Clear Blue Sky: A Novel [Hardcover]

F. P. Lione (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

It's the beginning of a gorgeous September in the City that Never Sleeps. Summer may be officially over, but Labor Day Weekend means ethnic festivals and dancing the streets and lots of overtime for police officer Tony Cavalucci. When crowd control gets unusually dangerous, Tony starts to wonder why he even does this kind of work. And going home doesn't bring him any more respect. His neurotic and dramatic family disapproves of both Tony's fiancé and his new-found faith. All this foreshadows what's about to come to the people of New York on September 11, 2001. Normal day-to-day events and fantastic weather lead up to the most difficult day in the city's history. Now Tony finds himself in brand new territory. As he fights to survive and help others survive as well, Tony learns all over what faith means, what family means, and what life itself means. The author of this highly compelling novel is an ex-cop who survived the World Trade Center rescue efforts. Consequently, the storytelling throughout the book rings with authenticity. All of this makes for a fast-paced and deeply moving page-turner that is at times funny, at times horrible, and always full of humanity, compassion, and the presence of God. The Liones offer their very best work in Clear Blue Sky.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

It's the beginning of a gorgeous September in The City That Never Sleeps. Summer may be officially over, but Labor Day Weekend means ethnic festivals and dancing in the streets and lots of overtime for police officer Tony Cavalucci. When crowd control gets unusually dangerous, Tony starts to wonder why he even does this kind of work. And going home doesn't bring him any more respect. His neurotic and dramatic family disapproves of both Tony's fiancée and the positive changes in his life. But Tuesday is coming, and Tony hasn't seen anything yet. On September 11, Tony finds himself in brand-new territory. As he fights to survive and help others survive as well, he learns again what family means, what faith means, and what life itself means. This fast-paced and deeply moving page-turner is at times funny, at times horrible, and always full of humanity, compassion, and the presence of God.

From the Back Cover

I drove up 33rd Street and made a left onto 5th. I drove two blocks south and parked outside the bagel store, smelling the bagels before we got in the door. "Are the everythings hot?" I asked the guy behind the counter. "They just came out ten minutes ago." "Great," I said. "Give me an everything with butter and a regular coffee." Joe was getting an egg sandwich, so I went outside with my coffee. I pulled back the plastic tab on the Styrofoam cup to blow on the coffee. Something caught the corner of my eye, and I looked straight down 5th Avenue and saw smoke coming from one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Revell (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800718860
• ISBN-13: 978-0800718862
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,244,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...reveals the heart and soul of a cop, October 5, 2007

By 

C.J. Darlington "Author of Thicker Than Blood... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clear Blue Sky: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've said before that reading an F.P. Lione novel is like watching an un-cut taping of COPS, only you follow the cops home. But in a way that's doing their writing a disservice. A Lione novel is about much more than the domestic disputes, car chases, and gun wielding criminals often found on the tv show. That isn't to say these types of situations don't make it into the pages. They do. But a Lione novel digs deeper than that. By following police officer Tony Cavalucci on and off duty, the Lione's reveal the heart and soul of a cop. Tony's story has already filled three Midtown Blue novels (The Deuce, The Crossroads & Skells), and his saga continues in Clear Blue Sky, the unofficial 4th book.

This time around Tony's closer to marrying his fiance Michelle, and his Italian family continues to voice their objections to the union. Michelle isn't Italian or Catholic, two strikes against her. She had her young son Stevie out of wedlock and there's no sign of the father. Strike three. With the Cavalucci family you're guilty until proven innocent, and even then if you get on their bad side they'll find some way to convict you. Their crazy yet realistic dynamics provide just as much drama as the worst nights on Tony's midnight tour, and it's starting to wear on him. He finds himself torn between loyalty to his blood-family and the family he's come to love as his own. He doesn't want to lose either of them, but sooner or later he's going to have to make a choice.

Not to mention that he and God haven't been on the best of terms lately. Since Tony became a Christian his life has actually gotten harder. Not only does he have to face the temptation to hit the bottle again, but he's facing moral choices right and left. Case in point: he promised to throw his brother Vinny a bachelor party. Vinny wants it wild, like old times. Tony struggles with letting his brother down and standing behind his new-found principles, and Michelle. If it weren't for his Christian partner, Officer Joe Fiore, Tony would probably slip back into his old ways as easily as he slips on his gun belt.

It's an incredibly realistic portrayal of one man's struggle to live out his faith. Being a cop and a Christian are hard enough. Being an Italian cop with a dysfunctional family is harder. How can Tony keep the faith without losing his family?

Like the books before it, Clear Blue Sky is not a novel with a clear plot. But it will keep you riveted. There's something extremely compelling in the Lione's style. Their details are vivid and specific, adding to the authenticity. Like the others in the Midtown Blue series as you read Clear Blue Sky you really do feel like you're tagging along in the back seat of Tony's patrol car as he faces the sad, the serious, and the outrageous on his beat. You'll walk away from the novel with a new appreciation for police officers.

This novel is being marketed as a stand-alone about the 9/11 tragedy, which could be slightly misleading. The actual disaster doesn't occur until well into the story. I had expected to read more about Tony and Joe's experiences on that day. But holding off until the end was a natural and effective way to build tension. You know the Twin Towers are coming down, and you look for it on every page. Brings home the point that September 11th was a normal autumn day like any other.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a cop in one of the world's busiest cities, look no further. Pick up any Lione novel and feast on the experience. Clear Blue Sky is no exception. But in this one you'll come away with new insights on what really happened in New York City that fateful September day in 2001--the day the sky was clear and blue.

--Reviewed by C.J. Darlington for TitleTrakk

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for Me, August 26, 2011

By 

SanDiegoJesse - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Clear Blue Sky (Kindle Edition)

This is a well-written book, but I was 30 percent into it and still awaiting a plot to develop. It felt more like a biography of a cop, which the author must have been. Very authentic and true to life. However, now having read other reviews, I see that this is part of a series and that it fits into the continuum of Tony's adventures. I don't think this does well as a stand-alone. It just feels like a bunch of people are introduced, none of whom I care about. And they are doing this and that - parade patrol, almost-caught burglars, etc. Also, how many times do I have to read about Tony going to church, praying, or other references to let me know that he "walks with God." I get it already.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glimpse into What Happened on Sept. 11th, September 14, 2008

By 

Nora A. Stlaurent "TBCN Founder" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Clear Blue Sky: A Novel (Hardcover)

Clear Blue Sky is a glimpse into a day in the life of street cops starting on September 2nd leading up to the events of September 11, 2001.

"Greater Love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends." This is what firefighters, policeman and other rescue works gave on that fateful day. The main character Tony Cavalucci is a macho Italian who has been a patrol policeman in New York for the past 11 years. Tony's father had 22 years on the force before that. Tony's precinct is Midtown, Manhattan, in a brick building off 9th Avenue. His partners name is Joe, another macho Italian man who is a born again Christian.

Anyone remember the TV show NYPD BLUE? That show was kind of a day in the life of real policeman on the job and off in their personal lives. September 2nd Tony & Joe volunteer to get some overtime on Labor Day patrolling for a parade heading downtown. The events are similar to the ones I remember NYPD BLUE show to be.

Tony Cavalucci is a new Christian and his Italian family is not so happy about his decision to follow Jesus. Tony is engaged and his brother Vinny wants to give him a bachelor party that will include lots of drinking and prostitutes. Tony and his bride to be don't want any part of this party. Vinny and the rest of the family think that there is something wrong with Tony when he doesn't embrace the bachelor party with open arms. His family and brother think he's no fun anymore. He doesn't want to drink with them, and he doesn't want to have bachelor parties. What's up? The family thinks it must be his fiancé Michelle. Tony's family hopes he hasn't taken this Jesus stuff serious. They think Tony will come around to his old ways soon it will just take a little manipulating by the family to control the situation.

Tony struggles to honor his family and follow Jesus. On an early morning fishing trip with family and a few friends Tony explains why it's ok sometimes to miss church. "If you are only going to church because you're afraid God's gonna punch you, you're going for the wrong reasons anyway. I don't like to miss church and I don't do it very often. But the Lord likes fishing, and He'll be there with us!" I like how he said that.

Tony says to himself "I took Joes' advice (about praying) but I found I couldn't focus trying to pray, drive and keep my eye on the cab at the same time. Joe seemed to be fine with it, so I left the praying to him."

I get a kick out of Tony sharing his struggle as he says "Honestly - Okay - I didn't' say crap, I said the "S" word and was feeling guilty about it. Then I thought about what Joe says, that God forgives me if I ask Him to, and I felt confused that I cursed and now I expected God to forgive me when I did something wrong. ; Then I got aggravated that I had all this crap in my head when I was trying to cuff this guy and was glad when Rooney jumped out of the car and ran over to help me." It's funny and gut honest. I can see this macho Italian man doing this on the streets of New York.

As I read about Tony and Joe and their lives as policemen I kept wondering when September 11 events would happen as I turn the next page. These patrol men are not search and rescue personnel. They are street policemen walking their beat when tragedy strikes. No one was quite sure of what happened when the first plane hit (like the rest of us). I'm sure everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing on that day when that first tower got hit. The first mission for the patrol cops was to keep some kind of order on the streets by keeping the traffic and people moving away from the towers. No one was sure of what would happen next. They wanted everyone out of the city and out of danger.

I know that I could not fully grasp what was happening on the streets of New York after that first plane went into the building and then the second when I watched the video clip on TV over and over that day. F.P. Lione interviewed policemen that actually lived thru this. They describe what happened through not only what they saw, but what they heard, smelled, touched and felt physically and emotionally. It was really enlightening to read the description.

TONY Cavalucci actually starts to pray for each person that jumped from the building. He says "I remembered what Joe said about going ino God's thrown room, and I asked God if I could come in and talk to him. I felt inside he told me yes, to come in and pray for these people."

I liked how this book showed Tony and Joe's faith in action on the streets of New York; it's funny, sincere and edgy. It is a heavy subject that the authors handled really well. I know this book will be hard for some to read (because of the subject matter) but I really recommend it.

Nora St. Laurent - Book Club Servant Leader
www.psalm516.blogspot.com