Growing up, Bobby Jack Stagnari was a great looking kid with jet-black hair, a twinkle in his eye, and the gift of gab. Everybody loved Bobby Jack! Everybody, that is, except Nettie Ruth Goins, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy local businessman. Nettie Ruth had hated Bobby Jack since first grade, and he had no idea why. As far as he knew, he'd never done a thing to her. Or, perhaps she was just crazy. Maybe that was the problem!
When things began to heat up in Vietnam, Bobby Jack enlisted in the Navy. After all, everyone knows that the Navy doesn't go to war. The plan was to avoid anything resembling actual combat. However, that plan did not work out so well. Somehow Bobby Jack managed to get himself badly wounded in action and is sent home with a Bronze Star with a "V" for valor in combat and a Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster for multiple wounds.
Now a genuine war hero, Bobby Jack finds himself working for Nettie Ruth Goins' father, putting his military connections to profitable use. Life is good. Surprisingly, Nettie Ruth Goins becomes Nettie Ruth Stagnari, and the happy new couple soon have a baby on the way.
Twelve years into their marriage, tragedy strikes when their son, Benjy, is hit by a car. At the emergency room, Bobby Jack learns a dark secret that changes his life forever. Deciding to disappear, he takes his daughter, Gracie, to Pozzuoli, Italy, where he first finds his family roots and then plots a terrible vengeance.
Bobby Jack has two problems to deal with. One problem is named Nettie Ruth. The other problem is named Rosalba.
An Italian grandfather and an Italian-American father had taught him that the blood in his veins runs hotter than that of his fellow citizens in East Tennessee. Anyone who betrays him will find that out. Anyone else who is part of that betrayal will find themselves destroyed!
Will Bobby Jack allow hatred and revenge to destroy the remainder of his life? Or, can he turn his tragic situation around. There is only one way to find out!
