The Buzz Boys

Vincenzo Pezza is an eighty-three-year-old man living in Chicago, living out his twilight years, estranged from his family, his years of abuse shattering any familial cohesion. A visit from his long-suffering son, Marco, results in a murder-suicide. Who could’ve predicted this violent outcome? Robert Mazzara, Marco’s longtime friend, has become all but numb to the tragedies that have unfolded in his life. Marco’s demise is the latest in a string of untimely deaths that have left Robert in a tailspin. Robert grew up in the Chicago suburbs, where he ran with a group of boys who were from broken homes, but formed their own family where loyalty bonded them.

Robert grew up in the Chicago suburbs, where he ran with a group of boys who were familiar with abuse but formed their own family where loyalty bonded them. Robert, Marco, Petey, Billy, and Johnny called themselves The Buzz Boys. Their clique was formed in their early school years. Billy Kozar possessed street smarts and was admired for his athletics, Johnny was book-smart, but his knowledge came in handy when Robert fought a Goliath-like bully. Petey is the smart aleck who just wants to fit in, Marco serves as an altar boy with Robert, but his antics are capable of getting both excommunicated from the church. Their collective cross to bear is the abuse that they bear witness to, directly and indirectly.

Four of the boys would bear the brunt of their Fathers’ abuse, while one would witness his Mother selling herself to make ends meet. The stalwart quality of the boys is exemplified when they stick up for one member of their group and thrash an abusive stepfather in retaliation for unspeakable actions. As the boys became men, their career paths were diverse….Lawyer, Doctor, Detective, Construction….Yet the burden of their dysfunctional youth lay a claim on their hearts that no one could lift. The weapons of self-destruction were alcohol and drugs. As the years came and went, the promise of the future would be shattered by the demise of more than a few of the Buzz Boys.

The Buzz Boys is an emotional gauntlet from start to finish, the reader navigating the course of these five men from youth to middle age where laughter is followed by tears, happiness to melancholy. Author Edward Izzi writes a touching novel about the fragility of youth, the importance of friendship, the horrors of child abuse, but also about the power of forgiveness. The past is not easy to forget, but this book ponders the possibility of making peace with it and how then one can learn to live. A+