revolver.A magazine is a detachable device with an internal spring into which various numbers of pistol ammunition can be loaded the the magazine can be loaded into the hollow grip. The slide pulled back until a new cartridge is chambered from the magazine, the slide released , the bullet now in in place ready for firing. When the trigger is pulled, bullet fired, shell ejected slide back to battery, new cartridge chambered and ready to repeat. This explanation is for new shooters.One more thought. The author has Gabe carrying a "baby Glock" a Glock 26 9mm. This little weapon holds ten rounds and fits pretty comfortably in a front pocket. It is easily concealed. Gabe has a run in with a bum and his young son who won't give August his stuffed animal back.. Gabe flashes the gun grip and the bum is now encouraged to grant Gabe his request.Later, though the author has Gabe carrying two FULL AUTO.Glock 18 pistols. This are full size handguns weighing almost.two an a half pounds apiece fully loaded.on top of these he is also carrying four magazines of ammo bring his belt load to over seven pounds. That is a tough load to conceal and to cart around.  Now hear is where the train goes off the tracks!Even the most powerful, well connected Cosa nostra mafiaoso would have a hard time getting his hands on a G-18. They are for Military and Law enforcement only. Automatic weapons were banned for civilian ownership in May 1986 just as G-18s went on the market. The Hughes Amendment made it illegal to own one unless you spent the time and $200 to fill out the wish I had one paperwork and wait until your beard reached your beltline before you joined the Gov'ts shoot me first list.I did enjoyed. the book and wish Brent Coffey well as he continues his college education and his avocation to write crime fiction. Small Fact, my mother named me Roger after the first King of Sicily.