The Grandfather Clause

Book excerpt: THE GRANDSON OF MAFIA CRIME BOSS VITO GENOVESE MAKES A REMARKABLE DEBUT IN THIS SUSPENSEFUL THRILLER. A NOVEL ONLY HE COULD WRITE. It's March of 1963 in a quiet New Jersey shore community. Joseph Napolo is a young boy who cherishes his Pop Pop Carmine's Sunday visits to his parent's home. Joseph has come to understand that there is something special about his grandfather - the stories he tells, his friends that visit after dinner, how they kiss his ring and call him Don Carmine. This Sunday, however, Joseph is the sole witness to sinister and dramatic events. Young Joseph and his grandfather pledge to keep a dark secret. Over time, Joseph learns his grandfather had been the boss of a New York crime family - one that the media continues to illuminate as the most powerful Mafia organization in the country. Joseph has shunned his grandfather's ways but he will forever share the Family name. He understands that fame is fickle and fleeting. Infamy is not. Now Spring 2001, Joseph is a husband, father, and with his best friend, Michael Cogan, co-owner of a successful trucking company. However, trouble with the Teamsters Union, Cogan's gambling debts, and a hijacking that is more than it appears to be, create a scenario where the past and the present reconvene. During this one week in May, these ostensibly unconnected events toss together several nefarious entities. Teamster officials, a high-tech defense contractor, the Napolo Crime Family, and an ex-US intelligence operative collude and collide, taking Joseph on a wild ride, racing toward a Friday deadline. Reluctantly, Joseph must penetrate his grandfather's world to protect his own family and to save his friend, only to find himself a key player in a conspiracy that redefines patriotism and his grandfather's role in history. More www.philgenovese.com