HOW TO KILL A PRESIDENT: COLT THE SMOKING GUN in Bloomington, MN

"My inspiration for this book was my friend Peter Barcia, who always encouraged me to push myself harder, tackle all obstacles, and not be bound by convention. He was a teenage friend of mine who died far too early in life at just 25 years old. He was the first of two sons whose deaths preceded their parents, leaving their father, Peter, and mother, Delores, heartbroken. Pete's father, Peter Barcia Jr., was a part-time actor and a hardworking, honest family man whom I had fondly admired for the years I had known him. The plot line came from some interesting stories my Aunt Barbara Colt has passed down to me about her father and her uncle, including Grandpop going to school with and later working for Bugsy Siegel, then her grandfather John Ryan having close ties with the Longshoremen's union, and a few facts about my Uncle Jackie working for Fred Trump at the Tysen apartments on Staten Island. Add quite a few facts about the true-life successes of the Colt family members at numerous Northeast locations, including NYC. Tossing in the innumerable interesting places my chosen occupation has led me to over the years, several coincidences I discovered while researching my heritage, a couple of real-life miracles experiences by my close family members, and a few of the crazy things young boys in the city do for fun and laughs. Wrap it up with a bit of deception, as the Colt men have been famously known for, and here you have it. My ultimate goal was to leave a record that I was here; this book was meant solely for entertainment; my father wrote several short mafia stories later in life when he was no longer driving cabs or drinking later in life. I decided to see if I couldn't do the same and make something for my own family to be proud of and bring to light the accomplishments of the Colt's here in the United States. I also must state while almost all of the names used in the book are factual, numerous events were fabricated for plot justification."