The Fire Escape Belongs In Brooklyn: A novel based on The Fire Escape Stories

by Chuck Cascio

This National Indie Excellence Award Finalist is a story of love, loss, hope, and the haunting need to resolve the mysterious disappearance of a loved one...and of youth itself. Born one minute apart in the same Brooklyn hospital, Mike Burns and Salvatore "Sally-Boy" Boccanera grow up thinking they will always have one another and the gritty fire escape where they play, fight, plot, and try to make sense of life. But then, one cousin goes to college...and the other vanishes. In the tumultuous year of 1968 the world falls apart around Mike, a college sophomore. Sally-Boy disappeared two years ago and Mike relentlessly thinks about him, sometimes even talking out loud to him. Mike tries hard to lead a "typical college life" filled with parties and an occasional class, but a radical professor stimulates Mike's activism; he fights with his Secret Service agent father over politics and hair length; a friend’s draft dodge involves Mike in a crime; the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy drive Mike into action; and the girl Mike is falling in love with hides secrets of her own. Questions of morality, conscience, obligation, and expectation tear at Mike and disrupt his life. But there is one thing he knows for It may take years, but he will find Sally-Boy. After all, a fire escape is made to save lives, isn't it?

465 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 16, 2017

Reviews

[Katya Vinogradova]

I received a digital copy of this book from Sourcebooks through NetGalley.
This is quite a charming story of a man's college life in a New York State college (the exact name eludes me) and his forays into Brooklyn that holds a lot of bittersweet memories for him. The landscape is vast, with several supporting characters having interesting stories of their own. The prose is a little uneven, a little... amateur. Maybe that's why the story wasn't as engaging as it should have been.
Still, it's an interesting look at a particular moment in history that deserves a read.

[Susan Anderson]

Amazing STORY OF THE 60s ...

...and how it and life changed the lives of the characters in the book and all our lives. It has the real truth of Brooklyn, the truth of poetry. A wonderful story, don’t miss it

[Keith Comfort]

Loved this book. Good characters. Good storyline. Hard to put down. I like these books that force you to think about life and interactions with others. The challenges life brings, along with the success and failures along the way.

[Sarah Hickner]

This was an incredible story of love and war- the way WW2 tore apart and shaped a generation.

I truly enjoyed it, but there was a LOT of bad language. It was authentic to the characters and scenes.

[Linda]

A little disappointed

I was a bit disappointed with this book. It wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be but I muddled through.

[Carol]

Loved this book!! Up all night!!! Must read!!!

[Francine Silvester]

It was ok, just ok

[Elaine]

Terrific

I was a teenager at the same time so the events in the book brought back memories. I would recommend this book. Looking forward to reading more of Chuck’s books.