{"product_id":"2940014441605","title":"Black Sheep","description":"Black Sheep develops subtle, intense characters in a thriller that explores the tragedy of the Recession. What happens when idealists face criminals over control of a new economy?  Luna Court Books presents Black Sheep, a gripping story of hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Black Sheep, idealists start a venture, building hybrid cars in the Rust Belt city of Buffalo NY in the 1990s, at the very time that the Democratic Party nominates a progressive as its candidate for mayor. Meanwhile, the local crime family wants a piece of any action that might produce profits, but a new criminal crew, fresh out of prison, determines to take power from that established family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe hero is the son of the first member of the criminal family to abandon the life of crime. Given a talent for numbers, the father foresaw how corporations would usurp much of American life, including organized crime, and he pursued a university degree in radical economics in the ’60s. That’s how the central character connects the crime thriller to the story of political idealists, understanding implicitly what’s happening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe hero is writing Black Sheep now, in the present.  As many cities did in reality, Buffalo in the novel improves its local economy. The central character has overcome personal troubles that arose from his history, but conservatives hate what he helped to accomplish in the 1990s. They’ve subpoenaed him to answer racketeering charges.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNY Times bestselling author Michael Levin, who edited Black Sheep, says, “With Black Sheep, Robert Covelli steps into the front ranks of contemporary novelists.” Levin edited Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. He has published three novels with Putnam and Scribners and co-written books with Dave Winfield and Pat Sommerall.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRobert Meyer, author of Origin of Sorrow, former editor of Santa Fe Reporter, opined, “The narrative voice is terrific, as musical as good jazz. Some of the observations are hilarious. The dialogue sounds real and true. [Black Sheep] gives just enough description of people and places, and they are interesting. The whole thing is alive, vibrant.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTom Dark of Heacock Hill Literary Agency read the manuscript.  He wrote, “Those who've praised your writing are telling you true. It's very rare work. One in ten thousand submissions warrants real correspondence.  Yours is the first I’ve called rare.”","brand":"Luna Court Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070608851184,"sku":"2940014441605","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014441605_p0.jpg?v=1763608280","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014441605","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}