Nuncio’s Way

Nunzio’s Way: Review

Lives are indispensable when revenge is primary and necessary. Killing someone to pay them back for killing someone in your gang or family is common practice when one gang vs another. From the start of this book, we meet Angelo, Nick, Nuncio and Joe who are best friends and would do anything for each other. One man who dared to come up against them learned that mistakes happen but a then year-old boy would take him down. The scene is graphically depicted, and the end result takes you from the past to their present as they learn the hard way how to be the number one gang, take aim at anyone who dares to challenge you as Nuncio

is the most powerful crime lord and yet who and why is there a hit out on him.

The Knights, the Weepers and The Satan Knights  all vying for territory. Each one would kill anyone in the other gang for a wrong move, word or just because they were insulted or killed one of their members. Throughout the novel you will meet the members of different gangs but even more deadly is Angie/Heather who is a paid assassin and gets close to someone dear to Nuncio to fulfill the reason she’s here: To complete the hit out on him but will she succeed?
The language is hard; the scenes are violent, and the result will not surprise you. Families are affected, insults are passed and those that offend well one less who cares.

Angelo and his gang, with a bit of help from his beloved “uncle” Nunzio Sabino, defeated the notorious Satan’s Knights. Told in 1960, Nuncio is powerful, and you don’t defy him. protecting what he owns, and his political influences and business deals you dare not touch.

Mafia territory wars, gang battles between local gangs, politics and pollical power in the election for mayor and the body count rising. So, when Heather arrives from Naples after killing a top member of the Camorra to avenge a family murder, how does she manage to blend into the neighborhood, focus on the threat from the Satan’s Knights, and yet no one realizes or suspects that Angelo’s father are Nuncio are next on the hit list. Living his entire life by the manta, he states : Be a fox when there are traps and a lion where there are wolves. As the plot moves on who wins?

Each member of each gang or family has their take on the situation. Angelo has a bigger problem since Audrey, his girlfriend is being sent away to school by her parents. But first her father has to apologize to him for his rude behavior. Heather/Angie manages to get close to Nunzio and his family through Frank the man who owns a bar and became close it. Father Joe, Father Cas, Angelo, Pepe and more are involved as Uncle Nuncio handed an envelope to Frank and things get interesting. From the other gang or the Knights, Domingo manages to upset the apple card, not follow orders and is told he no longer is part of the gang. Anna loses her husband he is killed but what would happen if she knew that Mac was killed by Heather and so was his girlfriend? The deputy Mayor is being blackmailed and needs some help. Just how does Nunzio solve the problem and what happens to the blackmailers is right out of a movie about Capone or the Untouchables. We even hear Heather’s voice thinking about what she’s done but we learn more about loyalties to Nunzio but what will happen if he finds out just why Heather is there? Then Detective Hartz arrives at their small dinner party, and it gets interesting.

Rival gangs killed rival gangs. Violence and revenge escalated, Frank became closer to Heather, not realizing the red flags with certain things she said. Deaths and bodies mounted up, anyone that did anything against a rival gang wound up dead. Nuncio was a prime target, Pepe was there to protect him but others close to him would learn what happens when you cross the line.

When Angelo and Anna are attacked in the street and Angelo takes out the life on one of the men, Nunzio is proud of him. When his daughter is killed and he is hurt, the result will not surprise you. The connections he has, the widespread favors from business owner, the ability to shut down Chinatown and the way he handles it all, the mob seems to have the upper hand, one gang learns what happens when they go too far. Rico is a plant and although he appears to be on the right side, what happens because of his actions will affect others because Nunzio takes no prisoners he eliminates those that go against him.

When the Sheriff takes aim at Sergeant Elwood Wallace Patterson because he is black, arrests him and Danny who are war veterans little does he know he will more than pay for his actions. Elwood winds up dead, Danny hurt, and revenge is number one on the list. When Heather with the help of Rico disappears, you will not believe how the author sets up the scene at the London Airport and how Detective Hartz figures out what happened and how she gets away. Rico stepped behind the counter of his diner to make coffee, the result for his actions and disloyalty to Nunzio you can figure out for yourself. Lives are fragile and connections and power are the winners. Racism, revenge, family loyalties, corruption, police connections and one man named Nuncio who has the power, respect and the way to get it his way.

Endings are not always endings. Some leave you wondering what is next. Those faithful to Nuncio are they really? What is next for all of them? Characters that are right out of a violent Mafia movie with characterization that is authentic and vividly depicted and expressed. Author Nick Charkas keeps readers wondering what happens next.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews