Partners

The year is 1975. Kyle Marshall needs a job. The ad said partner wanted, work nights. 'Partners' begins and ends in a frigid Wisconsin winter, from the first frost of November to snowbound Christmas, a February blizzard, finally a freak March ice storm, an actual event that occurred in 1976 and paralyzed the city of Milwaukee for an entire week. When the ice storm melts, winter is over and the tale ends, four months of gun battles, love, and loss. There are several reasons why this is an important novel, not least of which is its historical significance. It depicts an era in which men were men and women liked them that way. Mafia influence and corruption of city government was profound. Wisconsin Avenue had strippers and mob-controlled nightclubs and hotels. They had a lock on cigarette vending and pinball, prostitution, sports wagering, liquor, loan sharking, longshoremen and truck transport. Rivals were eliminated with car bombs.