
A Bomb Built in Hell
Wesley's Story
Andrew Vachss(Author)
Vintage Books (Publisher)
Published on 13. November 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-307-95085-7 (ISBN)
Description
Before Burke, Andrew Vachss created Wesley, the ultimate ice-man. A Bomb Built in Hell is Wesley's story.
While doing time for manslaughter, Wesley meets prison boss Carmine Trentoni, an Old School gangster who no longer believes in the blood-oath he took years ago. Carmine's triple life sentence hasn't cut him off from all his outside sources-he has waited with the patience of stone for someone capable of absorbing his knowledge . . . and carrying out his sworn vengeance. Wesley emerges from prison as the perfect hit man: calculating, deadly, and ice-cold. He follows Carmine's instructions: locate "the last of us," one "Mr. Petraglia," then assassinate a Chinatown gang boss and a Mafia chief-both had overstepped their bounds. But then Wesley finds his own mission: As he begins to see the root of all he has learned to hate, he and a youth just out of reform school, known only as The Kid, begin to take out political targets. In a final burst of understanding, Wesley decides to leave The Kid behind. But not before he writes his own suicide note . . . in dynamite.
While doing time for manslaughter, Wesley meets prison boss Carmine Trentoni, an Old School gangster who no longer believes in the blood-oath he took years ago. Carmine's triple life sentence hasn't cut him off from all his outside sources-he has waited with the patience of stone for someone capable of absorbing his knowledge . . . and carrying out his sworn vengeance. Wesley emerges from prison as the perfect hit man: calculating, deadly, and ice-cold. He follows Carmine's instructions: locate "the last of us," one "Mr. Petraglia," then assassinate a Chinatown gang boss and a Mafia chief-both had overstepped their bounds. But then Wesley finds his own mission: As he begins to see the root of all he has learned to hate, he and a youth just out of reform school, known only as The Kid, begin to take out political targets. In a final burst of understanding, Wesley decides to leave The Kid behind. But not before he writes his own suicide note . . . in dynamite.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Random House USA Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 204 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
265 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-307-95085-7 (9780307950857)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2012
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
€6.49
Available for download
Person
Andrew Vachss’s many books include the Burke novels and two previous collections of short stories. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times, among other publications. He died in 2021.