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Once Upon a Time in Hell's Kitchen
In the New York City neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, in the mid 1970’s, a brutal transformation is taking place. The days of the gentlemen gangster are over, and filling the void are a new, more brutal, breed of racketeer. The Irish, Italians and Colombians are battling each other for bloody supremacy over the wild West loan sharking, protection rackets, strip clubs, and drugs.
Danny “Boy” McCoy, a boxer known as The Champ of Hell’s Kitchen, wants no part in any of it. He has his own hopes and dreams. He wants nothing more than to land one great fight in Madison Square Garden, and get his ailing mother out of The Kitchen and upstate to the country, before it’s too late.
But it’s not as easy getting out of The Kitchen as it is getting in. Poverty, crime, old friendships, and love drag Danny spiraling into darker and more desperate circumstances.
Danny’s got one last chance to make a stand. One last chance to save his soul from the furnace of Hell’s Kitchen.
Danny “Boy” McCoy, a boxer known as The Champ of Hell’s Kitchen, wants no part in any of it. He has his own hopes and dreams. He wants nothing more than to land one great fight in Madison Square Garden, and get his ailing mother out of The Kitchen and upstate to the country, before it’s too late.
But it’s not as easy getting out of The Kitchen as it is getting in. Poverty, crime, old friendships, and love drag Danny spiraling into darker and more desperate circumstances.
Danny’s got one last chance to make a stand. One last chance to save his soul from the furnace of Hell’s Kitchen.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 2, 2024
7 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Colin Broderick
12 books32 followersColin Broderick is a playwright, filmmaker and author. He has written a previous memoir, Orangutan. He currently lives and works in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 7, 2024
What a great story this is.
These characters are real and authentic and believable.
I finished this book in two days, easily. It’s the kind of book that needs to be finished.
It’s gritty and violent and funny and lovely, in the way only an Irish story can be.
These characters are real and authentic and believable.
I finished this book in two days, easily. It’s the kind of book that needs to be finished.
It’s gritty and violent and funny and lovely, in the way only an Irish story can be.
July 13, 2024
WOW! FANTASTIC BOOK!
This story has movie written all over it! Colin Broderick’s writing has a way of expressing the vernacular of the setting that makes you feel like you are living right there with the characters. In this case, Hells Kitchen, NYC, circa 1970s. A nasty time and place!! Gruesome, but likely realistic.
The reader just can’t help pulling for the main character Danny Boy McCoy, a kind hearted, originally slightly naive, pigeon loving, hard hitting boxer who dreams of a better life for himself and his mother. A life beyond Hells Kitchen and the mob. A lover, a fighter, a man who struggles between self preservation and integrity.
Danny Boy struggles throughout the book to do the right thing, he tells himself he “doesn’t have a choice” and slowly spirals deeper into the life of crime. Slowly tragically entangled. Along the way he falls in love… an integral piece of the story.
The novel has so many other characters to love, and hate. And just when you think you have figured out what is coming next, things change. Including the ending!
And the pigeons, also main characters (imo)… perhaps metaphors or reflections of life in Hells Kitchen?? You decide when you read this…and you’ve GOTTA READ THIS! I devoured it!
This story has movie written all over it! Colin Broderick’s writing has a way of expressing the vernacular of the setting that makes you feel like you are living right there with the characters. In this case, Hells Kitchen, NYC, circa 1970s. A nasty time and place!! Gruesome, but likely realistic.
The reader just can’t help pulling for the main character Danny Boy McCoy, a kind hearted, originally slightly naive, pigeon loving, hard hitting boxer who dreams of a better life for himself and his mother. A life beyond Hells Kitchen and the mob. A lover, a fighter, a man who struggles between self preservation and integrity.
Danny Boy struggles throughout the book to do the right thing, he tells himself he “doesn’t have a choice” and slowly spirals deeper into the life of crime. Slowly tragically entangled. Along the way he falls in love… an integral piece of the story.
The novel has so many other characters to love, and hate. And just when you think you have figured out what is coming next, things change. Including the ending!
And the pigeons, also main characters (imo)… perhaps metaphors or reflections of life in Hells Kitchen?? You decide when you read this…and you’ve GOTTA READ THIS! I devoured it!
Read
September 18, 2024Once upon a time there was a place called Hell’s Kitchen where real people did horrible things to other people, and they did these horrible things to people they cared about and loved and then went home to dinner with their loving mothers.
They did unspeakably horrible things, knowing it was wrong and not wanting to do these horrible things. They killed their friends, acquaintances, and strangers because they had no way out. Or at least they didn’t think there was a way out. Or maybe the way out was just a prayer sent up to a god in a heaven they no longer believed in.
Much of who you are and what you will become is determined at birth: who your parents are, where you are born, and who the kids in your neighborhood are, these will determine your future. Life then becomes a slow, often agonizing process of accepting your fate. If you’re born into a penthouse on Park Avenue, pearls, vacationlands, and soft leather tasseled loafers already have your name engraved. If you’re born into the working poor in Hell’s Kitchen, well….
The Hell’s Kitchen of Colin Broderick’s new novel no longer exists. But it did exist. It was born from the broken, bloodied, and discarded bodies of the Irish who dared imagine they could escape fate. Broderick brings back the Hell’s Kitchen of the 1970s so you can see what it once was.
There have been many books, movies, and television shows made about this neighborhood where I have lived for more than 30 years. Could Broderick make this well-walked territory his own? That was my big question. It takes a little while to set the stage and move beyond rundown Irish cliches. But once Broderick gets it going, the drama grabs you, and the pugilistic protagonist, Danny Coyle, won’t let you out of the ring. It’s a hell of a ride—fun, dramatic, nerve-wracking, and it will keep you up past your bedtime as you turn the page to find out what happens next.
Writers of any merit want to grapple with the big questions of good and evil, life and death. That’s what this tale is about. Good and Evil. Salvation and damnation. It’s about accepting fate or fighting for an impossible future.
I don’t want to give any spoilers about what happens. I’ll say that the novel should have a reading and a following in Hell’s Kitchen. Colin, how about it? Should we have a reading in HK?
HK used to be a neighborhood of junkies and prostitutes, and decadent Irish bars. It was a scary place for many. But it was also a neighborhood for people who shared a similar if downtrodden and difficult existence, which, somehow, bonded them. Like much of Manhattan, the neighborhood is not what it once was. Now, it has the same uniform consumer blandness of anywhere else: tourists, office workers, and laptop employees sipping lattes.
Most people who live here now have no clue about its notorious past. Once Upon a Time in Hell’s Kitchen is a damn good place to start learning. The ghosts of the characters, Trixie, Gabriela, Vinny, Cheddar, Mannion, Blackie, they’re still walking and filling out the flesh of some of the locals. Instead of looking past them, or turning your eyes away, reading a book like this might help you better understand the torture in their souls.
At the end of Townes Van Zandt’s great cowboy ballad, Poncho and Lefty, which I hope you know, he sings,
Pancho needs your prayers it's true
But save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do
And now he's growing old
Poncho and Lefty: what a fine line between the two. In Hell’s Kitchen, what a fine line between those who pull the trigger and those who catch the bullet.
Terence Donnellan
They did unspeakably horrible things, knowing it was wrong and not wanting to do these horrible things. They killed their friends, acquaintances, and strangers because they had no way out. Or at least they didn’t think there was a way out. Or maybe the way out was just a prayer sent up to a god in a heaven they no longer believed in.
Much of who you are and what you will become is determined at birth: who your parents are, where you are born, and who the kids in your neighborhood are, these will determine your future. Life then becomes a slow, often agonizing process of accepting your fate. If you’re born into a penthouse on Park Avenue, pearls, vacationlands, and soft leather tasseled loafers already have your name engraved. If you’re born into the working poor in Hell’s Kitchen, well….
The Hell’s Kitchen of Colin Broderick’s new novel no longer exists. But it did exist. It was born from the broken, bloodied, and discarded bodies of the Irish who dared imagine they could escape fate. Broderick brings back the Hell’s Kitchen of the 1970s so you can see what it once was.
There have been many books, movies, and television shows made about this neighborhood where I have lived for more than 30 years. Could Broderick make this well-walked territory his own? That was my big question. It takes a little while to set the stage and move beyond rundown Irish cliches. But once Broderick gets it going, the drama grabs you, and the pugilistic protagonist, Danny Coyle, won’t let you out of the ring. It’s a hell of a ride—fun, dramatic, nerve-wracking, and it will keep you up past your bedtime as you turn the page to find out what happens next.
Writers of any merit want to grapple with the big questions of good and evil, life and death. That’s what this tale is about. Good and Evil. Salvation and damnation. It’s about accepting fate or fighting for an impossible future.
I don’t want to give any spoilers about what happens. I’ll say that the novel should have a reading and a following in Hell’s Kitchen. Colin, how about it? Should we have a reading in HK?
HK used to be a neighborhood of junkies and prostitutes, and decadent Irish bars. It was a scary place for many. But it was also a neighborhood for people who shared a similar if downtrodden and difficult existence, which, somehow, bonded them. Like much of Manhattan, the neighborhood is not what it once was. Now, it has the same uniform consumer blandness of anywhere else: tourists, office workers, and laptop employees sipping lattes.
Most people who live here now have no clue about its notorious past. Once Upon a Time in Hell’s Kitchen is a damn good place to start learning. The ghosts of the characters, Trixie, Gabriela, Vinny, Cheddar, Mannion, Blackie, they’re still walking and filling out the flesh of some of the locals. Instead of looking past them, or turning your eyes away, reading a book like this might help you better understand the torture in their souls.
At the end of Townes Van Zandt’s great cowboy ballad, Poncho and Lefty, which I hope you know, he sings,
Pancho needs your prayers it's true
But save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do
And now he's growing old
Poncho and Lefty: what a fine line between the two. In Hell’s Kitchen, what a fine line between those who pull the trigger and those who catch the bullet.
Terence Donnellan
June 26, 2024
Fantastic book! Well worth a read! 👍👍👍
Colin Broderick hit it out of the park with this one. Once Upon a Time in Hell’s Kitchen is a real page turner.
Once I started reading it, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. If I put the book down, I couldn’t wait to get back to reading it.
Colin is an excellent storyteller. He tells an excellent story in the tradition of an Irish Seanchaí.
This book tells a story about the gritty and rough and tumble days of Hell’s Kitchen when the Westies (an Irish gang) took over. It was the “Wild West”and you never knew what was going to happen.
Colin inserts a likeable character, Danny Boy McCoy, into the craziness and dark side that was Hell’s Kitchen. Danny had every possible bad thing that could happen in The Kitchen happen.
Like any “underdog”, I found myself always cheering for him to come out on top. But Colin keeps the twists and turns coming.
You’ll have to read it yourself to see what finally happens to Danny in the end. It was a surprise.
I highly recommend this book. Well done Colin. Thanks for a great read! ☺️👍👏👏👏
Colin Broderick hit it out of the park with this one. Once Upon a Time in Hell’s Kitchen is a real page turner.
Once I started reading it, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. If I put the book down, I couldn’t wait to get back to reading it.
Colin is an excellent storyteller. He tells an excellent story in the tradition of an Irish Seanchaí.
This book tells a story about the gritty and rough and tumble days of Hell’s Kitchen when the Westies (an Irish gang) took over. It was the “Wild West”and you never knew what was going to happen.
Colin inserts a likeable character, Danny Boy McCoy, into the craziness and dark side that was Hell’s Kitchen. Danny had every possible bad thing that could happen in The Kitchen happen.
Like any “underdog”, I found myself always cheering for him to come out on top. But Colin keeps the twists and turns coming.
You’ll have to read it yourself to see what finally happens to Danny in the end. It was a surprise.
I highly recommend this book. Well done Colin. Thanks for a great read! ☺️👍👏👏👏
June 30, 2024
Great read!
When I got started, it was hard to put down! I felt so immersed in the story, I felt like I was there! Danny Boy was a well developed character and I liked him immediately and empathized with him and rooted for him throughout the book! The other characters were also very well developed and like them or not, the story wouldn't have been right without them in it! It was graphic/gory in spots but part of character identity so that all needed to be in there (I just shut my eyes in my brain - lol!). Well done Colin! I can definitely see this as a (rated R) movie!
When I got started, it was hard to put down! I felt so immersed in the story, I felt like I was there! Danny Boy was a well developed character and I liked him immediately and empathized with him and rooted for him throughout the book! The other characters were also very well developed and like them or not, the story wouldn't have been right without them in it! It was graphic/gory in spots but part of character identity so that all needed to be in there (I just shut my eyes in my brain - lol!). Well done Colin! I can definitely see this as a (rated R) movie!
June 28, 2024
Colin Broderick's 'Once Upon A Time In Hell's Kitchen' is gonna be an epic movie. Danny McCoy exudes Michael Corleone. His sensitivity and soul allow you to absorb the violent world that surrounds him, his daily toils and the dreams that give him hope. The novel paints a period in time when Hell's Kitchen (and Times Square) had character, and unforgettable characters. Colin brings them all to life with depth in shades of grey. Be forewarned; you will not stop reading once you've started...
October 18, 2024
I do not have anything to add to what’s been repeatedly said about this truly terrific self-published book, except to say that I am absolutely dumbfounded that mainstream publishers are not breaking down Mr. Broderick’s door begging him to let them publish whatever he writes. Broderick is a brilliant, top-notch writer and equal to, if not better than, many of today’s best writers.
March 16, 2025
best read in awhile
I love New York and I love being Irish . I read this in two days . If you love Irish New York you’ll love this .
I love New York and I love being Irish . I read this in two days . If you love Irish New York you’ll love this .
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews