Road to Perdition
By Max Allen Collins

     Michael Sullivan was a killer, a hired enforcer for the Rooney mob in Rock Island, Illinois. The year was 1931, when the gangs were experiencing the most violent times in their history. Michael Sullivan was considered the best at what he did.

     He was also a husband and father, successfully separating his family life from his professional existence. Michael's wife Annie and his two innocent sons, Michael Jr., age twelve and Peter, ten, had distanced themselves from the horrible things that people accused Michael of doing.

     All of that changed the night that Michael Jr. stowed away in the trunk of his father's car and witnessed the killing of three men at the hands of his father and Connor Rooney, son of mob boss John Rooney. When Michael Sullivan Sr. finds his son crouching and crying in the rain outside the warehouse where the murder had taken place, he knew that his family had now been placed in harm's way.

     Connor Rooney devises a plot to eliminate the witnesses. Michael is alert enough to escape the attempt on his life but his wife Annie and youngest son, Peter, are gunned down in their home by the crazed son of the gang leader. Michael Jr. narrowly escapes with his life and father and son are forced into hiding as marked quarry.

     The pair embark on a perilous journey that combines their flight with guerrilla-style vengeance. Michael effectively undermines the Rooney organization before becoming a victim of his own suicidal lifestyle.

     This is a very dark story, narrated by Michael Sullivan Jr. There are parts of this book that may be too intense and too depressing for some readers. There can be no Utopian happy ending to this kind of tale based on such a violent and immoral segment of society. Although well written, it's definitely not for everybody.

     Max Allen Collins adapted this novel from a screenplay by David Self, which was based on Collins' original graphic novel.