Fourth-Generation San Francisco Restaurateur Draws on Sicilian Family History for New Historical Crime Novel

THROUGH BLOOD AND FOG by Michael Sabella

Michael Sabella draws on his Sicilian family heritage for a historical crime novel exploring immigration, sacrifice, loyalty, corruption, and identity.

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, September 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Michael Sabella transports readers from Sicily in 1889 to the turbulent waterfront of 1890s San Francisco in THROUGH BLOOD AND FOG, a historical crime novel about immigration, family, corruption, and the making of power.

Three years after Luca Santoro's father disappears at sea, Luca discovers that his father did not simply vanish. A concealed ledger connects murder, stolen land, corrupt officials, and a secret brotherhood to money crossing the Atlantic, forcing Luca from Sicily with an iron key, a family debt, and a dangerous warning.

Arriving in San Francisco, Luca enters a waterfront shaped by competing criminal networks, crooked policemen, ambitious politicians, immigrant communities, and men willing to use violence to protect their interests. Beginning as a fisherman and laborer, he learns that survival requires understanding more than the tides.

THROUGH BLOOD AND FOG follows Luca as he learns to read people, money, loyalties, and the records capable of exposing powerful figures. As the truth surrounding his father draws closer, revenge competes with family and Luca's desire to build something lasting.

Sabella's inspiration comes from his own family history. His great-grandfather arrived in San Francisco from Sicily in 1887 and worked as a fisherman on San Francisco Bay. Later generations built a life in the restaurant business, a tradition Sabella joined as the fourth generation. Although THROUGH BLOOD AND FOG is not a literal account of his family, that history inspired his interest in immigrants who arrived with little and built communities while confronting poverty, prejudice, corruption, loyalty, and ambition in a rapidly changing city.

Beneath its crime and violence, the novel focuses on inheritance, sacrifice, and the difficult choices made between generations. As Luca moves closer to understanding the truth about his father, long-held assumptions about his family and his past begin to shift, forcing him to reconsider what has been passed down to him and what he will choose to carry forward.

Sabella emphasizes that the criminal world surrounding Luca is not meant to glorify violence, but to create the setting for a human story about survival, identity, responsibility, and family.

Michael Sabella wrote THROUGH BLOOD AND FOG for readers who may recognize echoes of their own family histories in Luca's journey. The novel reflects on immigration as more than arriving in a new country, examining what people leave behind, what they endure, and what they hope to create for those who follow. Through Luca's struggle, Sabella explores the inheritance of names, traditions, secrets, expectations, and sacrifices across generations. At its heart, the novel asks what individuals owe the past and what they choose to carry forward while building a future of their own.

The book is available at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HFTLW3GQ

For review copies, interview requests, or additional information, please contact:

Michael Sabella
BrightKey PR
ThroughBloodandFog@gmail.com