A really good read about a young man in this 20's that seems to be at a crossroads in his life. I found this a good read, that kept me turning the pages as I wanted to see what happened. Good character development and very interesting. It put me in the mind of GoodFellas. Thanks to Netgally, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest opinion. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

DANGEROUS BOYS by Greg Gifune is a novel about a gang of New Bedford, Massachusetts youths that run together and hang out in their neighborhood and the park they defend as their own, with others in the area aware of their presence and activities that have earned them a reputation as something to be avoided.

Richie is the young Italian who narrates this story, and is at a crossroads in his life where he sees the futility in what he and his friends have done the past several years, such as burglaries, car thefts, and A&B’s that will catch up with them sooner or later.

Ally is Richie’s best friend and leader of the gang with Richie next in command, his other friends are Dino; who is a loose cannon capable of extreme violence without warning, Fritz; the blond German who wears sunglasses always, Petie; the least sharp tool in the drawer, and Ray, the black ex-golden gloves boxer with alleged ties to a much feared all black gang called the “Black Mambas”.

Searching for a way out with dreams of life beyond the neighborhood, Richie sees his friends differently as of late, and his friends begin to notice the change in him; yet he remains with them and part of their criminal and violent activities, but is beginning to distance himself from them more lately.

Holly is a beautiful blond from Iowa attending SMU nearby, and Richie meets her at the university library and falls for her hard, which brings him both good feelings when alone with her, but feelings of inadequacy in comparison to her friends who’ve come from better circumstances; as his mother is a junkie and has deteriorated ever since the death of Richie’s father when he was 4 years of age.

Lou is Ally’s uncle who’s known to be an established mobster, and he meets with Ally and Richie to invite them to come and work for him, and while Richie is appreciative and respectful; he’s also hesitant and requests time to make his decision, knowing that there would be no possibility of turning back once in.

Ray tells Ally of a sure-thing big score he’s planned, and Ally tells the guys this is their chance to make a huge payday, something they all need as the small time burglaries won’t provide enough any longer.

Feeling uncertainty of their future as a result of the tragic outcome of a vengeance fueled raid at a drug dealer’s apartment, they focus on this big job to fulfill their dreams; except for Richie, who fears this could be the end for all of them if things go wrong which seems to be the most likely outcome.

Can Richie convince his friends that they are on the path to destruction, and will he avoid being part of the heist along with finding a way to escape his life with them, meanwhile finding a way to make a new life elsewhere?

Superb story with similarities to “Good Will Hunting” and “The Outsiders”; in that all characters have both a good and bad side, and an important event takes place that requires a decision to be made that will forever change the life they’ve known, if indeed they survive.

I liked this one quite a bit, especially Richie as a troubled young man trying to find himself in spite of the seemingly impossible odds against his breaking out of the world he feels trapped in.

4 stars.

A tale about a group of boys in their 20's and the life they live as hoodlums (best word i can think of) This novel gave me the feeling of good fellas mixed with the outsiders a little bit. This not my usual read but i enjoyed getting to know these characters. Its like in the normal world you would hate these guys but this novel gave me a sense of cant help but to enjoy these boys. A great and easy read.

Thanks NetGalley!!

Most of these kind of stories -whether a book or a movie - are set in the fifties when crews of leather-clad Italian rough guys from the wrong side of the tracks were all the rage. This is art in the 80's with heavy metal in the background and it's New Bedford, Mass, not Brooklyn, NY. Richie and his oaks are bad dudes and issue beat downs to anyone who messes with them or their girls. They are on the road to nowheresville but they got each other and they are the kings of New Bedford, pulling off small time crap, wondering if they got the balls for the Big time. There are some cliches here like the corn-bred college gal from Iowa and the uncle with the juice and the connections. But there's brutal, realistic, gritty realism here and the author somehow gets it all just right in the narrative language and the dialogue. It feels genuine, not fake. Richie is complex, and ultimately feels real. It's violent, nasty, and there's no damn somewhere over the rainbow. But it's the real deal, the genuine one.