But that’s before Josie’s father, Sonny Magro, gets whacked, his body laid out on Sullivan Street. The only witness is Joey’s slow, sensitive friend Vito Santero. Joey may not believe in bad luck, but it seems to believe in him. Protecting Vito means getting drawn into the dangerous world of the hard men who sit in the dark cafes, gambling, watching, plotting revenge, and worse. Working for the boss, Nicky Mole, also means driving Nicky’s luscious mistress—and Josie’s mother—Carolina Magro, who sits in the back of the car with her skirts hiked up and her fingers on Joey Dee’s neck. For a guy who wanted to keep things simple, life has just gotten very complicated. And if Joey Dee wants to get out of Little Italy’s mean streets with his heart, soul, and life intact, he’d better get wise fast…

“JOEY DEE GETS WISE is absolutely terrific. Read it. An authentic, original voice issues forth from the very first page and carries the reader along effortlessly. The humor is so integral to character and appears so unexpectedly that I laughed out loud a dozen times.” —Vincent Patrick, author of The Pope of Greenwich Village

Louisa Ermelino is a reporter for InStyle magazine. She’s worked at Time and People magazines and for the television show Top Cops. A native of the Italian neighborhood in New York City that borders Greenwich Village, she lives there with her husband, Carlo Cutolo. They have three daughters: Ariane, Ruby, and Lucy.