Revere Beach Boulevard

Book excerpt: Revere Beach Boulevard, a novel both literary and suspenseful, tells the story of a family that rallies around an errant son, even as a dark secret that has blighted all their lives comes to the surface. For Peter, the son who battles a gambling addiction for most of his adult life, it means having the courage to stand up to Eddie Crevine, a Mafia thug to whom he is in debt. For Peter's famous sister, Joanna, it means admitting that she shares some of her brother's anger at their parents and that she is no longer wholly responsible for saving him from the consequences of his gambling. For Vito, the father who hasn't ever had an easy time with his son, and Vito's wife, Lucy, it involves dealing with the aftereffects of a youthful indiscretion, a moment of unchecked passion that changes all of their lives in ways that can never be undone.