City on Fire By: Don Winslow
Published: April 26, 2022 Date Finished: June 1, 2023
Rating: 9/10
There has long been peace, even friendship, between the Irish and the Italians in Providence, Rhode Island. The Irish ran the docks while the Italians ran the numbers racket and other lucrative endeavors in town. The two groups spilt the proceeds from the union jobs they controlled. The families even vacation together on the coast in the summer.
Things are starting to change in the summer of 1986. Former boss of the Irish Marty Ryan has already been phased out of his leadership position as he has succumbed to old age and alcoholism. Marty has been replaced by John Murphy and his family. Pasco Ferri runs the show for the Italians but is looking to retire. Just as there is starting to be a vacuum of leadership in the families, the peacefully coexistence that had lasted decades is suddenly over.
The war starts at Ferri’s annual clambake where attendance is expected of everyone that counts for anything in the Providence organized crime scene. Paulie Morretti brings the beautiful Pam as his date. Pam draws everyone’s attention, but especially that of the irresponsible youngest son of the Murphy clan Liam. Pam accuses Liam of assaulting her when they encounter each other during Ferri’s party. In response, Paulie, his older brother Peter, and the rest of the Morretti crew jump Liam when he is alone on the beach and beat him to within an inch of his life.
While the Irish contemplate how to respond, Pam visits Liam in the hospital and the two fall in love and get married as soon as Liam is healthy enough to fly to Las Vegas. Peter Morretti sees this as both an insult and an opportunity. He’s angling to take over as boss from Ferri and knows the Italians are stronger than the Irish and, if they wage a successful war, he could bolster his reputation by bringing the docks and other Irish revenue streams into the fold. The old guard are able to convene all the parties at a large summit meeting to try to smooth out the differences in the younger generation and maintain the status quo that has been so lucrative for them in the past. The Morrettis and the Irish seem to have reached a détente when everything gets thrown out the window as Liam, without the backing of the family, sets up an ambush as everyone is leaving the summit. Paulie Morretti is shot and the war is well and truly on.
Danny Ryan starts out the novel as a low level player in the Murphy family empire despite being the husband of John’s daughter Terri and the best friend of heir apparent Pat. The Italians try to keep him neutral in the war by reminding him how powerful the Ryan family was back when his father was boss and the Ryan name really meant something. However, Danny is too loyal to cut a deal with the Morretti’s and eventually, he takes on more and more responsibility and leadership as bodies continue to pile up and violence begets more violence.
Winslow is one of the best in the genre and tells a compelling, fascinating story with a blunt, direct story that fits the rough and tumble setting. I first became a fan of his with The Power of the Dog and its sequels that tell the story of the Mexican cartels and DEA agents at the US/Mexican border. His stories are well thought out and well researched (at least it seems that way to me, a person with no idea how mafia dealings in New England were conducted in the 20th century).
City on Fire is, more or less, a retelling of the Trojan War in 20th century Rhode Island. There are many allusions (some of them maybe could have benefited from being a little more subtle) to the Aeneid. It’s also a convention mob story in the mold of The Godfather. Despite the obvious influences of other works and some common troupes of the genre, the story is interesting and compelling. There aren’t too many surprising turns in the story, but it’s so well told that it remains engaging throughout.
I’m looking forward to book two in the trilogy City of Dreams in the near future (it was released in April but I have a handful of holds at the library to get to first).
Manchester United under 0.5 goals in FA Cup Final (+140 at DraftKings)
Manchester City are quite clearly the best soccer team in the world right now. They dispatched reigning Champions League champions Real Madrid without too much trouble over two legs. They played their best down the stretch of the season to track down and surpass an excellent Arsenal team to win the Premier League.
The two sides split their contest in the Premier League this season with both clubs winning at home. Man United did manage 4 goals over those 180 minutes, but I just think the City team of today is a totally different animal from the team they were in October and January. It’s possible the distraction of next weekend’s trip to Istanbul for the Champions League Final (a trophy the club have made no bones about being their ultimate ambition) could be a factor in this game, but I think the fact it will be a Manchester Derby at Wembley will help keep the men in blue focused on the task at hand.
Since City manager Pep Guardiola found his favorite XI with three defenders, the box in midfield, Silva and Grealish playing off Erling Haaland up front, they’ve just been a different team. They’ll go stretches where their opponents can barely manage a kick of the ball. By maintaining possession and keeping their opponents in a defensive posture, City are the team that shows a good offense can be a team’s best defense.
United do have the players to hit teams on the counterattack and I imagine they’ll try to absorb pressure in the final and take their chance on the break. I just don’t think there will be that many opportunities for them and I have confidence the City defense will be up to the task to snuff out the few chances United get.
Excellent, per usual!