‘The Price You Pay’ by Jim Fusilli

Written By Mike Greenblatt

The Price You Pay

Jim Fusilli
(Down & Out Books)

Jersey City. Mid-1970s. It’s a rough’n’tumble town where Teamsters stick together, the mob’s tentacles reach out and the cops have to know which side of the bread that the butter’s on. To that end, protagonist Mickey Wright’s father is an old-school cop, steeped in nefarious doings with drug dealers, fellow rogue cops and crooked politicians. When he gets his son a job with the Teamsters, Mickey soon realizes that his silence on certain matters is a foregone conclusion. That’s the heart of this tough-guy page-turner of a tale.

When a Black trucker is murdered, that loyalty comes into question as Mickey wrestles with what is right. Despite his own dad being on one side, he has to choose between catering to years of entrenched norms or his own values. But there’s a price to pay, as the title implies. The love of his young life, Debbie Olsen, shares the rightness of his values, but, when it’s your own dad?

Gritty, realistic, with dark humor growing like weeds within concrete sidewalks, The Price You Pay is Jim Fusilli’s tenth novel. Fusilli, born in Hoboken, is the former Wall Street Journal Rock & Pop critic. Last year, he edited Brutal & Strange: Stories Inspired By The Songs Of Elvis Costello.

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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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