Presiding over Shadows

From Chaos to Order in the Court

De: Michael Randazzo

Narrado por: Damian Miller

I am Judge Michael Randazzo, but by all odds, I never should have been. My story begins in a pop-up trailer—no electricity, no running water—born to parents who dropped out of high school and carried the weight of our family’s excommunication from the Sicilian Mafia. I came into the world premature, delivered by a veterinarian, clinging to life while doctors warned I’d never catch up. Crime and tragedy run through my bloodline: moonshining, sexual abuse, attempted manslaughter. My father struck deals with the Mexican Cartel and still battles opioid addiction. Every member of my family has been both perpetrator and victim. Yet, somewhere between generational sin and the chance to start over, I clawed my way through law school.

Today, I serve as one of Missouri’s youngest Presiding Circuit Judges. This memoir is my confession and my exorcism. It’s about the curse of inherited character flaws, the desperate hope to shield my children from them, and the heavy truth that even heroes—like my beloved Grandpa Nick—are deeply flawed. Each chapter opens a new door: from Grandpa Nick wrestling a grizzly bear to the darkest corners of family trauma, violence, and betrayal. What does it take to rise above a legacy of darkness? How do you reconcile love for those who did unspeakable things? My life is proof that the past shapes us—but it doesn’t have to define us.

©2025 Michael Randazzo (P)2025 WildBlue Press

Honesty

Enjoyed the honesty of dealing with family backgrounds and that ones doesn’t have to be a slave to it!

Best book I’ve read in years

It’s been two days since I finished the book. That’s how long it’s taken me to find words for how it made me feel. There are stories in this book that I’m familiar with, having viewed them from an outside perspective. There are characters that I loved like they were my own family because, in this case, they were. This book held me captive from the first page to the last. The early stories are equal parts fascinating and heartbreaking. At about the halfway point, the story becomes familiar in a way that I’ve never experienced before. As readers, we search everywhere for the books we can relate to and those books have the greatest impact on us. I’ve never related to a book in the same way that I could relate to this one. When you spoke about Grandpa Nick or Uncle Sam, I could hear their voices saying the words. That is a testament to, not only how well written it is, but how much heart was poured into it. I don’t know what else to say. I absolutely loved this book, from start to finish. I’ve read several great books. None of them have made me feel what I felt while reading this one. Well done, Mike. Beautifully done.