In 1919, Nilo Sesta is sexually abused by three men while working on a fishing boat in his hometown of Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily. When the men finish with him, they toss him into the sea, but he reboards the boat and brutally murders the men. He returns home and tells his father what happened. The next day Nilo and his father go to the palatial home of Salvatore Maranzano. After listening to Nilo's story, he gives him a slip of paper with his N.Y. address, urging him to contact him there if he needs help. Nilo is sent to Naples where he boards a ship for New York. He is ready to start his new life and make his fortune.
He moves in with the Falcone's, his relatives, but jobs are scarce. The only jobs Nilo can find is digging ditches. Remembering the card, he visits Salvatore Maranzano at his fancy office. He is a Dom, a Maffia Chief, powerful and protected by body guards. Salvatore gives Nilo a test. He orders Nilo to destroy a still at one of his competitor's location. Nilo sets a fire, burns the still, and kills six people in the building. After reporting back, the Dom offers Nilo a job and slowly grooms him to become his right hand man in the Organization.
The Falcone family, Nilo's relatives, is well respected in their community. Tony Falcone is a dedicated policeman. He is honest, hard working, and believes in justice. Married, he has two sons, both decorated war heroes, and a daughter. Mario is a parish priest. Tommy wants to be a lawyer, but until he earns his tuition, he joins the force. Tina wants to be an opera singer. They are a close knit family who eventually falls apart due to Nilo Sesta, his Maffia ties, and corruption.
There are lots of surprising twists in this saga. Lots of secrets of ambitious men who want money and power at any cost, no matter who gets in the way. The research by Warren Murphy about the Maffia years and the beginning of the Cosa Nostra is exceptional. BLOODLINE hooked me from page one.
The journey of main characters, Tommy and Nilo, takes me on an emotional roller coaster ride of highs and lows. I have feelings of strong admiration, support and love for Tommy who always loves his family first and forever. I cheered when he decides to follow his father's mantra, "Never Surrender" and continue to fight crime and win. Nilo betrays and shatters his family, and I find him easy to hate. There is fear and a touch of terror as he kills so brutally with no remorse. Once these men swore to be brothers. Now on opposite sides of the law, Tommy and Nilo are enemies, the oath taken by them long forgotten. BLOODLINE is a book you won't be able to lay down. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys an exciting adventure that promises terror and lots of action. In the end, revenge is sweet.
Bloodline: a gritty historical novel about the Mafia in
1920s New York, from Edgar Award-winning author Warren Murphy.
The Falcones are an immigrant family living in New York City
in 1920. Their patriarch, Tony, is a respected policeman.
His sons, Tommy and Mario, both served in the Great War and
are now upstanding citizens-a cop and a priest. But their
cousin Nilo has a dark past, and he fled to America after
causing several deaths in a fight in Italy.
Nilo soon falls in with Don Maranzano, a Mafia boss who
comes from his hometown in Italy. Maranzano grooms Nilo as a
"real estate broker," but after a few months, Nilo is
offered the chance to do some serious work. He becomes a
useful still-wrecker, assassin, and skilled criminal. The
papers give him the name "Kid Trouble." Tommy and Mario try
to turn a blind eye, but it's hard to hide his underworld
affiliations.
As conflicts in the city begin to erupt into a violent war
involving gangsters from all parts of the country, Tommy and
Mario struggle to stay out of the dark world into which Nilo
has dragged the family. But when things take a turn for the
worse, the Mafia may be the only place for them to go.
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