When Johnny Caruso arrives in New York, all he wants is a clean slate and a chance at building his own name. But before he can settle into that life, he's coerced into the Caruso crime family-a seductive, manipulative, and brutal world where morality is weakness and loyalty demands blood.Beneath the shadow of Uncle Donnie, the family's vicious patriarch, Johnny clings to a fragile love with Marianne, daughter of a feared kingpin. But as Johnny cracks under pressure, therapy exposes childhood scars and uncovers the dark deeds of Donnie's past.As betrayals mount and bodies fall, Johnny spirals into the very monster he swore he'd never become. He must choose between humanity and survival. Each decision costs blood. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Dean 'Rafael Francis' Paniagua began writing screenplays for film and television, gaining a taste for storytelling under a heavily-restricted format, and received a number of accolades for his works as a screenwriter.Rafael's switch to writing novels came as a fresh and enlightening change. Writing with unshackled creativity and restriction compared to that of screenwriting, Rafael found it to be a freeing experience, not only writing for the audience, but for himself.
