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Paradise City
The most exciting achievement to date from the acclaimed author of Sleepers and Gangster, Paradise City is a riveting thriller of two cops and two countries, a stunning crime novel about the roots of revenge, honor, and evil.
As a fifteen-year-old, Giancarlo Lo Manto learned about injustice the hard way. His father was gunned down by the Camorra, the murderous clan run by Don Nicola Rossi. When his mother moved him from New York back to his family’s ancestral home in Naples, Gian found himself face-to-face with the source of the mob’s strength, the spring that spawned its deadly killers.
Today, twenty-three years later, he is a dogged detective on the Naples police force, homicide division, the most dangerous beat in Europe. He is the nemesis of all who export evil, the man who stops it before it spreads overseas. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. “The strength of Naples reinforces the muscle of New York”–and now the two worlds are about to collide.
In the highest towers of the most expensive streets of New York City, Pete Rossi, the son of Don Nicola, has decided to bring Gian back to America–permanently. When Gian learns that his teenage niece, Paula, has gone missing in Manhattan, he cancels a much-needed vacation to Capri, to paradise, joking that “one island is just as good as the other.”
Gian’s homecoming will be anything but smooth. Someone must always watch his back, and Detective Jennifer Fabini gets the job. A gifted officer with her own personal demons, Jennifer thinks she’ll be dealing with a peasant from the old country. The handsome, reserved, unrelenting Gian is a revelation: an irritant and a temptation–especially for a woman who has sworn off cops as lovers. Together the two must solve a disappearance that appears to be a kidnapping . . . but turns out to be a deadly trap.
As they dash from the sun-struck villages of Italy to the darkest drug dens of New York, their journey links old-world honor and modern-day danger, and ends in a dizzying explosion of the present and the past.
As a fifteen-year-old, Giancarlo Lo Manto learned about injustice the hard way. His father was gunned down by the Camorra, the murderous clan run by Don Nicola Rossi. When his mother moved him from New York back to his family’s ancestral home in Naples, Gian found himself face-to-face with the source of the mob’s strength, the spring that spawned its deadly killers.
Today, twenty-three years later, he is a dogged detective on the Naples police force, homicide division, the most dangerous beat in Europe. He is the nemesis of all who export evil, the man who stops it before it spreads overseas. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. “The strength of Naples reinforces the muscle of New York”–and now the two worlds are about to collide.
In the highest towers of the most expensive streets of New York City, Pete Rossi, the son of Don Nicola, has decided to bring Gian back to America–permanently. When Gian learns that his teenage niece, Paula, has gone missing in Manhattan, he cancels a much-needed vacation to Capri, to paradise, joking that “one island is just as good as the other.”
Gian’s homecoming will be anything but smooth. Someone must always watch his back, and Detective Jennifer Fabini gets the job. A gifted officer with her own personal demons, Jennifer thinks she’ll be dealing with a peasant from the old country. The handsome, reserved, unrelenting Gian is a revelation: an irritant and a temptation–especially for a woman who has sworn off cops as lovers. Together the two must solve a disappearance that appears to be a kidnapping . . . but turns out to be a deadly trap.
As they dash from the sun-struck villages of Italy to the darkest drug dens of New York, their journey links old-world honor and modern-day danger, and ends in a dizzying explosion of the present and the past.
411 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
29 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
About the author
Lorenzo Carcaterra
49 books696 followersNumber-one New York Times bestselling author Lorenzo Carcaterra's highly successful career spans more than 25 years of writing for the diverse fields of fiction, non-fiction, television, and film.
Born and raised in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, Carcaterra landed his first job in the newspaper business as a copy boy for The New York Daily News in 1976. He worked his way up to entertainment reporter before leaving the paper in 1982, heading for the green pastures of then-Time Inc. and TV-Cable Week, as senior writer. Nine months later, the magazine folded, leaving him unemployed. A four-month stint at People magazine was followed by an odyssey of writing for a string of start-up publications—Picture Week, Entertainment Tonight Magazine, Special Reports Magazine—and freelancing for dozens of others—The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Newsday Sunday Magazine, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, and Twilight Zone Magazine among them.
In 1988, Carcaterra turned to television as a Creative Consultant for the syndicated weekly series Cop Talk: Behind the Shield, produced by Grosso-Jacobson Productions. That led to a job as Managing Editor for the CBS weekly series Top Cops, also with Grosso-Jacobson Productions. Running for four seasons, from 1990 to 1994, the show is still in syndication today worldwide. In addition, he worked on a dozen other pilots, one of which––Secret Service (NBC)––made it to air. It was while at Grosso-Jacobson Productions that Carcaterra wrote and published his first two books, A Safe Place and Sleepers.
First published in hardcover in 1993, A Safe Place: The True Story of a Father, a Son, a Murder, attracted widespread critical acclaim, with Newsweek calling it, “unforgettable—a remarkable book.” Currently in its 14th printing, it has been sold to 11 foreign countries and has sold close to 220,000 copies.
The 1995 publication of Sleepers, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback, catapulted Carcaterra to national attention. Sold to 35 foreign countries and now in its 38th printing in the United States, the book has sales exceeding 1.8 million copies. In 1996, Sleepers was made into a feature film starring Brad Pitt, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Bacon, Minnie Driver, and Jason Patric. Carcaterra served as co-producer on the project, which was directed by Academy Award winner Barry Levinson. To date, the movie has earned in excess of $500 million worldwide in combined box-office, video, DVD, and TV sales.
Carcaterra made a smooth transition into writing fiction with his first novel, Apaches, a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback. Published in a 14 foreign countries, the book has sold more than 450,000 copies and been optioned by producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
He followed that with Gangster, published in hardcover in 2001. The book has sold over 375,000 copies since its 2002 release as a Mass Market Paperback. The novel has been optioned by Joe Roth and been sold to 15 foreign countries.
Carcaterra then wrote Street Boys, a World War II saga inspired by an incident which occurred in Naples, Italy, in 1943. Warner Bros. and Bel-Air Entertainment bought the rights to the story in March 2001 before it was written, and developed the project for director Barry Levinson. Carcaterra wrote the screenplay. The paperback was released in July, 2003 and has since sold 150,000 copies.
Carcaterra's next novel Paradise City was published in hardcover by Ballantine in September 2004 with the paperback following a year later. To date, the novel has sold over 100,000 copies and was optioned by Fox Television to be developed as a weekly series.
In 2007, Carcaterra published Chasers, a sequel to his bestseller Apaches. The paperback version was published in the spring of 2008 and movie rights to the story are once again controlled by Jerry Bruckheimer Productions.
With that, Carcaterra took a different turn and has just completed hi
Born and raised in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, Carcaterra landed his first job in the newspaper business as a copy boy for The New York Daily News in 1976. He worked his way up to entertainment reporter before leaving the paper in 1982, heading for the green pastures of then-Time Inc. and TV-Cable Week, as senior writer. Nine months later, the magazine folded, leaving him unemployed. A four-month stint at People magazine was followed by an odyssey of writing for a string of start-up publications—Picture Week, Entertainment Tonight Magazine, Special Reports Magazine—and freelancing for dozens of others—The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Newsday Sunday Magazine, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, and Twilight Zone Magazine among them.
In 1988, Carcaterra turned to television as a Creative Consultant for the syndicated weekly series Cop Talk: Behind the Shield, produced by Grosso-Jacobson Productions. That led to a job as Managing Editor for the CBS weekly series Top Cops, also with Grosso-Jacobson Productions. Running for four seasons, from 1990 to 1994, the show is still in syndication today worldwide. In addition, he worked on a dozen other pilots, one of which––Secret Service (NBC)––made it to air. It was while at Grosso-Jacobson Productions that Carcaterra wrote and published his first two books, A Safe Place and Sleepers.
First published in hardcover in 1993, A Safe Place: The True Story of a Father, a Son, a Murder, attracted widespread critical acclaim, with Newsweek calling it, “unforgettable—a remarkable book.” Currently in its 14th printing, it has been sold to 11 foreign countries and has sold close to 220,000 copies.
The 1995 publication of Sleepers, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback, catapulted Carcaterra to national attention. Sold to 35 foreign countries and now in its 38th printing in the United States, the book has sales exceeding 1.8 million copies. In 1996, Sleepers was made into a feature film starring Brad Pitt, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Bacon, Minnie Driver, and Jason Patric. Carcaterra served as co-producer on the project, which was directed by Academy Award winner Barry Levinson. To date, the movie has earned in excess of $500 million worldwide in combined box-office, video, DVD, and TV sales.
Carcaterra made a smooth transition into writing fiction with his first novel, Apaches, a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback. Published in a 14 foreign countries, the book has sold more than 450,000 copies and been optioned by producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
He followed that with Gangster, published in hardcover in 2001. The book has sold over 375,000 copies since its 2002 release as a Mass Market Paperback. The novel has been optioned by Joe Roth and been sold to 15 foreign countries.
Carcaterra then wrote Street Boys, a World War II saga inspired by an incident which occurred in Naples, Italy, in 1943. Warner Bros. and Bel-Air Entertainment bought the rights to the story in March 2001 before it was written, and developed the project for director Barry Levinson. Carcaterra wrote the screenplay. The paperback was released in July, 2003 and has since sold 150,000 copies.
Carcaterra's next novel Paradise City was published in hardcover by Ballantine in September 2004 with the paperback following a year later. To date, the novel has sold over 100,000 copies and was optioned by Fox Television to be developed as a weekly series.
In 2007, Carcaterra published Chasers, a sequel to his bestseller Apaches. The paperback version was published in the spring of 2008 and movie rights to the story are once again controlled by Jerry Bruckheimer Productions.
With that, Carcaterra took a different turn and has just completed hi
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
March 13, 2012
This book had me hooked from page one. I was never bored reading this book and was actually surprised when the big reveal came. Either I'm losing my edge with these books or this was a pretty good book. I'm thinking the latter. I recommend this book to anyone who likes crime novels with cops bordering the thin line between rogue and completely law abiding. If I had one thing to say wrong with this book it would be that, how is this guy able to go around certain laws and to be conviently placed where the action is. Either way, it's a great story and a quick read. Highly recommend this book to book lovers.
December 20, 2025
This book was an interesting story about murder, the mob and the police in both Naples and Nee York.
June 14, 2018
Sleepers was an amazing book. Gangster was OK. It was a step down. Paradise City was even more disappointing. Not only is Carcaterra following a formula that leaves few surprises, the book is riddled with deus ex machina moments that really strain the patience of the reader. The action is quick and more common than in previous books. This is more thrilling than either Sleepers or Gangster. However, the thrills do not balance the many plot holes. After so many problems, this reader gradually lost interest and struggled to finish.
The basic premise is a modern-day adaptation of Joe Petrosino, the legendary New York Police detective who fought the Mafia until he went on a suicide mission to Italy where he was killed. Carcaterra's hero is Giancarlo Lo Manto, whose father is murdered by the New York Camorra (Mafia-type group from Naples, Italy) and he grows up in Naples to become a super cop always fighting the Camorra. His success becomes a personal obsession with New York Camorra boss (See the plot hole here?) who concocts a complicated plot to lure Lo Manto to New York where they can kill him publicly and send a message to other Italian policemen.
The kidnapping of Lo Manto's niece in New York is only important enough to bring Lo Manto to New York. Once in America, the story painfully drifts away from finding the lost youth. Less than half way through the book, she escapes the super evil, super powerful Camorra and wonders New York. Somehow (deus ex machina) Lo Manto appears behind her and rescues her. Huh? Similar side plots are also thrown in without any purpose or support for the story. The book clearly becomes a game of cat and mouse between the evil mob boss and the super awesome cop. Along the way, Lo Manto decides to break out on his own to randomly hunt down some evil mobsters even though doing so does nothing to help find his niece. Huh? Why?
Characters are casually introduced and dropped. Most of them offer minor support for Lo Manto while placing themselves in enormous danger. The beautiful young cop assigned to monitor Lo Manto is shot at on their first day together. Naturally, she wants to stay with Lo Manto and help him (do what? He does not really tell her anything - a point she has little problem accepting). After the shooting she becomes a marginal character - there only for the formulaic love interest to better show how awesome the hero is. Only Lo Manto could melt her heart of ice....Other stereotypes and predictable behavior pop up throughout the book.
The Camorra is also problematic in this book. The gangsters in Sleepers were right on the money. The gangsters in Gangster were a bit over the top, but overall, the book offered some good psychological insights into the gangster mind. The gangsters in Paradise City are just not believable. The super mob idea of children raised from birth to respect the code and trained to their strengths reveals more about Carcaterra than anything possibly reflecting reality.
Overall, this book made me groan more than a Disney Star Wars movie. Stereotypes, tropic types, and predictability really hurt this book. The initial mystery aspect of Lo Manto following clues and dishing out some Charles Bronson Deathwish violence up to the big bad boss made for some initial thrilling adventure and page-turning. But side plots came and went without adding. Characters were added and discarded by the author. Numerous plot holes were glossed over. The book is left with little redeeming value.
The basic premise is a modern-day adaptation of Joe Petrosino, the legendary New York Police detective who fought the Mafia until he went on a suicide mission to Italy where he was killed. Carcaterra's hero is Giancarlo Lo Manto, whose father is murdered by the New York Camorra (Mafia-type group from Naples, Italy) and he grows up in Naples to become a super cop always fighting the Camorra. His success becomes a personal obsession with New York Camorra boss (See the plot hole here?) who concocts a complicated plot to lure Lo Manto to New York where they can kill him publicly and send a message to other Italian policemen.
The kidnapping of Lo Manto's niece in New York is only important enough to bring Lo Manto to New York. Once in America, the story painfully drifts away from finding the lost youth. Less than half way through the book, she escapes the super evil, super powerful Camorra and wonders New York. Somehow (deus ex machina) Lo Manto appears behind her and rescues her. Huh? Similar side plots are also thrown in without any purpose or support for the story. The book clearly becomes a game of cat and mouse between the evil mob boss and the super awesome cop. Along the way, Lo Manto decides to break out on his own to randomly hunt down some evil mobsters even though doing so does nothing to help find his niece. Huh? Why?
Characters are casually introduced and dropped. Most of them offer minor support for Lo Manto while placing themselves in enormous danger. The beautiful young cop assigned to monitor Lo Manto is shot at on their first day together. Naturally, she wants to stay with Lo Manto and help him (do what? He does not really tell her anything - a point she has little problem accepting). After the shooting she becomes a marginal character - there only for the formulaic love interest to better show how awesome the hero is. Only Lo Manto could melt her heart of ice....Other stereotypes and predictable behavior pop up throughout the book.
The Camorra is also problematic in this book. The gangsters in Sleepers were right on the money. The gangsters in Gangster were a bit over the top, but overall, the book offered some good psychological insights into the gangster mind. The gangsters in Paradise City are just not believable. The super mob idea of children raised from birth to respect the code and trained to their strengths reveals more about Carcaterra than anything possibly reflecting reality.
Overall, this book made me groan more than a Disney Star Wars movie. Stereotypes, tropic types, and predictability really hurt this book. The initial mystery aspect of Lo Manto following clues and dishing out some Charles Bronson Deathwish violence up to the big bad boss made for some initial thrilling adventure and page-turning. But side plots came and went without adding. Characters were added and discarded by the author. Numerous plot holes were glossed over. The book is left with little redeeming value.
August 2, 2016
enjoyed reading the crime drama. my interest was maintained throughout the story. would have given 5 stars, but there was a spot or two in story that left me wondering about how the connected girl to Lo Manto in Grand Central and another questionable point of informants. otherwise truly enjoyed this read and would look to other books by this author.
May 26, 2018
I love mobster books and this one, which takes place in NYC, makes compelling reading. A detective from Naples, whose father was murdered years earlier by members of a notorious mob called the Camorra, and whose career he has spent avenging himself on this gang, is lured back to NYC with the kidnapping of his niece and is confront. He is thrown together with a female detective as a partner.
[MINOR SPOILER ALERT}In sum the action in this book is phenomenal. Hard to put down especially the last 100 pages. My only problem is with the female cop, Jennifer. Cliche, clearly written by a man. Why is it every single female detective has to have a cat and be defensive against all potential male partners? And why can't in these books a male and female cop work together just as friends/partners and NOT fall into bed at some point?
[MINOR SPOILER ALERT}In sum the action in this book is phenomenal. Hard to put down especially the last 100 pages. My only problem is with the female cop, Jennifer. Cliche, clearly written by a man. Why is it every single female detective has to have a cat and be defensive against all potential male partners? And why can't in these books a male and female cop work together just as friends/partners and NOT fall into bed at some point?
September 15, 2023
Pros- quick/easy read, a real page turner. Lots of action and if you like under dog or mafia story lines this is where it's at.
Cons- lots of unbelievable story lines and plot line holes. Spoiler alert- Ending is ridiculous and not at all believable. No city gives a homeless kid a passport and free trip to Italy in the span of 3 days! The overall base plot, kidnapped niece, gets overshadowed and is an after thought.
I loved the characters; vilians, good guys and everything in between but most of them were not believable within the story's time line.
Cons- lots of unbelievable story lines and plot line holes. Spoiler alert- Ending is ridiculous and not at all believable. No city gives a homeless kid a passport and free trip to Italy in the span of 3 days! The overall base plot, kidnapped niece, gets overshadowed and is an after thought.
I loved the characters; vilians, good guys and everything in between but most of them were not believable within the story's time line.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2023
A story about former cops who become Apaches. The Apaches are a group formed by Boomer Frontieri when a friend's 12 year old daughter is kidnapped. Boomer forms the Apaches to rescue her and they find a lot more. The horror of a woman named Lucia who has come up with a way to smuggle drugs inside dead babies. They are determined to stop her and they're not afraid of dying to do it.
April 28, 2024
Got so excited about reading finally Sleepers a while ago that wanted to read more Carcaterra books. Not many seems to be translated to Finnish so I had to read in English. That was giving me some "lost in translation" here and there but when finally got over half of the book done and the biggest twist was introduced I was 110% in and hooked!
December 14, 2025
This is a story about a boy who's father is killed by the mob and his mother moves them both from the US to Italy. He becomes a police officer who targets organised crime. When his niece goes missing in the US he goes to America to get her back.
I thought this was an ok read. It was fairly past paced and kept me interested.
I thought this was an ok read. It was fairly past paced and kept me interested.
August 10, 2017
Entertaining enough until the last 30 pages or so. The ending was let's say a bit far-fetched. And not in the fiction sense but in the movie sense. So without spoiling the overall read for anyone, it was a fun book to read and I'm glad I did. I blew through it in a few days. It's a page turner.
February 3, 2018
Carcaterra is an amazing story teller however he is so descriptive that sometimes I get restless and want to rush past his long narrations.
August 21, 2019
Incredibly stupid
September 17, 2019
A very interesting book. I thoroughly enjoyed it
March 27, 2020
awesome - i just love his style of writing
June 12, 2020
Lacked tension.
I felt Lo Manto was a bit too lucky to keep the story going.
The drug bust in Herculaneum early in the book was downright laughable. Would a cop really be that lucky? No.
I felt Lo Manto was a bit too lucky to keep the story going.
The drug bust in Herculaneum early in the book was downright laughable. Would a cop really be that lucky? No.
August 29, 2021
Great Book, It Kept You reading every chance You Got, it was so Good I Just got another one by the same author.
September 6, 2021
4.6 Well written as always
June 25, 2022
Read in 2005. Riveting thriller.
May 5, 2023
Very good suspense novel. I highly recommend.
March 21, 2024
DNF’ing - it’s not doing anything for me.
August 31, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Excellent story and the characters good and bad were great.
November 20, 2024
Read 25%. I dont like the style.
August 25, 2025
Definitely a 2.5 not a 3. Not rubbish but just a bit daft especially towards the end
Read
September 21, 2025Feb 2012
August 28, 2009
I LOVED Gangster which took you into the life of Gangsters and Sleepersand how one poor choice in life can change lives forever. I wasn't sure how I overlooked this book until I read it. It is about a young boy who loses his father to the Mafia and mom retreats to Italy to nurse her wounds. He grows up with revenge on his mind. He extracts it by becoming a cop and with only one vendetta in mind is to bring the family to its knees. The "family" returns fire by taking his niece and forcing a confrontration in NYC. After so many back and forth manuvers like a chess game my head grew weary. I didn't like how Carcaterra just put characters in his path. I felt like he was forced to write a book to fullfill a contract order and that is what he did.
September 22, 2012
An Italian crime stopping detective to rescue his niece and continue his fight against the Camorra. The Camorra a sophisticated group of gangsters with tentacles reaching across from New York to Naples. Giancarlo Lo Manto the detective who has dedicated his life to destroying them in a life long quest of vengeance. As a child Lo Manto lost his father to the murderous Camorra, then two other father figures to them. He will never forget or forgive. He was born in New York before moving back to Naples after the death of his father. Now the Don of the Camorra has set a trap for him in New York. Lo Manto now calls on friends in the NYC police force to help him. He gets partnered up with a female detective who has an impressive record of her own. Together with some new an old friends the battle is on with some startling conclusions. Worth the read.
July 29, 2008
This Was An Excellent Book. Fast Paced, Well Written. A Crime/ Suspence Book. It Is About A Detective Who Lived His Early Years In New York City. His Father Is Killed And He Moves With His Mother And Sister To Naples. He Fights A Crime Family, A Branch Of The Mob, The Camorista. The Kidnapping Of His Neice Forces Him To Return To New York For The Biggest Battle Of His Life, Where He Forced To Have A Partner. The Book Had A Good Ending, And A Few Surpises. Would Read Again, And Recommend.
April 27, 2014
The book is hard nosed up and a really good read until the final few chapters then it sort of backflips and turns into some sort of midday movie with the writing getting cheesy and the ending being terribly full of cheese. Almost completely ruins the book.
I liked it, liked it, liked it....then didn't like it.
I liked it, liked it, liked it....then didn't like it.
July 29, 2008
A very fast paced mafia story re a Naples Cop with a driving hatred of the Mafia (Camorra) brought up in New York city moving to Naples when a teenager.
Good story with some twists to keep the reader entertained, fans of the authors previous books won't be disappointed.
Good story with some twists to keep the reader entertained, fans of the authors previous books won't be disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews