Sleep With the Fishes

Sleep With the Fishes, Brian Wiprud, Xlibris Corp., 2000

Sid Bifulco was a hit man in the Palfutti crime family in New Jersey. Was, until he turned states' evidence, and put the rest of the Palfutti's behind bars. He earned the nickname "Sleep" because he preferred to drug his victims before killing them, whereas other hit men made sure the victim knew what was coming. For his trouble, Sid gets a seven-year sentence in prison, where the only available reading material is fishing magazines. Sid becomes obsessed with fishing, acquires a rod and reel, and practices fly fishing while in prison, with no bodies of water in sight.

When he gets out, Sid declines to participate in the Witness Protection Program, and he knows that returning to New Jersey is a death sentence, so he finds an isolated cabin on the Delaware River to indulge his new passion for fishing. The residents of the town of Hellbender Eddy are even more passionate about fishing than Sid; the second passion, at least for some of them, is video sex.

A hit man has been sent to kill Sid; he gets run over by a car before the mission is completed. Sid volunteers to dispose of the body, not knowing that the whole incident has been accidentally recorded on videotape. It gets confused with a homemade sex video which gets accidentally dropped off at the local video store, necessitating a late-night break-in.

Fans of the TV show The Sopranos will enjoy this book. The author does a fine job with the characters, especially Sid, making him into more than the stereotypical gangster. This is a first-rate piece of writing that even has some humorous moments, and is well worth reading.