MADE IN AMERICA

This novelistic memoir prequel follows a young man with mob ties who gathers dangerous intelligence on heroin dealers and corrupt law enforcers in 1960s New York City.

Luca Gunn (Marra’s stand-in) has always been a curious child. When he loses his uncle to cancer, he is convinced something else is going on. Surely, it is something sinister. After all, another uncle died mysteriously, and his cousin disappeared shortly after nosing around mobsters. To get answers, the boy, still only a tween, takes a “listen and learn” approach, slyly eavesdropping on Mafiosos’ conversations. It’s intel Luca could have collected for a United States government agency. But he chooses instead to work under the protection of his Mafia boss uncle, Zio, and alongside a monsignor, who hands over Luca’s information “to people we know are clean.” By his late teens, Luca primarily targets heroin dealers and crooked cops and politicians. But even working covertly, he makes enemies who put him in their lines of sight. Once someone targets Luca’s beloved girlfriend, Tracy Capoletti, the young man contemplates revenge. This second volume in Marra’s trilogy begins as a coming-of-age tale. At a mere 8 years old, Luca questions the muddled parameters of good and evil, and he quickly learns to respect, not hound, girls. But much of the story describes Luca’s often perilous undertakings, as he mingles with criminals and feels a handgun pressed against his head. The author portrays Luca as a street-smart teen who can handle himself in fisticuffs. But scenes with Tracy reveal his likable, mushy side, making any threats leveled against her all the more unnerving. As in his last book, Marra aptly incorporates the historical backdrop, from President John F. Kennedy and Woodstock to the Kent State shootings. Though later years intersect with the first installment’s time period, this work enhances, rather than duplicates, its predecessor.

Based on a true story, this gripping Mafia tale proves consistently engrossing.