If you’re weary of soft story lines, polite and genteel protagonists, and frankly, just more of the same old thing, you owe it to yourself to crack open the pages of author Richard Marinick’s debut novel, BOYOS.

Adroitly, Marinick takes the reader into the streets and homes of South Boston, and even better, into the heads of some of South Boston’s infamous “businessmen.” These are businessmen in the sense they have products and services to sell, but not in the traditional sense of business; these guys sell dope and power and mayhem. The reader is introduced to a cast of characters not likely to be invited to anyone’s dinner table, but it would be hard to ignore that the cast of BOYOS is a seasoned group of men with a zest for life.

Jack “Wacko” Curran has worked his way to a mid-management status in the streets of South Boston and in Marty Fallon’s organization. “Wacko” is not a nickname people call this man to his face, not even Jack’s younger brother, Kevin, who Jack has schooled and works along with him.

Jack has been in the business long enough to be tired of working for someone else, and for having to pay the “Fallon Tax” on all his profits, the “tax” being Marty’s cut of each slice of the pie. Jack determines that it’s time to strike out on his own, and he and brother, Kevin, plan to do just that. Suffice it to say that there are those out to thwart Jack’s plan.

BOYOS is an insider’s look at the day-to-day existence of many of those who call South Boston home. Author Marinick grew up running with the gangs in the area, and took up writing in the ten-year stretch he spent in prison; accordingly, the grit and the pathos in his pages smack of realism.

This book is not for the faint-of-heart; there is violence and there is sex; neither is gratuitous, just part of the fabric of life for these characters. In these people you will recognize goals and emotions shared by many of us; it is the method of attaining those goals that separate the members of the Southie gangs from the rest of us. BOYOS provides a powerful glimpse into the lives of people who live parallel to the rest of us. Highly recommended for your bookshelf.