Joe, the son of a mobster, watches his father s mob loyalty force his family into a life of secrecy and deceit. As he struggles to avoid becoming his father, Joe discovers his father s influence is hard to ignore. The physical and emotional abuse Joe endured leaves him unable to express love for his own family. From his childhood in Brooklyn during the Depression, to his involvement in the Italian Mafia, and then his later foray into politics, the reader experiences one man s struggle to overcome his past.