Sugar Pop Moon

May 20, 2013
Set mainly in 1930 New York City, Florio’s lively if disjointed debut introduces Jersey Leo, a mixed-race albino who works as a bartender in a Hell’s Kitchen speakeasy called the Pour House. The pay is considerable, but so are Leo’s problems: he’s been conned into spending $4,800 of his boss’s money on worthless moonshine rather than the prime “sugar pop moon” that was expected. Now Leo must get the money back from a Philadelphia scam artist before his volatile boss finds out. Leo’s aggressive actions infuriate the Philadelphia mob and the corrupt police, while he becomes a target of a notorious voodoo sect with its own horrendous agenda. Haphazard flashbacks to 1906 covering the bitter story of Leo’s father, a black prizefighter who had a brief and unhappy liaison with Leo’s mother, could have been better coordinated. Still, the brisk story and its unusual hero pack a considerable punch. Agent: Elizabeth Evans, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

Starred review from July 1, 2013

Albino Jersey Leo, much to his retired-boxer father Ernie's distaste, earns a living tending bar at a speakeasy owned by mobster Jimmy McCullough in New York City in 1930. When Jersey mistakenly buys a large shipment of bad booze (using Jimmy's cash) from a Philadelphia-based distributor, he has to rectify the situation if he doesn't want Jimmy to kill him. But it seems that a religious sect in Philadelphia has a hit out on Jersey. Apparently, the bones of albinos are considered rare commodities. Jersey, already paranoid about being a biracial albino (street name "Snowball") and desperate to dig his way out of this bizarre mess, enlists the help of his dad. Meanwhile, an alternating story set in 1906 clues readers in to the whole Leo family backstory. VERDICT Don't miss this absolutely riveting, gritty debut coming-of-age tale. Absorbing and briskly paced, the story toggles deftly between 1906 and 1930. Despite abundant gunfire and bloodshed, the novel manages to successfully incorporate an idealistic tone. For readers who follow Kelli Stanley's "Miranda Corbie" series or Reed Farrel Coleman's "Moe Prager" books.

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