It's the beginning of a gorgeous September in the City that Never Sleeps. Summer may be officially over, but Labor Day Weekend means ethnic festivals and dancing the streets and lots of overtime for police officer Tony Cavalucci. When crowd control gets unusually dangerous, Tony starts to wonder why he even does this kind of work. And going home doesn't bring him any more respect. His neurotic and dramatic family disapproves of both Tony's fiance and his new-found faith. All this foreshadows what's about to come to the people of New York on September 11, 2001. Normal day-to-day events and fantastic weather lead up to the most difficult day in the city's history. Now Tony finds himself in brand new territory. As he fights to survive and help others survive as well, Tony learns all over what faith means, what family means, and what life itself means.The author of this highly compelling novel is an ex-cop who survived the World Trade Center rescue efforts. Consequently, the storytelling throughout the book rings with authenticity.
All of this makes for a fast-paced and deeply moving page-turner that is at times funny, at times horrible, and always full of humanity, compassion, and the presence of God. The Liones offer their very best work in "Clear Blue Sky".
I drove up 33rd Street and made a left onto 5th. I drove two blocks south and parked outside the bagel store, smelling the bagels before we got in the door."Are the everythings hot?" I asked the guy behind the counter."They just came out ten minutes ago.""Great," I said. "Give me an everything with butter and a regular coffee."Joe was getting an egg sandwich, so I went outside with my coffee. I pulled back the plastic tab on the Styrofoam cup to blow on the coffee. Something caught the corner of my eye, and I looked straight down 5th Avenue and saw smoke coming from one of the towers of the World Trade Center.