Waggoners Gap

by Tony Peluso

Waggoners Gap, a spiritual place with unique natural beauty and breathtaking vistas, overlooks the Cumberland Valley near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is also a pivotal locale in the sweeping story of two disparate families fighting for survival and success in the dark decades surrounding World War II. The Genero clan is at the heart of the story. The lives of Marta, Phillip, and their son and daughter, are inevitably affected by a richer and more influential family, the Monarchs, who control industry and employment for most of the people living in the shadow of Waggoners Gap. The generational confluence of these players begins during World War I, reaches through the Great Depression, and culminates in World War II when the Genero children enlist to support the war effort. Meanwhile, the lecherous younger Monarch takes over his family's booming textile business and secretly begins to siphon off profits while mistreating his employees, including the Generos. The saga winds from Waggoners Gap to army training bases, ships at sea, battlefields in Europe and the Pacific, and back again. These truly colorful characters develop and influence each other over the decades. Through it all, in spite of deadly hardships overseas and trouble on the home front, Waggoners Gap draws the players together and repels them like a spinning magnet.

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Tony Peluso currently practices law in Tampa, Florida, representing law enforcement in federal and state courts.

Born in Pennsylvania, Tony grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where he graduated from a Jesuit prep school. He dropped out of Arizona State University after his second year, and volunteered for the US Army. He served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 as an enlisted paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate). Intensely motivated by his war time experiences, Tony returned to Arizona State University, graduated with distinction with a degree in history, graduated from law school, passed the Texas bar exam, and obtained a commission as a captain in the US Army, Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAGC), in 1975.

Peluso served seventeen more years on active duty as a JAGC officer in different assignments, including tours with the 82nd Airborne and the 18th Airborne Corps. In 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Peluso retired to take an appointment as an assistant US attorney in the Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida. Peluso served more than fourteen years as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office. In 2006, he retired from the Department of Justice to assume his current responsibilities.

Reviews

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wagoners Gap is a very good book. There were a few places the story seemed to drag for me, but it was well worth the read.

The book tells the story of the Genero family. The father served in WWI with Alvin York and the mother was a beauty who left her family and had a past secret. The children, a boy and a girl, were both drawn into WWII and their (especially the son's) exploits are recounted here as well as the problems the elder Genero's face in their place of employment working for the Monarch's.

In the end all the story threads are somewhat tied up, however there is room for a sequel if the author wishes to make such an endeavor.

I highly recommend this book.

I received the book free from Goodreads First Reads.