"Nick Chiarkas takes us inside the Al Smith projects, and he makes you feel the fears and the love of a New York City family facing the dangers of the streets...while they cling to each other in the purest form of family. "Weepers" is a page turning murder mystery and a fascinating look at New York in the 1950's...It makes you want to crawl into the book and not come out." -Mitch Henck of the All New Mitch Henck Show "Uncommon Sense," 92.1 FM, mitchhenck.com

A magnificent debut! This riveting suspense novel grabbed me on page one with its secrets, danger, and emotional power and kept it up all the way to the terrific ending with its twists and turns. Author Nicholas Chiarkas has great command of the milieu of the 1950s. --Christine DeSmet, mystery author, faculty associate and director, Write-by-the-Lake Writer s Workshop & Retreat, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Weepers is a fascinating glimpse at mid-century life in New York City's public-housing projects. In a world where memories are long and tempers can be extremely short, thirteen-year-old Angelo Pastamadeo is forced to navigate crossroads involving gang life, organized crime, and longstanding grudges. Full of gritty action, Chiarkas* depiction of Angelo's fast-paced journey from being a kid to becoming a man keep me turning pages late into the night. --Ara Burklund, author of *If I Die Before I Wake* About the Author Nick Chiarkas grew up in the Al Smith housing projects in the Two Bridges neighborhood on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where Weepers takes place. When he was in the fourth grade his mother was told by the principal of PS-1 that, "Nick was unlikely to ever complete high school, so you must steer him toward a simple and secure vocation." Instead, Nick became a writer, with a few stops along the way: a New York City Police Officer; the Deputy Chief Counsel for the President's Commission on Organized Crime; and the Director of the Wisconsin State Public Defender Agency. On the way he picked up a Doctorate from Columbia University; a Law Degree from Temple University; and was a Pickett Fellow at Harvard. How many mothers are told their child is hopeless? How many kids with potential simply surrender to desperation? That's why Nick wrote Weepers--for them.

Nick's other publications are law books; books dealing with Criminal Organizations and Enterprises; and articles, two of which have been translated and published in Japan. Weepers is Nick's first novel. Forthcoming novels include: Nunzio's Way, Black Tiger Tea, and Blue Bounty.