Tom Bonk, college student and casual piano player, never wanted his old man's bar. He wanted an education, a high-paying career, and out of his lower-class Philadelphia neighborhood. Then his brother John, a sergeant in the Marine Corps, is killed in Iraq. His father goes on a two-week bender, leaving Tom the one thing he never wanted, a chance to run the family bar. Seduced by the financial success of his early attempts, he plunges in head first, thinking that he can outsmart the Russian Mob, the cops, a clever local girl, and his own ambition. Along the way, Tom faces realities he previously denied. He earns a degree in the ways of the world ... where the grading scale includes life and death ... where some things are important and others simply aren't worth a damn. PRAISE FOR BONK'S BAR /// "Putkowski brings the gritty, gristly northeast Philadelphia netherworld into delightfully vivid life like no author since roman noir grandmaster David Goodis. In less than 300 action-packed pages ... alternately heart-warming and bone-chilling ... Bonk's Bar shows that there's more to Philadelphia than just cheese steaks and the Rocky franchise." (Peter Chomko, The Temple News) /// "The nuances of the nightlife game seep through every chapter. Putkowski's depictions of the internal struggles and rewards of the bar business, make Bonk's Bar a great read for not only bar owners -- who will recognize every character along the way -- but for anyone who wants to know just how personally affecting this roller coaster of a profession can be." (Chris Ytuarte, Editor-in-Chief, Bar Business Magazine) /// "For those who don't know that graft, corruption, and violence are as American as apple pie and the neighborhood bar, this book will be an awakening. Those who understand such things will feel right at home at Bonk's Bar." (Con Lehane, Author of the Bartender Brian McNulty Mysteries)

Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 1 members.