Bøger af Marco Manfre

Four desperate men, three suffering from bloody gunshot wounds, sit low in an old Ford as it slowly moves through a fierce rainstorm along a night-darkened road in rural Wisconsin. They are trying to make it home, to Purgatory, Mississippi. The men have been driving for hours, from the time they limped out of a house that they had broken into, in Upton, Wisconsin, where they had been surprised by a man with a shotgun. That is the dramatic opening of Marco Manfre's new novel, PURGATORY, MISSISSIPPI, the story of Harlan Hughes, a man who just barely survived a brutal childhood and then fell into a pattern of break-ins and other crimes. Now, after twenty miserable years of that existence, he finds himself weighed down by a residue of agonizing regrets. As he and the other men travel, attempting to evade the police, Harlan decides that once he returns to Purgatory he will confront the blizzard of unresolved problems and disappointments that define his life and the profoundly painful sense of emptiness that he has long ignored, and attempt to make a new start. However, before he is able to do that he must deal with an unexpected deadly threat that awaits him in his hometown.

Howard Roark Fox has spent most of his life apart from other people, choosing instead to dwell in the world of books and fictional characters. He has never understood the need for relationships or, for that matter, why he has to conform to everyday social customs and accepted rules of decorum. Then he meets Faye, a dark-haired beauty who stirs his emotions and ignites flames of desire. At the age of 29, Faye longs to be married and have children, but she has chosen to stop going out with men because each encounter ends up being an uncomfortable experience that ultimately leads to heartbreak. However, this peculiar man, Howard, who she meets on a gloomy, rainy afternoon in an Upper Manhattan coffee shop, manages to win her over. Despite Howard's rigid and unyieldingly odd habits, he and Faye live contentedly together ... until the day he says the wrong thing, and she leaves. Years later, in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack, he realizes how empty his life has become and how much he misses Faye. As Howard's goal becomes to "return to my good years with her," he seeks the help of psychologists and "experts" in the field of alternate planes of existence, eventually stumbling upon and bringing to light a long-forgotten, shadowy mystery from his childhood.This lyrically written, dark romantic narrative shifts between scenes of heartbreaking realism and magical excursions to different times and places and versions of reality. Howard, Faye, and the other characters in this novel ring true and have the power to reach into the very soul of the reader. BLUE BLUE SEA succeeds in telling a riveting, sometimes humorous, sometimes heart-rending story while, at the same time, revealing fundamental truths about life, love, and the meaning of it all.www.marcomanfre.com

After sixteen outstanding years on the job, NYPD Detective Connor Finley has allowed the lingering dark guilt about the death of Vernon Washington to finally push him over the edge. Even before he had put on a uniform, Connor knew that he owed a debt of blood to Vernon, and not only because they had lived as brothers. Connor has always believed that he was responsible, at least in part, for Vernon's gruesome murder. Now, as he works to identify and apprehend the serial killer who has become known as the Alpha Wolf he has given in to his baser, more brutal impulses. He has repeatedly violated NYPD rules, bent the law, and used harsh interrogation methods, because, in his heart of hearts Connor knows that Vernon had been the first victim of the Alpha Wolf.

A one-of-a-kind crime novel.Russell Butler, a sharp, methodical NYPD undercover detective, never hesitates to bend the rules and interpret reality as he perceives it in order to solve cases and bring felons to justice. In THE BOMB SHELTER CONFESSION, the first installment of the Detective Butler Mystery trilogy, he finds himself caught up in the hunt for the drug dealers who shot his partner to death. At the same time, he conducts an unofficial investigation into the brutal beating death of an old friend in his hometown in South Jersey. During the months that he spends digging into these cases, he makes an effort to finally come to terms with a painful memory and a gnawing sense of remorse that have haunted him for years. THE BOMB SHELTER CONFESSION is a lightning-paced crime novel that is, at the same time, a meticulously composed, highly literate police procedural that delves deeply into the motivations of characters and asks questions about truth, justice, and the nature of forgiveness.

The Outcast Prophet of Bensonhurst, a darkly humorous and gritty coming-of-age novel set in the period 1952 to 1971, is about much more than Anacleto Roosevelt, the reclusive young man who is its main character. It also eloquently and hauntingly paints a picture of a time and way of life that are long past. His odd name, eccentric family, and a minor physical deformity cause Anacleto, from a young age, to be an outcast in his Brooklyn neighborhood. He spends a great deal of time observing life from the outside. In his isolation, he experiences periodic episodes of detachment from reality which allow him to view people and events from a very different perspective from that of everyone else. He sometimes thinks that he is able to foresee future events that involve those around him. He does not disclose this "gift" or "curse" to anyone. As the story progresses and Anacleto matures, he reaches out for acceptance. This turns out to be a dramatically life-altering decision. Although The Outcast Prophet of Bensonhurst begins as a quirky, ironically humorous story, as the plot unfolds and as Anacleto tentatively develops friendships, he is drawn into a series of heart-wrenching calamities and dramatically violent situations. He attempts to counsel an eccentric acquaintance who is at war with society. Later in the story, he finds himself caught up in the turmoil caused by the dark family secret of his best, and only friend. Anacleto experiences the ecstasy of first love and plunges headlong into a series of rapturously heady sexual encounters. At the same time, he wrestles with his own family problems and with questions having to do with religious belief, free speech, and the war in Vietnam (two of his older brothers serve in the armed forces, one of whom returns home badly scarred, physically and emotionally).And then, there's the gun...the one that is lost and which leads to so much misfortune. The powerful and ironic climax of The Outcast Prophet of Bensonhurst leaves all of the main characters damaged. It will leave you breathless.

When Daniel Montello is 18 years old, because his family is overwhelmed with crushing financial problems, he begins working as an errand boy/clean-up person at the Huntington Social Club, a storefront in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn that is used by the De Luca crime family. That decision dramatically alters the trajectory of Daniel's life and drastically affects all of those who care about him.While not a sequel to THE OUTCAST PROPHET OF BENSONHURST, this new book by Marco Manfre deals with similar themes: family, love, loss, and consequences, as well as how people deal with local traditions and loyalties. However, because it is the story of a man's life in an organized crime family, RETURNING TO THE LION'S DEN is replete with gut-churning images and heart-pounding scenes of crime and retribution. It also explores the boundaries of faith and loyalty and delves into fundamental questions of right and wrong. Although RETURNING TO THE LION'S DEN is a work of fiction, as the story unfolds, it reveals a great deal of accurate, carefully researched information about the actual workings of modern-day crime families. It is an eloquent and fascinating cross between THE GODFATHER and THE VALACHI PAPERS.Its unique characters, real-life setting, and complex plot make RETURNING TO THE LION'S DEN that rare kind of reading experience: a fast-paced thriller/crime novel and a deeply moving story of a man's fall from grace and his ultimate redemption.