by Don Winslow, 2021, Audiobook narrated by Ari Fliakos, Harper Audio

This is a very well-written book, but I didn’t like the subject matter or the characters very much. It hit very close to home as the setting was Rhode Island, and more specifically, southern Rhode Island where we have a summer condo. Winslow uses the names of some of the local establishments, changing the names slightly possibly to avoid and legal issues. For instance, Galilee becomes “Gillied”, Jim’s Dock becomes “Dave’s Dock”, etc.

The book is basically about a mob war between the Irish and the Italians in Providence, all precipitated because of a perceived slight when one of the Irish individuals steals the girlfriend of one of the Italians and marries her. Gang war ensues along with many killings.

The language in this book is awful, but it’s probably realistic as it’s no doubt the way these individuals talked. I wish it were otherwise but wishing it doesn’t make it any better. The narrator of this audiobook does an excellent job portraying the accents and faulty grammar of the characters.

I am aware that the book is a fictional story, but I wonder how much of it is true. We had a chance to visit with the author when he appeared at a book event at a local bookstore last week, but we had other commitments, so we had to decline the opportunity. I don’t know how much he would have revealed if we had asked him.