This is a violent slice of noir, set in NY, and involving two childhood friends; Nick and Todd. The story is told largely from their points of view. Nick is the product of a Jewish mother and a Irish father, who was a cop and later became a guard at the World Trade Center - the North 'Tower' of the title, which casts its shadow over Nick's life. Both young men have difficult relationships with their father and come from poor neighbourhoods, finding themselves in minor trouble from their teens and gravitating towards the life of hoodlums. In fact, both end up working for Boyle, who along with his 'main guy' Griffin, run various rackets around the city. When Nick is ordered to commit a crime which he finds almost impossible, the two have to try to come up with a plan to save the situation - and their lives. Told in a sparse style, this is an evocative and tense crime novel, with both men torn by relationships and loyalty. Although violent and, sometimes, quite gory, it has at its core the friendship between two men and the ties that bind them as they try to escape their fate.
