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Fence Jumpers
New York City cops Dante O'Donnell and Jimmy Burns face a conflict of interest when their childhood friend, Jo Jo Paradiso, becomes a big player in a deadly crime family involved in the drug trade. Reprint.
403 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1995
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May 19, 2022
In this novel published in 1995, former NYPD undercover cop Robert Leuci introduces readers to three young teenagers growing up in Queens New York in the neighbourhood around 101st street. It was a tough area where people with arrest records were common and many kept guns, bats and chains in their cars.
Dante O’Donnell is the son of Dan, a NYPD cop who committed suicide after being exposed for corruption. Dante is tough, strong and often gets into fist fights. Jimmy Burns is Dante’s best friend, as close to him as the brother he never had. Jimmy is a slick, handsome young man who tries to keep his more volatile friend Dante out of trouble. He’s cool and unlike his friend, avoids arguments and street fights. Joseph (JoJo) Paradiso is the son of Salvatore Paradiso, known on the street as “Sally Blue Eyes”, one of the last old time neighborhood dons. The Paradiso family run the traditional rackets of loan sharking, gambling, hi-jacking and robberies. The old man, known as Skipper in the gang, had years ago issued an edict against drugs, forbidding any of his gang to get involved in what he believed was a dirty business. JoJo was a young man with violence already deep in his genes and his brother John stayed as far away as possible from him. He wasn’t interested in all that craziness and spent his time playing golf and tennis.
The three young men present an interesting dynamic: Dante and Jimmy are close and JoJo and Jimmy are close; Dante and JoJo tolerate each other.
The narrative jumps forward twenty years with JoJo now the underboss and heir apparent of the Paradiso mafia family. He is from a different generation than his father and sees the criminal landscape shifting. Other gangs were bringing in big money dealing drugs while the Paradiso’s financial base was eroding and the capos and captains were not only losing revenue but their power and influence on the street. JoJo can feel their growing restlessness while his father, now seventy, doesn’t seem to know about it or care. JoJo has tried to talk to him but the Skipper won’t listen, so JoJo feels he has no options; it is time for him to take charge of the family. He begins scheming behind his father’s back and makes a serious contact to get into the cocaine business. He’ll leave the heroin to others. It scares him to death.
Dante is married to Judy and has a son named Danny. Their marriage has been a rocky one and Judy has thrown him out at least a half dozen times. The last time she told him she didn’t want to see him again. Dante is deep in debt with a new house in the suburbs, taxes, the second car he had to buy for Judy, insurance and the cost of gas. His failed marriage, his never-ending trail of bills and his dwindling bank account are pushing him over the edge and his stomach bothers him when he thinks about it.
Jimmy has lots of girlfriends, is still single and happy about it. He always has cash, unburdened by the money troubles of Dante and the two friends, now partners in the NYPD remain close buddies. Jimmy is always the voice of reason when Dante loses his temper and has helped him avoid numerous confrontations.
None of the three boys seem comfortable with the life they have chosen to lead or the world they have chosen to live in. Did they choose it, or just fall into it? At various times, they each wonder about it.
Inspector Arthur Martin is Dante and Jimmy’s boss. He has them working with Ray Velasquez and Kathy Gibbons investigating JoJo and the Paradiso crime family. Ray is the top tech man in the department and has installed the various bugs and wires at the Nestor Club, the Paradiso’s base of operations. Kathy Gibbons is a solid member of the team who happens to be gay. All are committed to getting JoJo and his gang off the street.
The feds are also making efforts against five of the New York crime families. Inspector Martin’s contact tells him they have an informant planted deep inside the Paradiso family and warns Martin about a leak on the police side. Someone in Martin’s office has warned JoJo about the wire taps and the bugs at the Nestor Club.
Leuci’s narrative drops readers into the middle of the mob world and into what feels like a Godfather movie. It is a world Leuci knows well from his experience as an undercover cop, filled with its capos and captains, loyalties, and betrayals. Leuci uses the street slang of both the cops and the mob, referring to wiseguys, goodfellas and fence jumpers giving the text a realistic feel.
Life in the mob is full of petty jealousies, splinter factions and quick forming alliances as members search for more power, prestige and cash. Thugs are forever moving between the absolute terror of facing an opponent with a gun or laughing about their achievements. The business could drive you crazy with its various jealousies and members plotting, planning and scheming with and against each other. Leuci gives thugs colorful street names. Some like The Dancer and the Dwarf are known by their one-word monikers while others such as The Ice Man, Crazy Joe Gallo, Benny Bats and Bobby Pump Apalia, have longer names that infer their special skills.
There is a wide cast of characters to keep track of, but Leuci portrays the complexity and depth of both Dante and JoJo well. He is less successful with Jimmy, the linchpin of the group who is less colorful but no less important.
The book feels more like a film than a novel, with the actions and the characters driving the narrative. The conclusion was somewhat predictable, but it proved to be a good solid read that I enjoyed.
Dante O’Donnell is the son of Dan, a NYPD cop who committed suicide after being exposed for corruption. Dante is tough, strong and often gets into fist fights. Jimmy Burns is Dante’s best friend, as close to him as the brother he never had. Jimmy is a slick, handsome young man who tries to keep his more volatile friend Dante out of trouble. He’s cool and unlike his friend, avoids arguments and street fights. Joseph (JoJo) Paradiso is the son of Salvatore Paradiso, known on the street as “Sally Blue Eyes”, one of the last old time neighborhood dons. The Paradiso family run the traditional rackets of loan sharking, gambling, hi-jacking and robberies. The old man, known as Skipper in the gang, had years ago issued an edict against drugs, forbidding any of his gang to get involved in what he believed was a dirty business. JoJo was a young man with violence already deep in his genes and his brother John stayed as far away as possible from him. He wasn’t interested in all that craziness and spent his time playing golf and tennis.
The three young men present an interesting dynamic: Dante and Jimmy are close and JoJo and Jimmy are close; Dante and JoJo tolerate each other.
The narrative jumps forward twenty years with JoJo now the underboss and heir apparent of the Paradiso mafia family. He is from a different generation than his father and sees the criminal landscape shifting. Other gangs were bringing in big money dealing drugs while the Paradiso’s financial base was eroding and the capos and captains were not only losing revenue but their power and influence on the street. JoJo can feel their growing restlessness while his father, now seventy, doesn’t seem to know about it or care. JoJo has tried to talk to him but the Skipper won’t listen, so JoJo feels he has no options; it is time for him to take charge of the family. He begins scheming behind his father’s back and makes a serious contact to get into the cocaine business. He’ll leave the heroin to others. It scares him to death.
Dante is married to Judy and has a son named Danny. Their marriage has been a rocky one and Judy has thrown him out at least a half dozen times. The last time she told him she didn’t want to see him again. Dante is deep in debt with a new house in the suburbs, taxes, the second car he had to buy for Judy, insurance and the cost of gas. His failed marriage, his never-ending trail of bills and his dwindling bank account are pushing him over the edge and his stomach bothers him when he thinks about it.
Jimmy has lots of girlfriends, is still single and happy about it. He always has cash, unburdened by the money troubles of Dante and the two friends, now partners in the NYPD remain close buddies. Jimmy is always the voice of reason when Dante loses his temper and has helped him avoid numerous confrontations.
None of the three boys seem comfortable with the life they have chosen to lead or the world they have chosen to live in. Did they choose it, or just fall into it? At various times, they each wonder about it.
Inspector Arthur Martin is Dante and Jimmy’s boss. He has them working with Ray Velasquez and Kathy Gibbons investigating JoJo and the Paradiso crime family. Ray is the top tech man in the department and has installed the various bugs and wires at the Nestor Club, the Paradiso’s base of operations. Kathy Gibbons is a solid member of the team who happens to be gay. All are committed to getting JoJo and his gang off the street.
The feds are also making efforts against five of the New York crime families. Inspector Martin’s contact tells him they have an informant planted deep inside the Paradiso family and warns Martin about a leak on the police side. Someone in Martin’s office has warned JoJo about the wire taps and the bugs at the Nestor Club.
Leuci’s narrative drops readers into the middle of the mob world and into what feels like a Godfather movie. It is a world Leuci knows well from his experience as an undercover cop, filled with its capos and captains, loyalties, and betrayals. Leuci uses the street slang of both the cops and the mob, referring to wiseguys, goodfellas and fence jumpers giving the text a realistic feel.
Life in the mob is full of petty jealousies, splinter factions and quick forming alliances as members search for more power, prestige and cash. Thugs are forever moving between the absolute terror of facing an opponent with a gun or laughing about their achievements. The business could drive you crazy with its various jealousies and members plotting, planning and scheming with and against each other. Leuci gives thugs colorful street names. Some like The Dancer and the Dwarf are known by their one-word monikers while others such as The Ice Man, Crazy Joe Gallo, Benny Bats and Bobby Pump Apalia, have longer names that infer their special skills.
There is a wide cast of characters to keep track of, but Leuci portrays the complexity and depth of both Dante and JoJo well. He is less successful with Jimmy, the linchpin of the group who is less colorful but no less important.
The book feels more like a film than a novel, with the actions and the characters driving the narrative. The conclusion was somewhat predictable, but it proved to be a good solid read that I enjoyed.
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