Andrew Cotto's Blog

"Beautifully descriptive and romantic, this is one Italian adventure you don't want to miss!" -Adriana Trigiani, author of Tony's Wife

Hello!

I'm happy to announce that "Cucina Romana: Another Italian Adventure" will be published on March 25th. The novel continues the adventures of Jacoby Pines (introduced in "Cucina Tipica: An Italian Adventure") as he immerses in the splendor of Italy while searching for a familial connection.

Here's the Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/168...

Keep an eye out for a GoodReads giveaway announced in a few days.

Best Regards,


Andrew

Hi!

I had the recent pleasure of talking about "Cucina Tipica: An Italian Adventure" on Good Day New York (the Fox morning show in NYC). It was great fun. Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mAzp...

Thanks for taking a look!

Best,


Andrew

Raven’s Top 5 Reads- 2012

Dec21 by ravencrimereads


Well, after much cogitating, ruminating and periods of enormous indecision, I have finally arrived at my Top 5 reads of 2012. Bearing in mind the amount of time it has taken to produce this list, I think this is a fair reflection of the sheer quality of the crime fiction it has been my pleasure to read over the last year. There was a substantial list of also-rans including some of the biggest names in crime writing, but having been mightily impressed with some new and, up until this year, unfamiliar names I think my list pays homage to the healthy state of crime fiction and some great emerging talent. So here goes…



Any debut author whose dialogue and wit draws comparisons from me to McBain and Chandler has got to be something unique and this is exactly what Damien Seaman’s ‘The Killing of Emma Gross’ accomplished. Based on the ghoulish crimes of the infamous serial killer Peter Kurten, Seaman has created an exceptionally realistic portrayal of a community living in fear in 1920‘s Germany. The historical detail is first class and the cast of characters reflect the full spectrum of human behaviours and emotions in this chilling tale. Read the full review:Damien Seaman- The Killing of Emma Gross.



I’m quite often approached by authors via social media to read their wares and following a very nice tweet from Andrew Cotto asking if I would give ‘Outerborough Blues’ a whirl I’m thrilled that he made the offer and equally delighted that he made the Top 5! A book of such lyrical intensity and power that I quite happily drew comparisons with Pelecanos and Lehane identifying this book as the perfect blend of contemporary American fiction and crime writing. A real find. Reviewed here: Andrew Cotto- Outerborough Blues.





Probably better known as a satirical fiction writer, John J Niven produced one of my favourite albeit at times, ludicrously violent, crime reads of the year with ‘Cold Hands’. Punctuated by Niven’s trademark dark humour and cinematographic eye, this book is a completely gripping, criminal smorgasbord of brilliant and blood-soaked delights for the stout of stomach. Read on here:John J. Niven- Cold Hands.







I’ve developed a bit of a penchant for Australian crime fiction this year, fuelled by my love of Peter Temple and there is a veritable array of new Aussie writers on my teetering to-be-read pile. Fully earning his Top 5 status is debut author Luke Preston with his explosive and high-octane thriller ‘Dark City Blue’. With it’s rapid pace and entertaining characters, this was a rollercoaster of a read that kept me hooked from the beginning. A bonzer read! See the review here:Luke Preston- Dark City Blue.



And so to my absolute favourite of the year…drum roll…



Antonin Varenne’s ‘Bed of Nails’ was an exceptionally original and remarkable take on the crime thriller, with it’s twisting, sophisticated plotting and a cast of beguiling and emotionally flawed characters. Capturing perfectly the seedy underbelly of Parisian society, I have rarely felt so completely engaged with a crime novel and drawing on the cliche ‘if you only read one crime book…’ I would implore you to read this. Breathtaking. Read the full review here:Antonin Varenne- Bed of Nails.



So as the year draws to the end I can only reiterate what a vintage year it’s been in terms of crime writing, and having already had the privilege of reading some forthcoming books for 2013, I think next year will be equally as good and even more taxing for us bloggers to come up with our Top 5! It’ll be fun…

When you read and review regularly, you can sometimes get a little jaded as books can oftentimes meld into one, or display all those bad writing habits of one-dimensional characters, ludicrous plotting and so on. However, every so often an unexpected treasure lands in your lap which restores your faith, and Andrew Cotto’s Outerborough Blues is one such book. Combining the style of some of the best contemporary American fiction (I would draw comparisons with David Prete and Elliot Perlman) and the street savvy social analysis of a writer like George Pelecanos, Cotto has delivered a book that rises above the simple tag of crime novel into a truly powerful and affecting read.

I won’t dwell on the intricacies of the plot in the interests of keeping it fresh and surprising for you all, but needless to say it is beautifully weighted, with the alternating time frames of past and present, seamlessly melded into the overall story. As elements of our main protagonist Caesar’s former life are revealed, Cotto gradually unveils how the events of the past are so instrumental on Caesar’s actions and for his single-mindedness at righting past wrongs in the present, so the split timelines work well within the narrative. All of Caesar’s central relationships in the book are dictated to by his highly attuned sense of morality, garnered by his formerly tumbleweed existence and the relationships encountered along the way, before his settling in a community wracked by racial tension and socio-economic problems. Cotto portrays this community and its underlying problems astutely, bringing Caesar into conflict or comradeship with his fellow inhabitants, as he takes on the problems of those around him and seeks to expose the corruption of others. In any of the passages relating to the neighbourhood itself there is a living and breathing vitality to Cotto’s description and the depiction of place and atmosphere is palpable throughout.

Again, in terms of characterisation, Cotto hits the mark, displaying a natural ease in his portrayal of not only Caesar’s family, but the eclectic mix of people inhabiting Caesar’s neighbourhood and its multi-cultural make-up. All the frailties or false bravado of human nature are exposed throughout these characters and their interactions with Caesar, which again gives a vibrant sense of reality to these protagonists and the parts they play within the novel. This is predominantly where I think the novel rises above the crime novel tag, as this proficiency at characterisation seldom resonates so strongly in a run-of-the-mill thriller and in conjunction with Cotto’s use of powerful imagery in his depiction of place, sets this book apart. The sparseness of the prose and tight dialogue, where more often the power lies within what is unsaid than said, adds to the overall tension of the book as the plot unfolds.

It probably goes without saying that I was highly impressed by ‘Outerborough Blues’ as it ticked many of the boxes that I look for in American crime writing and fiction. Being a fan of Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos and Walter Mosley, I would certainly label Andrew Cotto as a comparable read to these luminaries in terms of style, characterisation and its depiction of life in a tough neighbourhood, so what are you waiting for, go find…

Another mystery set in a ruined world is Andrew Cotto’s Outerborough Blues, and that world is the Brooklyn of the 1990s, where black tenants are fighting back against the gentrification about to push them out of their homes. Central to this struggle is Caesar Stiles, a white man who has slowly, lovingly restored a once-ruined brownstone but who now finds himself threatened not only by gangs of vicious adolescents, but by unscrupulous developers. Caesar’s life hasn’t been easy. Descended from an Italian grandmother who came to America to murder the man who jilted her, he has been dogged by a family curse that includes violence and death. All he wants is to be left alone, but when a French girl named Colette asks him to find her disappeared artist brother, his search sets off a series of events that will change his life forever.

The book reads like a legend told over a campfire, filled with stories of Sicilian revenge, epic journeys, and Irish curses. The writing is superb, the story anguished. In his own way, Caesar is another Arthurian knight, a semi-broken man, who against all odds, continues his quest for the Holy Grail even though it may be the death of him. Outerborough Blues is as close to perfect as it gets. If you don’t read this, you’ll be missing one of the finest books to come around in a long, long time.

THE DOMINO EFFECT has been named a Finalist in the coming of age category for this year's Readers Favorite Award. Oh, yeah.

Outerborough Blues is a mystery embedded in a lyrical tale of urban loss. Despite being billed as ‘a Brooklyn mystery’ and ‘urban noir’, the mystery is only one aspect of Andrew Cotto’s novel. This isn’t a whodunit. Instead, the author uses the central plot to explore themes of loss and change. Readers may find that Outerborough Blues does not belong to any genre. It contains mystery, fictional memoir and street-level anthropology.

The protagonist and narrator is Caesar Stiles, a drifter who settled in Brooklyn at the outset of its gentrification. Caesar grew up in New Jersey, and his home there set the tone for most of his life – it was dysfunctional. The narrative is interspersed with anecdotes from Caesar’s travels. He never had much. He had a few women along the way, but none of them stayed for very long. Neither did Caesar. But he gained culinary expertise. So he works at The Notch, a restaurant and bar where he serves up Italian food, soul food, Creole food. His cooking skills earn him a place in the black Brooklyn neighborhood where he otherwise wouldn’t belong, and he gains a measure of stability for the first time in his life.

Loss and pain are nothing new to Caesar. He grew up with both. Now his vicious older brother is out of prison. Caesar is also being shadowed by someone, and a mysterious ‘orange man’ bears an old grudge. Caesar worries about all of these things. But he walks into his biggest problems when a cute French girl walks into The Notch. She’s looking for her brother, and Caesar agrees to help her. The brother is ostensibly in art school, but is nowhere to be found. Like early Easy Rawlins, Caesar works as an unlicensed private investigator.

Unfortunately, his tumultuous past won’t leave him alone. Finding the French girl’s brother is only one of the mysteries that confounds Caesar Stiles. He must survive the encounters with his brother. He needs to figure out what the orange man wants. Caesar also wants to find out who is behind the Montclair Corporation that owns most of the property in the neighborhood. He might find the answers, but the truth may not set him free.

Caesar finds himself thrown into a host of machinations in Outerborough Blues. The central mystery – finding the French art student – is sometimes submerged in the other subplots. This doesn’t make the novel any less readable or compelling, but it does shift the book’s focus. With Cotto writing in a more literary style, we are primarily concerned with Caesar’s development; the plot resolution vis-à-vis the French siblings is underwhelming.

While the prose is occasionally overwritten and purplish, this is a haunting and doleful novel. Outerborough Blues is not likely to overawe readers as a mystery, but the briskly-moving plot and vividly-drawn characters will keep them turning the pages. Andrew Cotto intimately links white Caesar Stiles to the African American Brooklyn milieu, setting up the tragic noir ending.

“In Shakespeare, tragic heroes fall from mountaintops; in noir, they fall from curbs,” says Dennis Lehane. In Andrew Cotto’s Outerborough Blues, that is exactly what we have: a gritty, bumpy fall. Caesar does not fall from grace, but from stasis. Cotto’s incisive prose depicts a worn Brooklyn and an even warier protagonist. Amidst the vibrant Brooklyn characters, this is a novel of subtleties. Cotto deftly handles the complex Caesar Stiles. In Caesar’s misfortunes, readers will find a mournful – and irresistible – beauty.

Danny Rorro is happy growing up in his mostly Italian neighborhood in Queens, where he is known as Domino, or little Dominick, after his dad. But the neighborhood is changing, and as much as Danny would like to believe that ethnicity doesn’t count, not everyone feels that way. When he tries to bridge the gap by playing basketball with a group of Latins, older kids call him “Spic lover,” and “traitor.” Before long, they decide to teach him a lesson with a baseball bat that lands him in the hospital.

With his world uprooted, Danny begins to act out at home until his parents give him a choice: military school or boarding school. The boarding school he attends is a relief in some ways, but there are still racial conflicts between an African American basketball player and white wrestlers. Once again Danny finds himself in a situation that won’t be easily solved, but he’s figured out a thing or two about fighting back without throwing a punch.

The Domino Effect by Andrew Cotto is a thoughtful coming of age story that quietly reveals Danny’s struggle to understand ethnic polarization, first love, the meaning of friendship and how to do what he knows is right. He is a flawed character who doesn’t always do the right thing, which makes him even more believable. Yet, as he comes to grips with the challenges he has faced in his life, he learns how to decide what’s right for him and move toward his future.

A book for both boys and girls, I recommend The Domino Effect for readers aged 14 and up.

The author provided me with a copy of this book to review.

The Domino Effect is Andrew Cotto’s debut novel. Having said that, I actually read his second novel ‘Outerborough Blues’ first. Yeah, that’s me, shun what society thinks right? But I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this coming of age novel just as much.

With Danny Rorro, Cotto creates a character that teens and adults will relate to as many have faced bullying in their lives. The Domino Effect is about rising above adversity, racial tension and obstacles placed our paths. Told with a combination of humor and drama the story carries the reader on a wave of emotions in the fluent writing style that Cotto does so well.

Danny Rorro, called Domino by everyone, is a normal kid living in Queens. He has been taught by his parents to accept people at face value and champion for the underdog. This creates a chain of events that will change Domino’s life in ways that leave him withdrawn, sullen and damaged. Eventually sent to a boarding school, The Hamden Academy, Domino begins to heal his demons and befriend a group of his dorm mates. When the only black student Terence, becomes the target of the campus thugs, Domino becomes entangled in the fray when Terence is assigned as his roommate. During the turmoil Domino meets the girl of his dreams; Brenda Divine who is swept away by one of his acquaintances adding more burden to his already troubled mind.

Given the choice of distancing himself from the drama surrounding him or championing the wrongs done to his friends, Domino chooses the latter with consequences that find him once again in Queens with his future in question.

The Domino Effect is one of those books that will have you up until the wee hours of the morning unable to put it down. It would make a great choice for a reading club. Bottom line, you should buy the book as it is a touching story that will draw you in, make you wince and smile as the story unfolds.