Patrick Coppola

A seemingly typical cold blooded gang killing between Boston’s Rox Boys and their rivals, the Pan Man Klan, leads Private Eye Jake Rossi down a perilous path unearthing a terrorist plot set to cripple Boston’s infamous Big Dig and shut down the city. Private Investigator Jake Rossi, the protagonist in CITY OF FOOLS, is a tougher, yet more flawed and vulnerable version of Spenser (in Robert Parker's SPENSER FOR HIRE novels). When 19-year-old Jimmy Mason disappears after a gang murder, he becomes the number one suspect and is hunted by the Boston Police. Eddie Mason, Jimmy’s grandfather, calls on his friend, ex-Navy SEAL turned Private Eye, Jake Rossi, to help find him before the police or the Pan Man Klan do. Jake’s investigation reveals that Jimmy, an up and coming professional fighter, has befriended a group of diplomatic brats from the African country of Burundi who attend Boston University. Jimmy’s relationship with the beautiful Johana Mugabi has even caused him to convert to the Muslim faith and begin a perilous trip with heroin addiction. Convinced these diplomat kids are hiding something, Jake follows his raw instincts. His relentless investigation leads him from hip nightclubs to Boston’s inner-city slums; uncovering missing shipments of the plastic explosive C4, Russian detonators and an army of suicide bombers - all pieces in this jagged, terrorist puzzle. When the FBI, Homeland Security and the Boston Police doubt his claims, he calls on the help of Boston’s crime lord, Donato Mastrocola, whose legitimate empire, Modern Construction, was the lead builder of the Big Dig project. Mastrocola is aware of the missing C4, since much of it was stolen from under his company’s nose, and he has been searching for it himself. A man of great pride, Mastrocola is determined to preserve the integrity of the Big Dig and punish those who stole from him. He details the possible weaknesses of the structural integrity of the project, convincing Jake that the Big Dig is susceptible to a terrorist attack. As he gets closer to piecing this intricate puzzle together, Jake’s life becomes endangered, and he’s framed for the original gang murder by the cunning student terrorist cell. With time ticking down, Jake Rossi races frantically across Boston, desperately trying to stop the terrorists and save the City of Boston from devastation.