Good Time Charlie is a novel focusing on a New York City gangster named Charles "Good Time Charlie" Luzzi. The story traces his childhood and involvement with the mafia and one mafia boss named Tony "The Hammer" Squateri. The novel portrays the grim and disturbing lifestyle of this mafia soldier within one mafia family. Charlie's first day on earth starts with the loss of both of his parents-his mother dies right after his birth and his father is killed the same day when he is thrown off a roof by Tony "The Hammer" Squateri. As destiny would have it, Charlie grows up in the neighborhood where Tony rules as the mafia boss. Tony becomes Charlie's future boss. After the death of his parents, Charlie is sent to a Catholic orphanage and raised by a group of nuns. He becomes a favorite of Sister Theresa who keeps a watchful eye on him over the years and hopes he grows up to be respectable and successful, untainted by any negative influences. Charlie's care at the orphanage ends when he is a teenager. An uncle and his wife come to claim him, to take care of him, and groom him to help them in their local neighborhood grocery store. During his stay with his uncle, Charlie meets some local gangsters and becomes fascinated with their lifestyle. He then leaves his uncle, who had been cruel and abusive, to become a local gangster, unaware that in doing so, he had sealed his fate with the mafia gangsters who will change his life forever. Under the tutelage of one local high-profiled Black gangster and bookie named "Big Red," Charlie learns the rackets. He prospers to the point where he becomes one of the more prominent gangsters in a largely Italian neighborhood in Upper Manhattan. His success earns him the nickname "Good Time Charlie" because he is flamboyant, tough, outgoing, and clearly enjoys the life that he has fashioned for himself. The good times end when Charlie gets himself into too much debt with the main mafia boss Tony "The Hammer" Squateri, the same mafia boss who murdered Charlie's father by throwing him off the roof on the day Charlie was born. In debt to Tony, Charlie has no alternative but to work for the crime boss. In a short time, Tony realizes that Charlie is a good mafia soldier because he helps Tony to make money. Tony constantly finds ways to keep Charlie under his domination. However, once Charlie learns that Tony was responsible for the death of his father, he seeks revenge and plots against Tony. By then, his fate is sealed. Charlie's life as a gangster hit many high points. He had married, had a family, while steadily rising in a world filled with drugs, alcohol, gambling, and killing. He is feared as a top mafia soldier. The marriage doesn't last, but Charlie dotes on his daughter whom he cherishes. This story emerges out of the author's imagination, experience, and knowledge of mafia life in New York City. In many ways, it is a tragic story, of a man born with many talents and strengths, who becomes victimized by his own surroundings, and who has applied these talents to survive and flourish in a tough, dangerous, dog-eat-dog environment. Warning: Graphic language, violence, and sex.
About the Author: Charles Anthony Cozzupoli was born on 116th Street in Harlem, New York and educated in the public school system in both New York and New Jersey. Growing up and working in an Italian neighborhood, he was educated in the ways of the Mafia. He along with his father owned and operated a bar (most times after hours) in the Washington Heights section of New York City. He now resides with his wife Roseann in the Hudson Valley. They are the proud grandparents of eight of the most beautiful grandchildren in the universe.