Five Before Rome: 5 preludes to the Roma Series by Gabriel Valjan

 

Join us for this tour from July 7 to July 27, 2020!



Book Details:



Book Title:  Five Before Rome: 5 preludes to the Roma Series by Gabriel Valjan

Category:  Adult fiction 18 yrs +,  215 pages

Genre:  International Crime Thriller

Publisher:  Wild Goose Publishing

Release date:   June 2020

Content Rating:  PG-13 + M. There is violence (not graphic) and mention of child abuse by the clergy. There are 4 instances of the F-Word.

Book Description:



These five novellas precede Roma, Underground,
the first novel in the Roma Series. Meet the five men, who form the
team around Bianca, and learn about their personal history, their
respective parts of Italy, and why they each have a stake in the fight
against organized crime.

Buy the Book:

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Meet the Author:



Gabriel Valjan lives in Boston’s South End where he enjoys the
local restaurants. When he isn’t appeasing Munchkin, his cat, with tuna,
he documents the #dogsofsouthendboston on Instagram. His short stories
have appeared online, in journals, and in several anthologies. Gabriel
is the author of two series, Roma and Company Files, with Winter Goose
Publishing. He was nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Historical
Mystery for Company Files: 2. The Naming Game in 2020. Gabriel has been a
finalist for the Fish Prize, shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and
received an Honorable Mention for the Nero Wolfe Black Orchid Novella
Contest in 2018. Dirty Old Town, the first in the Shane Cleary series,
was published in 2020 by Level Best Books. Gabriel attends crime fiction
conferences, such as Bouchercon, Malice Domestic, and New England Crime
Bake. He is a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime.



​Connect with the author:  Website  ~ Facebook ~  Twitter ~ Instagram

Tour Schedule:



July 7 – Working Mommy Journal – book review / giveaway

July 8 – Book Bustle – book review / giveaway

July 9 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review / giveaway

July 10 - Viviana MacKade – book spotlight / guest post/ giveaway

July 13 – Pen Possessed – book spotlight / giveaway

July 14 – T's Stuff - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway

July 15 – Library of Clean Reads – book review / giveaway

July 16 – My Reading Journeys – book review / giveaway

July 16 - Books for Books – book spotlight

July 17 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway

July 20 – I'm All About Books – book spotlight / giveaway

July 20 – Stephanie Jane – book spotlight / giveaway

July 22 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review / giveaway

July 23 - Leels Loves Books – book review / giveaway

July 23 – StoreyBook Reviews – book spotlight / author interview / giveaway

July 24 – Olio by Marilyn – book spotlight / author interview

July 24 - Olio by Marilyn – book review / giveaway

July 25 – Sefina Hawke's Books – book spotlight

July 27 - Adventurous Jessy – book review / giveaway

July 27 - On My Bookshelf - book review / guest post / giveaway

Guest post by Gabriel Valjan

This Thing of Ours is Not What You Think It Is

Cosa Nostra. Our Thing. The Syndicate. The Mob. Mafia. It’s an Italian thing, but here I will correct misconceptions about the mafia in Italy, so you can appreciate Five Before Rome.
These days, mafia is a generic term for organized crime. What Americans call mafia is specifically the Sicilian criminal organization but there are others in Italy. The Camorra is indigenous to Naples and the region of Campania. The ’Ndrangheta is based in Calabria. 
Structurally, the Sicilian mafia is hierarchical, with a chain of command and agreement over territories and activities. The Camorra is a confederation of local clans in Campania. The Calabrian mafia is overtly familial, with members related to each other by blood or marriage. 
The portrayals of mafiosi in American popular culture have ranged from the charismatic Don Corleone to the thuggish Tony Soprano. The Italian-American gangster has been mythologized and canonized alongside Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde. Contemporaries considered Al Capone more honest about his business practices than, say, such ruthless captains of industry as Ford and Rockefeller. While the mafia has become transnational, involved in money laundering, violence remains its standard operating procedure. 
There is no consensus as to how the mafia started, but it’s generally accepted that southern Italy’s feudal past encouraged its creation. The landed gentry hired help to collect rents and keep the peasants obedient. As Italy unified, standardized its language and modernized, the country developed a pronounced North and South divide, mercantile versus agrarian. The mafia, however, did move north. The Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia’s famous one-liner about how the line of palm trees moved more and more north each year is often quoted as an example of how the mafia migrated north. 
The Sicilian mafia thrived in southern Italy because there was social approval and local support. The don, for example, paid pensions to families whose members were in jail. Cooperation with the mafia has changed dramatically in recent years because businesses have refused to pay protection money. While Sonny in The Bronx Tale waxed philosophical about whether it’s better to be feared than loved, a boss preferred not to use violence. It’s far more effective to provide jobs than intimidate people. In fact, a don’s use of violence or his failure to control it diminishes his power. 
American films has romanticized omertà, the vow of silence. Herein is a major difference between the Italian-American mafia and its Sicilian cousin abroad. U.S. law enforcement “flips” a mobster to go undercover and testify against colleagues. The incentive is to avoid or minimize prison time. In Italy, a pentito is not a rat. The Sicilian mafioso provides evidence, which must be corroborated before he can enjoy the protection program, and he must disavow his affiliation with the mafia in public. The most common reason a repentant mafioso “turns” in Italy is to spare his or her children from a crappy life. And yes, there are women “godmothers.”   

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