Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of “The Wolf” (2014, 310 pages in paperback format), is something of an enigma. His “Tin Badges,” reviewed Oct. 4, 2023, is built around a simple plot, much like an episode of a TV series. “The Wolf” is a whole different animal. Whereas Tin Badges is basically a collection of domestic scenes, The Wolf is cerebral, complex, and global in scope. It can be compared to Mario Puzo’s, “The Godfather.”
The book is narrated in part by Vincent Mirelli, an uberdon of a gigantic crime syndicate. He’s a strong family man, like virtually all mafia dons, and very protective of his wife and three children. Ordinarily, they are always surrounded by a coterie of bodyguards. But, on one occasion, his wife argues persistently that she and their two daughters ought to be able to experience the real world, travel on a commercial airplane, and be free of constant surveillance. Vincent relents, and the plane that they’re on explodes because of a terrorist bomb.
Vincent tells us, “You’ve never met me, and if you’re lucky you never will. I run the biggest criminal operation in the world. We’re invisible but we’re everywhere. Wherever you go, whatever you do, however you spend your money, a piece of it lands in our pockets.” Therefore, we’re not surprised to learn that Vincent knows that the terrorists who brought the bomb onto the plane are working with the Russians. And the Russians are working with Mexican cartels.