Sleeper (colloq.): 1. out-of-town hit man who spends the night after a local contract is completed. 2. A juvenile sentenced to serve any period longer than nine months in a state-managed facility.

This is the story of four young boys. Four lifelong friends.
Intelligent, fun-loving, wise beyond their years, they are inseparable.
Their potential is unlimited, but they are content to live within the
closed world of New York City's Hell's Kitchen. And to play as many pranks as they can on the denizens of the street. They never get caught. And they know they never will. 

Until one disastrous summer afternoon.

On that day, what begins as a harmless scheme goes horribly wrong. And the four find themselves facing a year's imprisonment in the Wilkinson Home for Boys. The oldest of them is fifteen, the youngest twelve. What happens to them over the course of that year -- brutal beatings, unimaginable humiliation -- will change their lives forever. 

Years later, one becomes a lawyer. One a reporter. And two have grown up to be murderers, professional hit men. For all of them, the pain and fear of Wilkinson still rages within. Only one thing can erase it. 

Revenge. 

To exact it, they will twist the legal system. Commandeer the courtroom for their agenda. Use the wiles they observed on the streets, the violence they learned at Wilkinson. 

If they get caught this time, they only have one thing left to lose: their lives.

SLEEPERS is the extraordinary true story of four men who take the law into their own hands. It is a searing portrait of a system gone awry and of the people -- some innocent, some not so innocent -- who must suffer the consequences. At the heart of SLEEPERS is a sensational murder trial that ultimately gives devastating, yet exhilarating, proof of street justice and truly defines the meaning of loyalty and love between friends. Told with great humor and compassion, even at its most harrowing, SLEEPERS is an unforgettable reading experience.

BUY THIS BOOK

Return to top

REVIEWS

"A RIVETING STORY DELICIOUS WITH REVENGE...Caracterra mixes horror, laughter, and pathos to show that justice, like love, is in the eye of the beholder."
-- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"A GUT-WRENCHING PIECE OF WORK ... Carcaterra's graphic narrative grips like gunfire in a dark alley."
-- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"In his controversial memoir SLEEPERS, Carcaterra remembers harrowing months in the Wilkinson Home for Boys and the elaborate vengeance he and his friends exacted against the guards.  He tells it all in spare, stylish prose ... SLEEPERS is a thriller, to be sure, but it is equally a wistful hymn to another age."
-- The Washington Post Book World

"COMPELLING."
-- USA Today