Photo Courtesy of Carlo J. Emanuele
Carlo J. Emanuele
Screenshot
Milwaukee’s Carlo J. Emanuele wasn’t thinking of sequels when he began writing his first novel, The Sins We Inherit (2024). But by the time he finished, he was so invested in his protagonist, Constanino “Cost” Caduto, he knew he had to keep the story going.
“He loves deeply, reacts deeply, and that’s part of what makes his descent so tragic,” Emanuele says of Cost. “I realized pretty early that I didn’t just want to tell the story of how he gained power—I wanted to follow what that power ultimately cost him and the people he loved. That became the foundation for The Cost We Pay.”
In The Sins We Inherit, Cost’s grandfather had just died, leaving behind a profitable enterprise, albeit an illegal one in running the local Mafia. Vultures were already circling before the funeral mass began, and some in the pews were thinking this is Cost’s big chance. He didn’t agree. Regardless of good intentions, it proved hard to escape the sins he inherited.
Cost’s troubles continue in The Cost We Pay, which opens after the shooting of his teenage daughter, Maddy. He finds it hard to accept the news that she might never walk again; the bullet missed her heart by a centimeter but struck her spine. Cost wants nothing more than to make a “safe” life for her and his new fiancé, Maria, but the illusion of safety is shattered.
Cost is emotionally inflammatory, bitter, even lashing out at the ER staff that saved his daughter’s life. He vows that he will “never be powerless again.”
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
With that assertion, The Cost We Pay makes a larger point. Does Emanuele think that much of the violence in our society comes from a sense of powerlessness?
“Absolutely,” he says. “I think fear and powerlessness can drive people toward terrible decisions, especially when they begin to confuse power with safety. That’s really at the heart of Cost. He experiences moments where he feels incapable of protecting the people he loves, so his answer is to accumulate more power and control. But there’s an irony to it: the more powerful he becomes, the more he stands to lose.
“‘Never be powerless again’ sounds like strength, but in Cost’s world it becomes almost a curse.”
Emanuele injects Cost’s family history without digressing from the plot through an unwanted gift, the diary of his grandfather, the local kingpin Tiger Caduto. “Through it, Cost inherits Tiger’s thoughts, lessons and experiences, but the interesting question is whether he actually understands them,” Emanuele explains. “Sometimes he reads Tiger’s words as validation for what he’s doing when they may actually be warnings.
“That became a perfect extension of the larger theme of the series: we don’t just inherit names, families or traditions. We inherit beliefs, fears and sometimes mistakes.”
Darker and More Ambitious
With The Cost We Pay wrapped, Emanuele has already set plans for continuing the Cream City crime saga. “The first book will probably always have a special place in my heart because it was my first novel and it introduced this world and these characters. But The Cost We Pay is darker, more emotional and more ambitious. I felt like I really found my groove as a writer with this one, and I believe it’s the stronger novel. Now the challenge is making the third book better than both of them.”
The Sins We Inherit won the 2025 American Writing Awards for Mystery/Suspense Fiction and the 2025 Literary Titan Gold Medal for Fiction. It was also an American Writing Awards finalist for Best Debut Fiction Novel, a BestThrillers Book Awards finalist, a Chanticleer International Book Awards shortlist selection, a Shelf Unbound Notable Indie, and a 2026 Indies Today runner-up for Suspense. “For my first novel, that kind of recognition was beyond anything I expected when I started writing it,” Emanuele says.
Milwaukee is an essential setting for both novels. “I never wanted it to simply be the backdrop—I wanted it to feel like another character,” Emanuele explains. “These are neighborhoods, streets, restaurants and landmarks people here recognize.
“At the same time, Milwaukee has a history and personality that fits the story: working-class roots, strong ethnic communities, old neighborhoods, wealth sitting alongside grit and a criminal history that a lot of people outside the city don’t know about.”
Emanuele will launch the publication of The Cost We Pay with a 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 signing at a joint with history of its own, Zaffiro’s Pizza, 1724 N. Farwell Ave. Verbosity Bookhouse in Port Washington, 10 a.m.-noon, October 10.
