A crime thriller, a coming-of-age story and a family saga, THE PRICE YOU PAY unravels in mid-1970s Jersey City, a crumbling town where violence and coercion reign. Young Mickey Wright is thrust into a world controlled by a powerful Teamster local associated with the Genovese crime syndicate. The man who puts him in jeopardy: his father, a free-wheeling policeman well-known to Jersey City’s politicians and drug dealers.

When a Black trucker is murdered, Mickey is forced to choose between loyalty to family and the Teamsters or to values he shares with Debbie Olsen, the love of his young life who is the daughter of a solidly middle-class family. Memorable appearances by Mickey’s sister, who is broken by her father’s foul will, and memories of their late mother haunt the story. The question of whether Mickey can stand tall, break free and live a worthy life of his choosing isn’t answered until a final, shocking confrontation.

THE PRICE YOU PAY is rich with vivid details and the kind of propulsive yet compassion storytelling that defines Jim Fusilli’s career as one of today’s most admired mystery writers. As in his novels NARROWS GATE and THE MAYOR OF POLK STREET, he proves once again that he knows how danger can explode when the mob, police and politics are intertwined. As for Mickey and Debbie, there is a way out. Will they survive to take it?