A true parallel to the lives that too many of our youths must live through today as they are told to evolve from unjust chaos into functional adults; welcome to a reality-based, fictionalized world crafted out of the author Luke Gherardi’s direct childhood experiences, observations, and imagination. In some ways, Children of Violence is a coming-of-age book. In many ways, it is poetic violence in the raw, filled with events that should never even be once-in-a- lifetime moments that all too often repeat themselves. 

Brutal yet somehow compulsively readable, Gherardi’s brisk debut certainly does not pull its punches. Each of the connected short stories in this hybrid of novel and collection either directly or indirectly recounts the turbulent lives of four main characters: Gracie, whose dad is a rather prominent mobster; Reeves, whose parents are religious to the point of extremism, calling television “the devil box”; Cole, whose father is veteran and stuck in the glory days; and Robbie, whose mother is an addict and whose mother’s boyfriend is a pimp. Taken together, this very adult collection of vignettes is not for the faint of heart, exploring how the worst of humanity lives—and, more importantly, how their children do, too.

Follow the stories of Gracie, Maria, Ron, Ramon, Cole, Randy, Reeves, and Lee – kids, all with different backgrounds -as they fight for their place in this world. Racism, abuse, religion, and hate all stand in the way of growing up ‘normal’. Gherardi does an excellent job in developing each of his characters and showing us how their lives unfold, overlap, and intertwine.  This book is recommended for mature adults.

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