Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: My Kind of Town
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1965
WEBSITE: http://johnsandrolini.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://johnsandrolini.com/bio.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.:
no2017042883
LCCN Permalink:
https://lccn.loc.gov/no2017042883
HEADING:
Sandrolini, John, 1965- Joe Buonomo mystery
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1_ |a Sandrolini, John, |d 1965- |t Joe Buonomo mystery
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__ |a Series (Publications) |2 lcsh
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__ |a Multipart monograph
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_0 |a Joe Buonomo mystery
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__ |a New York |b Mysterious Press.com/Open Road Integrated Media
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__ |a Sandrolini, John. My kind of town, 2016 : |b title page (A Joe Buonomo mystery)
PERSONAL
Born in 1965, in Chicago, IL.
EDUCATION:Northern Illinois University, graduated.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Air National Guard, eight years; worker in the criminal justice system, three years; airline pilot and captain, seventeen years.
MIILITARY:U.S. Air Force, attained rank of second lieutenant.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
John Sandrolini is the author of noir thrillers featuring former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Joe Buonomo. Sandrolini is a native Chicagoan but now lives on his sloop in Southern California. A veteran of the Air National Guard, Sandrolini received a military scholarship and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He had a brief stint at the U.S. Air Force pilot training school; afterward, he worked in the criminal justice system with juvenile offenders. For over seventeen years, Sandrolini has been a pilot and captain for commercial airlines.
In 2013, Sandrolini published One for Our Baby, which is set in 1960 during the heyday of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, organized crime, and cynical politicians. Troubled former World War II fighter ace Joe Buonomo is grieving the loss of his first love, Helen, an aspiring actress in Hollywood, who has broken off their engagement. Now he runs an air freight business and works for Sinatra. When he’s hired to fly Sinatra’s girlfriend to Los Angeles for an audition, he’s surprised to see that she’s Helen. The next day Helen goes missing, and Joe must find her amid scrutiny from the mob and the powerful political forces of presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. Reviewing One for Our Baby, a Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: “Buonomo’s heroics keep pace with the rising body count in this over-the-top period crime thriller.”
Sandrolini’s second Joe Buonomo mystery, My Kind of Town, appeared in 2016. Set in 1963, three years later than One for Our Baby, the story opens with Joe feeling reluctant about returning to his native Chicago, which he left twenty years ago, but he agrees to go back when his boss, Frank Sinatra, wants to be flown to the Windy City for a gig. Joe is also supposed to act as protection for Sinatra, who will be performing at a Mafia gathering. Soon Joe is falling for mobster Fiorello Carpaccio’s girlfriend, Claudia Cucciabella. The mob learns that Joe was war buddies with Butch O’Hare, the man in charge of hiding Al Capone’s loot. The mob then “requests” that Joe help them find it. The problem is that Joe has no clue about the treasure’s location.
Also looking for the money is Jack McBride, grand chief of the Fraternal Order of the Potawatomi, who tries to enlist Joe’s help and offers him a share of the take. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented: “Sandrolini’s spot-on prose brings to life this tale of a beautiful dame, hulking thugs, and a treasure waiting to be found.” In Booklist, Bill Ott remarked: “This one’s all about ambience, with the period patter.” Ott found the MacGuffin that drives the action, finding Capone’s riches, to be somewhat “silly,” but appreciated Sandrolini’s vivid descriptions of vintage Chicago landmarks and fun, edgy writing style.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2016, review of My Kind of Town, p. 55.
Publishers Weekly, February 25, 2013, review of One for Our Baby.
Booklist, August 1, 2016, Bill Ott, review of My Kind of Town, p. 34.
ONLINE
John Sandrolini Home Page, http://johnsandrolini.com (June 1, 2017), author profile.
I was born in Chicago in 1965. I�m told it was a hot night. At eighteen, I enlisted in the Air National Guard as an aircraft mechanic. My squadron flew the KC-135, a tanker with a worldwide mission. The wanderlust began. So did a military scholarship. In college, I did a lot of reading, a little writing, and too much drinking. I got a �C� in Creative Fiction.
Freshly minted a second lieutenant, I attended Air Force pilot training. The Air Force and I had some disagreements about how to operate their jets, after which they invited me to seek my future in another field. That was humbling. Very humbling.
Next came three years in criminal justice dealing with juvenile offenders and their far guiltier parents. I saw some bad things out there. Flying began to look pretty good again.
Three airlines, seventeen years, and ten thousand weather delays later it�s a career. They even call me �Captain� now. This, too, is very humbling�but in a much better way. Aviation has taken me from Chicago to San Juan, Miami, New York, Palm Springs, and now the California coast. Access to free air travel has taken me even farther. Over the years, I�ve checked off some widely spaced points on the charts, exploring ancient ruins, munching on grasshoppers, and bending elbows in dusky watering holes with the kinds of people that Tom Waits sings about. Ideas formed along the way. I began to write again.
Palm Springs, a desert oasis, was the perfect hideaway to create One For Our Baby, but I needed a new experience after that. When I heard the song of the Sirens in the thundering Pacific surf I answered the call, buying a sailboat and taking to the sea in search of them. Some days I sail. Some days I scour the secluded coves for their mistresses. Some days I just sit below deck and write. I�m expecting a mermaid sighting�or another novel�in the not too distant future.
5/5/17, 4(49 PM
Print Marked Items
My Kind of Town
Publishers Weekly.
263.36 (Sept. 5, 2016): p55. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
My Kind of Town
John Sandrolini. MysteriousPress.com, $14.99 trade paper (350p) ISBN 978-1-50402570-6
Sandrolini delivers the noir goods in his second Joe Buonomo mystery (after 2013's One for Our Baby). It's 1963, and the WWII hero is returning to his hometown of Chicago for the first time in two decades at the behest of his good friend Frank Sinatra. Frank's been "requested" to give a few singing performances for some Mafia chiefs that he can't refuse, and he has asked Joe along for protection. Joe is hoping to keep his visit low key, but he quickly runs afoul of mobster Fiorello Carpaccio, who has a hold over Claudia Cucciabella, a chanteuse with "swirling dark tresses, Alpine curves, lips lush as mascarpone." Joe falls for her hard, and Carpaccio is able to use that as well as threats to Joe's family to force him to search for Al Capone's missing loot. Jack McBride, grand chief of the Fraternal Order of the Potawatomi, wants Joe's help with the same quest, although he offers a carrot rather than a stick. Sandrolini's spot-on prose brings to life this tale of a beautiful dame, hulking thugs, and a treasure waiting to be found. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"My Kind of Town." Publishers Weekly, 5 Sept. 2016, p. 55. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA463513536&it=r&asid=5309505c7746c49a29aa30c9a0a24253. Accessed 5 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A463513536
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5/5/17, 4(49 PM
My Kind of Town
Bill Ott
Booklist.
112.22 (Aug. 1, 2016): p34. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
My Kind of Town. By John Sandrolini. Nov. 2016.330p. Open Road/MysteriousPress.com, paper, $14.99 (9781504025706); e-book, $14.99 (9781504036443).
In 1963, WWII flying ace Joe Buonomo (One for Our Baby, 2013) returns to Chicago at the behest of his pal, Frank Sinatra, who needs to make things right for Mafia don Sam Giancana by giving a command performance (those gangsters love their crooners). But Joe has lots of demons lurking in his Windy City closet and quickly manages to let all of them loose. The MacGuffin driving the action here is a doozy: Al Capone's multimillion-dollar stash, purportedly hidden somewhere in Chicago. Joe is clueless about the booty's whereabouts, but various gangsters think otherwise, convinced that Joe's deceased flying pal Butch O'Hare (yes, the airport O'Hare), son of Capone's lawyer and confidant, passed along the secret. The premise is a bit silly, but it does give Sandrolini a reason to send Joe gamboling about the city, with stops at various vividly described landmarks (the Pump Room, the Green Mill, Capone's network of getaway tunnels). This one's all about ambience, with the period patter ("I wrist-flicked the Zippo and toasted a Lucky") adding to the fun. Partner Sandrolini with Robert Randisi's similar Rat Pack novels, and fly yourself to the moon.--Bill Ott
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ott, Bill. "My Kind of Town." Booklist, 1 Aug. 2016, p. 34+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA460761684&it=r&asid=02cc616d3577a276da40ec09d4790ac1. Accessed 5 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A460761684
about:blank Page 2 of 2
Publishers Weekly
February 25, 2013,
One for Our Baby
John Sandrolini. Mysteriouspress.com (Open Road, dist.), $14.99 ISBN 978-1-4532-9795-7
Set in 1960, Sandrolini’s raucous first novel stars Joe Buonomo, a WWII fighter ace who’s now a freight pilot and friend of Frank Sinatra. When Sinatra talks Buonomo into flying his latest fling, Lilah DeHart, from Palm Springs to Hollywood for a screen test, Buonomo is in for a surprise. Lilah is the pilot’s former fiancée, Helen Castano, who left him six years earlier. The two, once they realize they’re still in love, decide to tell Sinatra, but before that can happen, Helen disappears. On Sinatra’s orders, Buonomo goes looking for her. He finds the body of Helen’s friend Betty Benker, gets bashed on the head, and tangles with a host of bad guys, including Italian and Chinese mobsters, Mexican crime bosses, and the hostile sheriff of Santa Catalina, Calif. Even certain supporters of presidential candidate John F. Kennedy make trouble. Buonomo’s heroics keep pace with the rising body count in this over-the-top period crime thriller. (Apr.)