Blame the Dead
In BLAME THE DEAD Ruggero takes us to Sicily, 1943, where he tells the story of Eddie Harkins, former Philadelphia beat cop turned Military Police lieutenant, who reluctantly finds himself first at the scene of a murder at the US Army’s 11th Field Hospital. There the nurses contend with heat, dirt, short-handed staffs, the threat of German counterattack, an ever-present flood of horribly wounded GIs, and the threat of assault by one of their own. As a former soldier himself, Ruggero is always intrigued by stories of soldiers, especially when they confront moral dilemmas. He is also uniquely qualified to write about this time period, conducting over 150 interviews with veterans and doing research in Sicily, where his family emigrated from in the early 20 th century. In fact, the protagonist, Eddie Harkins, is named after Ruggero’s own maternal great-grandfather. With BLAME THE DEAD , Ruggero explores ...