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Operation Underworld, published in 2009, is a novel written by author Paddy Kelly. The title is taken from the real life operation instituted by the U.S. Navy in February 1942 following the false alert that German saboteurs had invaded the New York City waterfront in preparation for a possible invasion. The story is set five weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbour when America is poorly equipped to enter a world conflict. The story revolves around Mike 'Doc' McKeowen, a New York private investigator, Commander Charles Haffenden, a naval intelligence operative and Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, the then head of the New York Mafia. The World War Two episode was a common story known to New York area Italian-Americans for many years but one that had never been novelized or much written about. The characters are involved with murder, a large sum of counterfeit currency and the mis-conception that a large scale invasion of Nazi saboteurs is underway. ==Plot== The first novel in the Building of Empire series, Operation Underworld is set in the Winter of 1942 Manhattan, New York and utilizes the burning of the French luxury liner Normandie as an inciting incident. The story features the introduction of Mike 'Doc' McKeowen, a former NYPD patrolman turned P.I. and his introduction is by way of one of the first transcontinental flights from Florida to New York. It is only six weeks since the United States has joined the fight. Only 30 days into it and the U.S. Navy has lost nearly 100 merchant and fighting ships to the German Wolf Packs, the retooling of Her factories is estimated to take at least a year, and even before that is completed, the men who work in those factories must become Marines, sailors and soldiers. Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano, who was framed by the New York City District Attorney, Thomas E. Dewey, for pandering, (prostitution), and then given a sentence five times in excess of what was called for by law is in maximum security prison in Upstate New York nicknamed 'Little Siberia'. Dewey who has his eye on the governorship as a stepping stone to the White House, has dedicated every waking hour to chasing gangsters and touts the fact that he has finally 'cut the head off the snake'. Through a scheme concocted by a prominent Mafiosa, Alberto Anastasia, Naval Intelligence is duped into believing there is a widespread Nazi threat by saboteurs along the New City waterfront. This allows Luciano's men to regain control of the NYC/NJ waterfront and after the war, establish what is now referred to as the International Drug Cartel. One afternoon a fire mysteriously breaks out on the promenade deck of the T.L.S. Normandie, the largest and fastest luxury liner of its time. The massive vessel is undergoing a refit to become the troop carrier U.S.S. Lafayette. The fire rapidly spreads and causes the ship to capsize in her berth. Wide spread panic along the Eastern Seaboard ensues as the press runs stories of German saboteurs at work in New York Harbor. We meet Doc McKeowen in flight as he is returning from Miami where he has unsuccessfully tried to convince his estranged wife to return to New York. Doc has never been outside of NYC and is terrified of flying. To cope with his aviophobia he stays drunk during the flight which causes some friction with the pretty Cuban girl sitting next to him. As the Pan Am flight flies over Manhattan the passengers observe smoke emanating from the waterfront, unaware it is the Normandie burning. At ground level chaos ensues as every fire fighting unit in Manhattan is called out to fight the rapidly escalating fire to prevent it spreading to the creosote coated docks. The next morning an emergency meeting of Naval and government intell people is called and, in light of the lack of resources available, it s suggested that they approach the organized crime syndicate right there in the City. A plan is drawn and with the approval of the NYC Police Department's Italian Section, Operation Underworld is set in motion. In a meeting so secret not even the warden knows what's happening, Haffenden, Lansky and Polokoff, Lucky's layer, approach Charlie. After being framed by the New York D. A., and sentenced to 50 years for a crime that warrants 10, while is concurrently fighting deportation to an enemy nation, Italy, where he is already condemned to death, in one of the most ironic decisions of the war, the Federal Government requests "The Boss of Bosses" to join forces with their most secretive of services, Naval Intelligence. In addition, Luciano is told he must remain in prison with no chance for compensation or parole. Lucky agrees on the premise none of the other gangsters know of the arrangement. A short time later Doc accidently sees a District Attorney eating lunch in a restaurant in the Uptown district with Meyer Lansky and Lucky's lawyer, Polokoff, and becomes suspicious. He and Louie follow the Lawyer and the D.A. and enroute Doc meets Nikki in the lobby of the Woolworth Building. She is attracted but rebuffs his advances and after he leaves we Treasury Agent Johnson who grills Nikki on who Doc is. To facilitate the Underworld operation Johnson and his men are given the task of supplying the funds needed. Louie finally inveigles Doc into calling Nikki and they date. On his way home from Nikki's place Doc is accosted by three men in suites. Having been a street cop he makes a good account of himself and from two of the beaten men he confiscates I'D''s and large amounts of cash. The men are Treasury Agents. Meanwhile, the government operation, under the direction of Commander Haffenden but has yielded no results. This worries both the Mafia and Naval intelligence. To allay fears all around an innocent German is abducted, beaten and killed then dumped in the Hudson. Fake photos are passed to Naval Intell and the victim is chalked up as a saboteur scouting landing locations. Everyone is temporarily satisfied. At a late night 'baptism' in Doc's office Harry reveals the money Doc confiscated is phoney. Nikki appears outside the office in tears. An elderly colleague has been found in the bay off the Brooklyn shore. He was the much loved mail clerk at the Woolworth Building. Operation Underworld is escalated and the net is spread wider into New Jersey and out to sea but still yields no results. Doc, now in possession of Haffenden's little black book with the damning information fears for Nikki and Kate after they have been threatened by Johnson's crew and decides to confront him. McKeowen proposes a trade-off, no more threats to Nikki and Johnson gets the book. By Johnson's arrangement they meet in the Hayden Planetarium where Johnson has alerted the NYPD that he is meeting a dangerous spy. Doc evades the arrest and he and Johnson finally face off that night on the Staten Island Ferry where Doc is critically wounded but exposes the counterfeiting scam and kills Johnson. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Underworld (novel)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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