Review: L'angelo di Monaco

L'angelo di Monaco by Fabiano Massimi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Surprisingly interesting book. I can't remember why I had this in my wishlist; I believe it was because I saw the author speak at the Taipei book fair and he spoke about Umberto Eco, so I assumed the book would be in an Umberto Eco style. It isn't, but it was still a great murder mystery - historically accurate and tackling the real murder of Geli Raubal, Hitler's niece.


I look forward to reading more by the author.



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Review: Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely excellent. This ends up being a book about a trial for a murder committed in a church at a funeral, so not to much a whodunnit as a whydunnit. In exploring why, this ends up being a story about Harper Lee, Truman Capote, the South and its race relations (and to Kill a Mockingbird), to the attorney Tom Radney (defending the murderer in this case, but having defended the person killed for many others). But in the end, it also becomes a book exploring why Harper Lee never wrote a book about this trial, which she went to investigate, and took copious notes for, just as she had done for Truman Capote in helping him write In Cold Blood.

It's also somewhat infuriating to read about "To set a watchman". She wrote that book prior to "To Kill a Mockingbird", but never wanted it published. However, when her new agent took over from Lee's sister, she decided to publish it, and it is unclear as to whether Lee agreed to this or not.


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Review: No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators

No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators by Steve Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting book. At first I thought the real cases would be a distraction but it turns out they work very well. I also appreciated the 2015 updates.

Still, you get the impression that Colorado is where all the abductions and disappearances take place. I think every example (save the last one, which was in Russia) took place in Colorado.

My favorite line: "There is no statute of limitations on Murder. There's also no statute of limitations on grief"

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Review: A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno

A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno by Joseph Bonanno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An entertaining read which, despite everything, has quite a lot of interesting information. Revealing to hear about Sicily when he was a child, and about the old names (Maranzano, Masseria, Terranova, etc.). Also revealing to hear that Luciano had a "street accent", while it seems like most of the other dons of the period, including the "young turks" like Anastasia and Gambino, had thick italian accents. 

Some obvious lies and possible self-deception going on. I very much doubt he would pick the moment Magliocco died, and the liberal faction took over the commission, to travel the world with his wife. Much more likely he'd try to escape to Canada, as the feds believed he was doing. 

Also, interesting to note how many of these original old-timers ended up telling all. Bonanno and Luciano both wrote autobiographies. Costello was about to. Luciano died on his way to have a movie made of his life. I guess the concept of omertà was pretty ambiguous even back then. Bonanno does try to justify this, but I doubt his definition would hold in the commission. 

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Review: The Monster of Florence

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent book. Not only because it is one of the more clear and concise books (in Italian or English) on the Monster of Florence, but also because of the drama that ensued. For those of us who read Michele Giuttari's fever dream "il Mostro", this is a good vindication of the more ridiculous plot points Giuttari tried to justify in his telling. 

Oddly enough, the author(s) get involved in the case, despite it being decades old. This would naturally give rise to biases, etc., but all of these are taken well into account in the book. 

Highly recommended, both for those who have been familiar with Il mostro di Firenze their whole lives, as well as for those who have never heard of him. 

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Review: Top Hoodlum: Frank Costello, Prime Minister of the Mafia

Top Hoodlum: Frank Costello, Prime Minister of the Mafia by Anthony M. DeStefano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I appreciate the old-time mobsters who prioritized laying low, going legit, and trying to blend into society. So obviously Frank Costello was pretty high on the list (as is Carlo Gambino, so I'm itching for a good biography of him). 

The book itself was actually better than I imagined it would be. The research conducted by the author was extensive, even though there were still some seemingly elementary mistakes (including calling Vito Genovese a Sicilian, when his being Neopolitan was what kept him from being part of the commission initially). 

However, as with any of these old-timers, there is unfortunately not that much about his youth, and the kids he ran with, how he initially met Luciano, Lansky, Adonis, etc. 

Still, probably the best book about him. And a great book for those who see him as quite underrated (he hardly ever appears in movies or in any cultural references, as opposed to Capone or Luciano, etc.)

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Review: Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia

Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia by Jerry Capeci
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this excellent. Part guilty pleasure reading of the mob, part goodfellas, part informative as to how various aspects of organized crime work. 

I should specify that I've read a number of books about the mafia, both American and Italian (hence the guilty pleasure), but much of this was new (or at least I didn't remember it). This is basically an inside look into the Lucchese family throughout the 80s and 90s, as well as a biography of a second generation Italian immigrant turned Acting boss of that family. And obviously it helps that it was written by Jerry Capeci, whose Gangland News I used to read pretty regularly (what ever happened to it?). 

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Review: The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia: Corn Sugar and Blood

The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia: Corn Sugar and Blood by Rick Porrello
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been enjoying reading about the mob in peripheral cities (Milwaukee and Denver/Pueblo), and Cleveland was no exception. The author is a former policeman who is descended from one of the original Cleveland mafia families, so he seemed to have some good insight. 

I was amazed I hadn't heard more about the Cleveland Mafia, to tell the truth, seeing as how Capone, Luciano and others had dealings with it, and that Profaci, Mangano and others were arrested there for what seems like a precursor to the Appalachian conference. 

Regardless, if you're interested in reading about the Cleveland Mafia this will be a great book for precisely that. It could possibly do with an update, since Angelo Lonardo has died and presumably there have been further changes in the Cleveland Mafia. 

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Review: Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series

Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series by David Pietrusza
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this book earlier. This is an excellent biography of Arnold Rothstein, with plenty of background information that had me heading to Wikipedia to look up other characters, places, events, etc. 

It's consintently fascinating how he was able to swindle people, find other swindlers, and swindle other swindlers. 

I liked how, when his partner in the card game decided to run away with the week's profits, he allowed the partner to keep it and run away, acting like he'd been bested, knowing that now he would be the sole owner of the most lucrative card game in the area. 

Betting heavy against his own horse, which was favored to win, was genius. When he saw there was a taker, he knew it must have been a fix (and then it turns out he may have gotten in on the whole thing regardless). 

When the unions were striking against the corporate bosses, AR provided thugs and strongmen to both sides. 

He tipped a cop off when his own employee (Diamond) was smuggling drugs, to get on the cop's good side. Then he placated Diamond by cutting him in on a drug deal with Lowenstein, the 3rd richest man in the world. 

It's also interesting how many mobster nicknames from movies and TV were used by real mobsters: Beansie, Nick the Greek, and there was even another "Lucky Charlie". 

Wilson Mizner's one-liners were a treat: "Be nice to people on the way up because you'll meet the same people on the way down", "Don't talk about yourself; it will be done when you leave.",  When asked by a judge if he was showing contempt to the court he replied "No Your Honor, I'm trying to conceal my contempt". 

All in all, I am deeply impressed with AR, as well as with the author's ability to wade through all the information from the time, given that so much of it was so secretive (he is very open about all the contradictory and odd information, and how he put it together). 

Could someone now please come up with a definitive biography of Carlo Gambino??

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Review: The Life and Times of Frank Balistrieri: The Last, Most Powerful Godfather of Milwaukee

The Life and Times of Frank Balistrieri: The Last, Most Powerful Godfather of Milwaukee by Wayne Clingman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was meticulously researched on the one hand, but seemed to be lacking so much on the other. At one point the author(s) point out that obtaining some documents via the FOI act would take too long so they didn't' do so (granted, this was ancillary to Balistrieri, but could have still helped a bit). Also there seems to be no mention of his sons. Wikipedia says they were quite involved and, in fact, were arrested along with him. There is no mention of any of this in the book. 

It is also interesting that, after Balistrieri's death, his son, then his brother, then his consigliere, all became bosses of the Milwaukee Mafia. Of course, this may be because there weren't that many people in this faction to begin with. Unfortunately none of this was addressed in the book either (I got it from Wikipedia again). 

Also, apparently Frank Balistrieri's daughter is suing her brothers and sister for part of the family fortune (again, not mentioned in the book): https://www.milwaukeemag.com/DaughteroftheDon/

Don't get me wrong. There was plenty of information in this book. Especially interesting were the section on Skimming, Rosenthal's car bombing, and the killing of Sam Cesario.

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Review: Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Selwyn Raab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is pretty much the definitive book about the history of the mafia, so it will hit the spot for any mafia fix you may have, at least as regards the New York families. I do wish it had more about other families in the country, and I wish there were a follow-up edition discussing what has been happening in recent years.

I read some complaints that this was pretty much a summary of law enforcement tactics against organized crime. On the other hand, by definition the Cosa Nostra has been secretive, so the only reliable source is usually what the police can uncover. So I'd much rather have this than rumors and speculation by others. Even with Joe Valachi, we saw how an insider can get many of the facts wrong about things that don't concern him directly. Or the Bonanno soldier who didn't know that Costa Nostra meant Our thing (he thought it meant Friends).

After reading this my respect for Al Capone and John Gotti has plummeted, while that for Chin Gigante and Joseph Massino has increased. It has remained the same for Lucky Luciano and Carlo Gambino.

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Review: King of Sting: The Story of Australian Conman Peter Foster. An Audible Original

King of Sting: The Story of Australian Conman Peter Foster. An Audible Original by Justin Armsden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting. I had never heard of this guy, and he apparently caused a lot of damage and is quite notorious in Australia.

I confess it seemed like some parts were left out. For example, for the first scam mentioned (chapter 1), they know that 60% of the money went here, and 30% went there, but they cannot  get it back? I was just thinking that if I had tried to convince someone to give me money for a non-existing business venture and just put the money in my bank account, the police would find the money trail (as apparently they did here) and then arrest me and return the money. How come they couldn't arrest Peter and return this money in this case?

At other points I felt like something was amiss. As in, some of the people who were duped by him. I am assuming they're not telling the whole story and rather than being duped into a legitimate enterprise, they were duped into thinking they would be scamming others along with Peter, or something along those lines. Also, the judge who gave him the ridiculously low bail amount is definitely on the take.

Regardless, an interesting story. I wonder what will happen from this point on.

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Review: Midnight Son

Midnight Son by James Dommek Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Basically an extended podcast, but pretty interesting. A lot of information about the Inupiaq and their beliefs and way of life, as well as of life in the small villages of Alaska.

Having said that, the story seemed like it could have been stronger. He didn't even speak to Teddy directly, and I'm not sure what the final outing he took accomplished.

Also it is odd that Teddy believes he should be judged by peers from his village, since it was peers from his village that he shot at, so I'm not sure how much better that would be.

Anyway, definitely worth the free price, and worth the time just for the information re: Alaska, Inupiaqs, and obviously Inukuns.

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Review: Body Of Proof

Body Of Proof by Darrell Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Scottish police can destroy evidence while the accused is still serving a sentence? I can't fathom the reasoning behind that. Is storage space really that limited in Scotland?

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Review: In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite interesting. As the first of its kind it sometimes doesn't feel as polished as a modern version of this would be, and at other times it seems more contrived. Sometimes the dialog is clearly changed in order to sound more like a work of fiction (e.g. direct dialog quotes from dialog that wouldn't be remembered verbatim, a few too many coincidences, etc.), and at other times some extra information is added that seems not to pertain to the story directly. I must admit I liked it a lot though, and I think it has aged quite well. Including being a glimpse into life in Western Kansas in the 1950s. His deep deep dive into this case and the people involved in it pays off.

I also get the impression that this was a book that was needed when it came out; when crime, criminals and the circumstances surrounding criminal activity were viewed very differently.



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