Book 3 - Sleepers

Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra

This novel was started on March 25, 2024, and finished on April 25, 2024; it was 404 pages. This was chosen by my older brother, Marcus.

This novel inspired a movie by the same name, and of course; I watched it after. It has also caused speculation on its authenticity in the content concerning the crimes and trials associated with the story. The author did claim that all accounts, although names and places were changed, were in fact true. Regardless, I gave this novel a 3-star rating and did enjoy it.

Summary (SPOILERS!!)

The place known as Hell's Kitchen is known to harbor criminals and get away with a lot because of its own corruption in law enforcement. A level of respect is placed on one of the area's deadliest bosses, King Benny. Also, the local parish is one of the most influential aspects of this community, among those in the church Father Bobby tried his best to help the youth because he knows how they grew up and what they may experience.

    Four young boys are "employees" of King Benny and also very close friends with Father Bobby. Tommy, John, "Shakes", and Michael have been friends for as long as they can remember and together they will experience one of the most difficult years than they bargained for. 

    A "harmless" competition between them of who can come up with the best prank ends with a man in the hospital, a food vendor out of a job, and four boys being sent to a reformation school called; Wilkinson School for Boys. There they will serve their time for their prank, and they are introduced to the guards responsible for their supervision and care of the boys in Wilkinson. The guards Sean Nokes, Adam Styler, Henry Addison, and Ralph Ferguson seem to make it their personal mission to toughen the boys up.

    They endure beatings, humiliation, rape, and torture during their months at Wilkinson. In the time that they are there, their lives are altered and their future depends on how they will respond to everything that happened to them.

    The experience of Wilkinson's obviously changed the trajectory of their lives. Shakes works for the newspaper, Michael becomes a lawyer, and Tommy and John become members of the deadliest gangs known as the West Side Boys. One evening, they enter a pub they frequent and bump into one of the very men who "toughened" them up all those years ago. They kill him and end up arrested and at the beginning of a can't-lose case with their own friend, Michael, working hard to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. But, unbeknownst to them, he and Shakes are working to bring the former guards of Wilkinson and Wilkinson's School to justice for the crimes committed against them. 

    Michael calls favors to King Benny, Father Bobby, their childhood friend, Carol; and many other people of Hell's Kitchen. They work together to lose the case to prosecute the young men and seek revenge.

Favorite Quote:

"Court's for uptown, people with suits, money, lawyers with three names. You got cash, you can buy court justice. On the street, justice got no price. She's blind where the judge sits. But she ain't blind out here. Out here, the b**** got eyes."