About this item

It's Prohibition. It's Philadelphia. And Jersey Leo doesn't fit in. Jersey is an albino of mixed race. Known as "Snowball" on the street, he tends bar at a speakeasy the locals call the Ink Well. There, he's considered a hero for having saved the life of a young boy. But when his old grade school buddy, Aaron Garvey, calls from death row and asks for one last favor, all hell breaks loose.Jersey finds himself running from a band of crooked cops, hiding an escaped convict in the Ink Well, and reuniting with his grammar school crush--the now sultry Myra Banks, who has shed a club foot and become a speakeasy siren. Through it all, Jersey tries to safeguard the Ink Well with no help other than his ragtag group of friends: his ex-boxing-champion father, Ernie Leo; the street-savvy Johalis; a dim-witted dockworker named Homer; and the dubious palm reader Madame Curio.



About the Author

John Florio

John Florio was raised in Flushing, NY. He credits the streets of Queens as one of his earliest influences, along with black-and-white movies, old superhero comics, Sports Illustrated, Humphrey Bogart, and the Hardy Boys.A fan of pop fiction and creative nonfiction, Florio is the author of the historical crime novels, Sugar Pop Moon and Blind Moon Alley. With Ouisie Shapiro, he wrote the nonfiction books, War in the Ring, One Nation Under Baseball, and One Punch from the Promised Land. Florio and Shapiro are contributors to the New Yorker and the Atlantic; their work has also been seen in the New York Times, the Undefeated, VICE, and Sports Illustrated. Florio holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine, an MA from New York University, and an MBA from St. John's University. He currently serves on the faculty of the Stonecoast MFA creative writing program at the University of Southern Maine.Visit John Florio at johnfloriowriter.com.



Read Next Recommendation

Report incorrect product information.