New York: Doubleday, (1995). First edition - The first novel by this award-winning journalist, a story of "crime, vengeance, and redemption, set on New York City's meanest streets. Frank Battaglia is a swaggering soldier of the Mafia, greedy for the power generations of thugs have taken as their right and compelled by an inner demon to rip away the shame that surrounds him like a shroud. As a young fighter, Frank fell apart in the ring at Madison Square Garden, a humiliation witnessed by the most powerful gangster in the city. In Frank's eyes, only one person can salvage his reputation: his son Nicky." 321 pp.