Thy Father's Son

by Leo Rutman

New York City, October 1962: The Cuban missile crisis threatens the world as a drug war consumes the mafia. Caught up in its midst is Davey Rossi, former lightweight champion and son of Mafia don Vince Rossi. As Davey trains for his comeback to regain the title, he learns of a secret kept by Vince and his brother Johnny - a betrayal that split the Rossi family and caused its tragic involvement in the long-buried wars between the Jewish and Italian gangsters of the 1920's and 30's. The past and its deadly mystery force Davey to enter the violent life he has tried to avoid. He is pitted against ambitious, cunning Mafiosi steeped in guile and treachery. Davey searches for Dolly Irving, the reclusive stage star of the 1920's who knew the mobsters of that glamorous, roaring decade. And he falls in love with Julie Alpert, a beautiful tax attorney whose covert agenda threatens to bring down the Rossi family. Told in a pitch-perfect voice, with a rich and varied cast, and set against the backdrop of the Kennedy brothers' vendetta against the Mafia, Thy Father's Son is a stunning novel of family loyalty, redemption, and the sins of the past that can only be expiated by vengeance.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312290616
• ISBN13: 9780312290610
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

One Of The Best Books I've Ever Read

I picked up this book purely by chance and, in doing so, I did myself a great favor. I have not been as captivated by a book since "The Godfather." Author Leo Rutman has crafted a tale of boxing and the Mafia that ought to make a movie just as good as the Godfather saga. The plot is intricate, the characters are fascinating, the boxing bouts are riveting. I am fervently wishing there could be a sequel. Thank you, Leo Rutman, for a terrific read!!

PAGE TURNER !!!

WHAT A GREAT FIND. NEVER THOUGH I'D LIKE A BOOK ABOUT BOXING AND THE MOB BUT I JUST COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. I WAS UP UNTIL 2 AM. THE SUSPENSE WAS RIVETING. I RECOMMEND HIGHLY AND CANNOT WAIT FOR HIS NEXT RELEASE. PLEASE , WRITE AGAIN SOON RUTMAN!!

An Achievement

This impressive new novel is a well crafted blend of gritty NY gangster life, the sport of boxing, and an intriging, albeit semi-believable, love story. I felt that I was truly taken back to a time uncomplicated by 21st century technology. A great escape. This book is easy and fun to read, but has layers of complexity.

"Thy Father's Son" is a new generation of Mafia tales.

This completely different take on the standard Mafia genre has alot going for it. The twists of plot, interesting and well-defined characters, great descriptions of Depression Era and Sixties New York City, all add to its page-turning qualities. The plot involves an orphan who is raised by a Mafia don, becomesa Championship boxer to stay out of the "life", but circumstancesand Fate force him to search for his true roots. His search ultimately leads him to find those roots, but only by getting deeper into the "Life". The boxing sequences are described and even choreographed so well by the author, that it becomes a boxing story within a Mafia tale. The book is exciting and fast-moving. With the streets of New York City as a background, this terrific book could become a great movie.

A terrific old-style mobster novel

Thy Father's Son is old-fashioned in the best sense: it's set in early 60s New York on the brink of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and centers around the Five Families of the Mafia and their struggle for power. But the novel isn't just about the Italian mafia; it also links back (via the novel's central character, a boxer called Davey Rossi who is the adopted son of a Don), to the... mobsters of the 20s and 30s and their war with the newly-arrived gangsters from Sicily for control of the city. That's what makes it different from The Godfather and, for that matter, The Sopranos (with which it has almost nothing in common). And there's a stylish quality to the book, with the suits and hats and nightclubs and hideaways all described faithfully by someone who clearly knows New York as it was. But maybe the best stuff in the book is the boxing; if you like reading about the fights, this novel has two or three of the most visceral boxing sequences ever put on paper, it's like you are ringside with the blood and sweat hitting you in the face. A great read.