Author: Michael V. Maddaloni

ISBN:  1-4259-0861-6

Michael Maddaloni writes the fictional story of Joe DeFalco from early childhood to manhood. Joe is an altar boy in the Catholic Church, enlists in the Marine Corps, and then he's off to college. Joe ends up as a Secret Service Agent. 

Joe De Falco was born in a working-class neighborhood of Philadelphia -- a street-smart Italian-American boy. His father dies (while using the latrine) during World War II, leaving Joe to grow up in his father's parents' home, along with his mother and two night-and-day uncles, Tony and Sal. Tony served in the military prior to becoming a schoolteacher. He was an honest, hard-working man. Sal was just the opposite -- cutting corners and surrounding himself with insalubrious but powerful acquaintances. Joe was affected by the influences of his family members, his schooling, and his stint in the Marines. Along Joe's journey, he meets many people -- most of them shady, manipulative, and downright cruel.

Joe eventually ends up in the Secret Service, where he's good at catching check-forgers and counterfeiters. He also has the privilege of protecting two U. S. Presidents. Retirement from the SS allows him to enter the corporate security business, where he continues to observe corruption. 

The people that should go to jail don't; the people that shouldn't go to jail do. Just like Joe's uncles -- Sal, the unscrupulous man with offensive behavior, should have gone to prison for some of the things he did; Tony, the honest, tax-paying citizen does go to jail.  Nothing makes sense -- it's not on the level. I could relate because the book reminds me of what the real world is like.

Many times Joe is confronted with the differences between facade and actuality -- where paying attention, saying the right thing, and impressing the right people is the way to get ahead. Throughout the novel, tricks are exposed which are commonly used by people, organizations, businesses and institutions to meet or exceed quotas, guarantee job security, and basically cheat.  Never was a book so well written. It sheds light on the powerful top executives and the manipulation they exercise to get ahead. It's so real that you'll think it's a nonfiction book.

Maddaloni draws from his experiences as a Marine, Secret Service agent and as an executive with a pharmaceutical company. Not On The Level is an appreciated time out from the usual detective books found on the shelves in the bookstores.

Michael Maddaloni speaks publicly on subjects such as how women can protect themselves against attackers, tips to reduce the risk of an attack, characteristics of an abuser, the effects of abuse on children, and how we, as a society, can end the domestic violence epidemic.

The above review was contributed by: Sue Vogan, Writer & Author of NCO-No Compassion Observed: To read more of Sue's reviews Click Here