The Roofer

Imagine your father is an underworld figure who tosses people from the tops of skyscrapers. He's THE ROOFER. As if that weren't enough, your mother offed herself, your brother is dangerously unstable, and Hollywood is shooting a film about your family. We're not done yet: You become involved with the actor playing the role of your father. He's a Hollywood leading man who falls in love with you and wants to separate you from your brother. Which you can't allow, because you owe your brother for an unspeakable favor he performed years ago, an act of family loyalty that demands loyalty in return. Still not enough? Sorry. Read the book. The darkest secrets don't come out until the end.

Erica Orloff is one of my new favorite authors. I was introduced to her by Urban Legend in the SIlhouette Bombshell series and picked this up because I liked her writing. The Roofer is a dark and dangerous story of a woman and her brother and how their father a brutal man - a leader of one of the Irish gangs in Hells Kitchen in New York lived and died. This is a not often glimpse into the unglamorous lifestyle of those whose life is crime. Ava and Tom O'Neill struggle through youth as their father is in and out of prison for his works, raised at times by his brother, and dad's gangster colleagues after the children's mother takes her own life early on as a result of a long battle with manic depression. A journalist sets out to uncover THE ROOFER- that is the street name for their father. He throws men off roofs as a method of making a statement and ruling the are with terror. THe result is not what the journalist expects- the public is fascinated with the Irish Sopranos and a big movie is made about Ava's father. The journey through fame and fortune, the dark secrets never revealed, battles with sanity, sobriety , conscience and guilty have a distinctly Catholic flavor captured beautifully in these pages. The Roofer would make one heck of a good movie! A nice complement to all of the glamorized Italian princess films. Ava is a dark, tortured, tormented, damaged heroine who longs for nothing. Her hope has long been taken away. Seeing her reach for a different life and moving out of darkness is just great.

I have to say that The Roofer was the first ever work of fiction that I read regarding the mafia. I was NOT disappointed. I had class in college on Organized Crime and Ms. Orloff's interpretation of the family life was superior. I have read her other works and this one now moves to the top of the list. I was so pleased with the end and must say that if it hadn't ended the way that it did I would not have liked the book as much. I will definetly look forward to reading her next book and I will recommend them to all of my friends.

I saw immense talent in Erica Orloff's Red Dress Ink novels and couldn't wait to read her first non-chick-lit book. The Roofer enthralled me from beginning to end. The characters and situations had me turn the pages until the late hours of the night. This is the story of an infamous Irish gang in New York's Hell's Kitchen. Ava O'Neil, daughter of "The Roofer," named after his notorious rooftop killings, tells her fascinating and horrifying life story in a series of flashbacks during her father's wake and funeral. She recounts her horrid childhood, her mother's suicide, her father's constant imprisonments, and her overall rather unconventional lifestyle. When a reporter writes about the O'Neils' notorious life, the story sparks a Hollywood director's interest. And that is how she meets and falls for the lead actor of the movie. It appears that Ava has been given a chance to live a semi-normal life, but she cannot escape her past -- the things that have driven her brother Tom to depend on drugs, alcohol and Ava's affection as a form of escape. There are some flooring twists throughout the novel. As said earlier, I saw great potential in Orloff when I read her RDI offerings. I am glad she wrote this amazing novel. Her plot development and characterization are flawless. The darkness of the novel is not unlike a film noir. And she makes the reader feel what it is like to be in the O'Neil family, to be surrounded not only with crime but also with love -- for the O'Neils showed affection in their own way. Also, Ava's cynical look into her dysfunctional surroundings spoke to me. This is one of the best novels I've read this year. Brava for Ms. Orloff for writing this dark novel. I cannot recommend it enough.

Once in a while a book you just blows you away. "The Roofer" is such a book. I noticed it on someones list and took a chance. From the first word to the last I was hooked. I know the O'Neils don't exist and I'm not even sure there was ever a roofer, but until I turned the last page Erica Orloff had me convinced that if I went down to Hell's kitchen, walked into John's Bar and sat down at the table in the back I'd be certain to meet Ava, Tom, Uncle Two and the rest of the gang. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT GROWING UP IN A DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY FILLED WITH INCORRIGIBLE BUT DEVOTED RELATIVES AND LEARNING TO SURVIVE> IT WILL> IT IS AN INCREDIBLE TALE THAT IS MORE IMPRESSIVE BECAUSE IT ISNOT REAL> TAKE IT TO THE BEACHOR ONVACATION THIS SUMMER> YOU WON"T BE SORRY>