Broken Bloodline - John J. Jagemann

Told against and woven into the backdrop of U.S. history, Broken Bloodline animates the trials and tribulations Italian immigrants as depicted by the fictitious Scallaci Family experienced in pursuit of the elusive American dream. Although the Scallaci journey began in 1893 during the mass European immigration, our plot encompasses: mounting uncertainties of the early 1900s, persecutions suffered amidst the 1910s, decadences embodied during the1920s, deprivations endured throughout the 1930s, brutalities inflicted within the bellicose 1940s, ascensions achieved during the booming 1950s and tumult  born of the 1960s.
 
Broken Bloodline is narrated by anti-hero protagonist, eighteen-year-old Pasquale Patsy Scallaci as he recounts the Scallaci family odyssey as conveyed to him by his paternal grandfather, Pasquale. As the storyline unfolds, we are offered a bird’s eye view of Patsy’s transition from the uncertainties of youth to the confidence of manhood achieved and life-direction realized as vitalized via classic coming-of-age novels “Stand by Me” and “The Outsiders”.
 
Patsy is an “every man”, at a crossroads between immaturity and maturity, caught at the nexus of adolescence and adulthood. His journey will be familiar to readers of classics “Catcher in the Rye” and “A tree grows in Brooklyn”. His final destination will tear at your heart and leave you yearning for more!
 
This book opens during the summer of 1969, but fluidly traverses through the 20th Century and culminates back in ‘69. Patsy’s story begins in the Bronx., but storyline venues seamlessly transition to Italy, New York City, Viet Nam, the Adirondacks in upstate NY, France, Germany etc. Our narrative provides an insider’s perspective into the joys and difficulties of cultural integration. This primary can best be described as a blend of two novels, “The Godfather II “and “Once Upon a Time in America.”
 
There are nine primary characters, Patsy, his father Vincenzo, grandfather, Pasquale, great uncle, Natale, his love interest, Laura, his “uncle” Johnny Muller, Johnny’s older brother, Dr. Carl, and Otto, caretaker of the Muller country Estate, and Jack Nulty, the NYPD detective.
 
Vincenzo, the father-figure, Natale and Pasquale embody and vitalize the saga of U.S. history as seen through the eyes of immigrants. An assorted ensemble of supporting personalities brings intrigue, amusement, and excitement to the storyline.
 
Secondarily, an underlying “whodunnit' subplot unveils a tale of serial murder, intrigue, and resurrection from the abyss of an uncertainty shrouded in mystery to the jubilance of recognizing a self-worth built upon the backbone of ancestry, buttressed by the foundation of family loyalty. It is the trail of the Broken Bloodline.  This substory text presents as an amalgam of two novels,” The Boys from Brazil” and “Then There Were None”.