The Grandfather Clause

It's March of 1963 in a quiet New Jersey shore community. Joseph Napolo is a young boy who cherishes his Pop Pop Carmine's Sunday visits to his parents' home. Joseph has come to understand that there is something special about his grandfather - the stories he tells, his friends that visit after dinner, how some kiss his ring and call him Don Carmine. This Sunday, however, Joseph is the sole witness to sinister and dramatic events. Young Joseph and his grandfather pledge to keep a dark secret. It is also the last time he will see his grandfather.

Over time, Joseph learns his grandfather had been the boss of one of the five New York crime families, which still bears his name and continues to be illuminated as the most powerful Mafia organization in the country. Joseph has shunned his grandfather's ways but he will forever share the family name. He understands that fame is fickle and fleeting. Infamy is not.

Now Spring 2001, Joseph is a husband, father, and with his best friend, Michael Cogan, co-owner of a successful trucking company. However, trouble with the Teamsters Union, Cogan's gambling debts, and a hijacking that is much more than it appears to be, create a scenario where the past and the present reconvene. During this one week in May, these ostensibly unconnected events toss together several nefarious entities. A high-tech defense contractor, a treacherous ex-US intelligence operative, the Napolo Crime Family, and Teamster officials collude and collide, taking Joseph on a wild and deadly ride, racing toward a Friday deadline. Reluctantly, Joseph must penetrate his grandfather's world to protect his family and to save his friend, only to find himself a key player in a conspiracy which distorts the concept of patriotism and redefines his grandfather's role in history.

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