Authorpreneur Dashboard – Antonio Commisso
Silent Partner
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
A murder mystery that is woven through one man’s struggle to find his way. Frank D’Antonio wants to make his own mark in life without his name as help. However, his father’s death forces him to join his brothers to save the family business. After twelve years of dedicated work, his brothers conspire to sell out. Now he is confused, angry, and totally unsure of his future. He moves away to escape for a while and changes his name. Under this new identity he takes an average job in a hotel once owned by his family and starts a new life.
Book Bubbles from Silent Partner
The Union and the Politicians
"Some hotel owners paid off the police to go to the scene and use their authority to discourage pickets by harassment and provocation" Every four years there is an exciting charade that gets played right before our very eyes. There is so much excitement in the air just before a US Presidential election. In my opinion there are two types of voters in this country. They are the sheep and the shepherds. The sheep follow blindly along listening to the news, the debates and reading the headlines. The shepherds are pulling all of the strings behind the scenes to shape the future of America and 'fix' the election so that the 'right' candidate gets elected. I have been in the hospitality business my entire life. What I was exposed to in Miami in 1972 and Naples in 1996 was amazing. It's interesting what people might say in front of you when they think you are just a low level member of the hotel staff.
No Penny, Don't tell them yet.
Check out my new interview featured on MalcolmOutLoud.tv http://bit.ly/acoutloud Find out why Frank D'Antonio and James Bond have so much in common. “Bond always mistrusted short men. They grew up from childhood with an inferiority complex. All their lives they would strive to be big - bigger than the others who had teased them as a child. Napoleon had been short, and Hitler. It was the short men that caused all the trouble in the world.” ― Ian Fleming
Looking Back
You know, looking back at my earlier years I often wonder what people must of thought of me and my family. All I can hope is that I'm remembered for being a honest, caring businessman, a manager who put his family first, his employees second and his customers above all. It is a solid business formula that always pays the bills. It's a circle of respect that continues to pay round and round.
Back Room Politics
I've been in the hospitality business my whole life. I consider myself a very lucky man to have seen the things I've seen and heard the things I've heard. It's amazing what people will say and do out of weakness, when they are sitting at a bar, 'out of town' on business. They are usually drowning away their sorrows and loneliness in the bottom of an empty glass. In a way, I become their 'Silent Partner' for just one night. We talk about their problems. I offer them suggestions and solutions, then they stammer off to bed or the next barstool, or sometimes the next city. For them it was a comforting couple of hours to get a few things off their chest. For me, it's just another day on the job.
Two lives blending into one.
In chapter six Frank D'Antonio starts to settle into his new life as minimum wage 'on call' bartender. His life as a high powered real estate mogul has started to fade away. Frank is starting to recognize the similarities between his past and now his future. It's all about the hospitality and making people feel special. Whether he was closing a $5 million dollar real estate deal or hustling an extra $5 tip, it all came down to the same thing. He was always very good at making people feel important. When you give people respect and you show a genuine interest in helping them with their problems, they will almost always give you everything they've got. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
Drugs, Booze and Money | Bartending
I have been a bartender for many years now, before that I owned my own restaurant. Over time, if you do your job right you become a fly on the wall. You become the guy that people open up to when they are at their worst. They tell you things they wouldn't even tell their closest confidant. For many years I have been a Silent Partner, to men and women who have spent their weakest hours, drowning away their sorrows. Just looking for someone to casually chat with. Someone they thought would never remember a single word.
The sun, the fun and the elite...Miami, FL
I've always looked up to my father. Bad things shouldn't happen to good men like him. They ruled it an accident. A case of mistaken identity. My brothers and I were shocked by everything. We buried ourselves in his work. Then one day they threw me a sucker punch. The business had been sold. I was betrayed, confused. So I headed south to clear my head and started looking for answers. What I found out about my past, my family, and the death of my father would change my life forever!
Political Scandal
When writing my book I knew there would need to be some excitement. It would need a murder, a love story or even a nice political scandal to spice things up. My story, Silent Partner has all three. It is a story of a man who has lost his way in life and decides to go somewhere new to start over. A place where no one knows him, or his name. A place where he can disappear for a while. Download Silent Partner at http://www.acommisso.com and discover the secret lives of James Anthony and Frank D'Antonio.
An Untimely Death
We all eventually lose our parents. It is a part of life that you are never really prepared for. But when it happens unexpectedly it seems to hurt so much more. They ruled it as a homicide, Gang Violence. There was a lot of it back then. Drug gangs, and territory disputes. I guess you can never really predict how a person will grieve their loss and eventually heal the pain that is left behind. We all find different ways to heal. Some wounds though are just too deep, especially when there is no remedy or justice to account for the tragedy.
A sucker punch...
Many of you have been following along from a distance. In my opinion, from too far back. This part of my book explores some very deep emotions for me. As we know, authors generally draw from their own experiences in life. What some of you may not know, is that there is a piece of me and my family history buried deep into this crime novel. I have written it to honor my father, to honor my family, and to claim my name. There are many people who have come before me. There will be many more that share my name for years to come. However, we all have the same thing in common. We are all bound together by the soil and sea of a small village in southern Italy.
Should I give my real name?
I have always been taught that your name means everything. My father made sure that we all knew how important your reputation was in life. He used to say your worth is measured by your word, and your word is a reflection of who you are. In the restaurant business we were always being approached by people trying to get a deal, or make a deal. Everyone wants something for free. In order to keep food on the tables of my people I had to make hard decisions. For Frank D'Antonio, the hardest decision he had to make was to abandon his name in order to start a new life.
Patience, Integrity, Discipline, Loyalty
I have always been taught that there a virtues in business that are non-negotiable. You see, there are a lot of ways to make a quick buck. Anyone can take the easy route and beg, borrow, cheat and steal. If you are really lucky, you may even get a chance every now and then to break the law. Well, that's not the way I was taught to do things. To do it right, is to do it the hard way. But in the end you will have displayed patience established integrity learned discipline and earned the loyalty of your customers. There is nothing more valuable in business then these virtues.
His heart just gave out...
In a matter of hours the news of my father's death had spread throughout the entire community. Although I knew my father was an influential man. I had no idea the impact he made on so many lives. It was an honor to be his son and this story is a tribute to the type of life he led.
Politics and Corruption Go Hand in Hand
Frank is starting to settle into to his new life. Although, he is still not ready to give up room service. A simple newspaper article grabs his attention. Because of his family's background up in the city he knows all to well how politics and business can sometimes get complicated.
Nowhere to go and no particular time to be there.
Fighting off anger, despair, and desperation, Frank returns to Miami. But this time it's different. No first class, no nightclubs and no fast cars. No, this time Frank has returned to Miami to disappear.
A new beginning...
Frank had put everything into his father's business to keep it alive after his tragic death. Now he had lost it all. On this cold, winter day he is faced with a new struggle. Who is he, who was he, and who will Frank become with an absolute clean slate in front of him?
I'm all in...
In chapter two Frank D'Antonio realizes how much his world has been flipped upside down. He decides to cash in his chips and try his luck at another table.
How it all begins...
Silent Partner by Antonio Commisso is a mystery, crime novel that follows it's main character Frank D'Antonio through a difficult stage in his life where he is forced into his family business to pick up the pieces after his father is murder in a case of 'mistaken identity'. As this story unfolds Frank will learn things about his life, and his family that will leave him in turmoil and force him to relocate to Florida to start a new life.
