In the City of Brotherly Love, a car skids off the ice and ignites a chain of events that changes everything for eight-year-old Peter Flood. Peter's father is a powerful man, a union boss with mob connections, but all the power in the world is useless to a grieving son. Raised by his uncle, Peter tries to distance himself from the casual brutality of the family business, gravitating instead toward a small South Philly gym. Peter's cousin Michael--his "brother"--moves in another direction: into small-time intimidation and the trappings of a union prince. Neither, however, can outrun the logic of violence as they're dragged into a world of bad blood and a chilling cycle of betrayal and retribution.
Praise for "Brotherly Love"
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"A first-rate novel and a masterly evocation of that undercivilized and unfree America . . . The grace and confidence of Pete Dexter's] prose conveys absolute authenticity."--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Enviably artful work--carefully wrought, canny in its insights, sly in its presentation, sneaky in its revelations."--"Chicago Tribune"
"Extraordinarily poignant . . . "Brotherly Love" is all bulletproof prose and flinty-eyed bravissimo. . . . But the quieter, sadder aspects of the novel are its strongest points."--"The Boston Globe"
"Tautly and often exquisitely written."--"Los Angeles Times"