Lad Lit Book Reviews: Double Cross by Sam and Chuck Giancana

So here’s the problem – I bloody love this book! Okay, so really liking a book isn’t the worst thing in the world – it’s quite good actually. It means the book has done its job, so well done book. The problem is I’m torn between allowing my book crush get in the way of what is real and what is sensationalised and probably not true.

But if I put all of that to one side and forget for one minute about who cares what is fact and what is fiction, this is one hell of a read! Double Cross is the biography of Chicago gangster Sam ‘Mooney’ Giancana as told by his brother Chuck. Giancana was the ruthless mobster who ruled the Chicago Outfit during the mobs heyday in the late 50s and 60s. It was a golden era of American history and some of the most iconic figures from that decade feature prominently within the Giancana legend. None more so than JFK and his infamous assassination in 1963.

Conspiracy theorists would have a field day with this book as Chuck Giancana explains (or claims) just how close the mafia came to having a grip on the White House, as he says it was their blood money that financed the Kennedy Presidential campaign; set-up through the connections of his bootlegger father, Joe Kennedy, to the underworld. The story goes that the moment the Kennedy got into power he turned his back on those who have bankrolled his rise to lead the most powerful country in the world, and hence leaving a few bad guys in fedora's none too happy!

Throw in names like Frank Sinatra, Bobby Kennedy, Phyllis McGuire and Marilyn Monroe, plus a CIA and mob connection to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro and a sprinkle of some of America’s most notorious criminals such as Al Capone, and you have all of the ingredients of a really fantastic story that could easily have fallen off the pages of a Hollywood script.

And this is just one aspect of the life and times of Sam Giancana that his brother Chuck goes into great detail about. Before and after that is the rise and fall of one of the mafia’s most vicious players, starting from his upbringing as a Sicilian immigrant in the early 1900s where his father would mercilessly beat him which undoubtedly went a long way to creating the street thug who murdered his way through the ranks to reach the top of the Chicago mob before his fate was sealed by the very hands in which he had served for his whole life.

The element of doubt on the authenticity of this book that creeps in comes from the fact that Chuck Giancana has woven it all together via recollections of other mobsters and associates of his brother, as well of course as the words straight out of Sam Giancana’s mouth, who's ego was so huge it is not unfair to assess that some of what he said could have been largely exaggerated.

For me, that is an easy stumbling block to get over and it didn’t ruin or tarnish the book for me. Like most books of this ilk, whether it is about a mafia hoodlum or an FBI agent recounting their memories of events, you believe what you choose to believe. For me, there is more than enough evidence that has come from elsewhere to suggest that the mob had their fingers in all of these pies, so what Chuck Giancana says in this book is not out of the realms of possibility. But like any good conspiracy theory, it’s up to you to decide what side of the fence you sit. As for me, I’m firmly on the side of giving this book a huge thumbs up.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Casino: Love & Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi

Anyone who has seen the Martin Scorsese film Casino will clearly remember the scene where Joe Pesci’s character pops the guys eye out of its socket whilst squeezing his head in a vice. It’s fair to say it’s wasn't a pretty sight (pardon the pun), but if you are a die-hard mob movie fan then it’s a scene that is right up there with a horse’s head in a bed or asking if I’m funny like a clown.

Well if you were a fan of the film (or even better, if you haven’t seen the film yet), then make sure you check out this book! Brought to us by Nicholas Pileggi, the same author who penned Wiseguy which was the inspiration for Goodfellas, this is the story of Love and Honor in Las Vegas.

Pileggi focuses in on two prominent mob figures who went to Las Vegas in the 1970s with the instructions from the Chicago Outfit to run the gambling capital of the world with a combination of brains and brawn. Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, who  was one of Chicago’s top sports handicappers, was sent by mob bosses to run the casinos and skim millions of dollars from the profits to line their pockets in the process, while Tony “The Ant” Spilotro was the street thug and mafia hitman sent in to take care of any unsavoury business!

What follows is a story full of lust, greed, violence and more violence as Pilleggi delivers a knock-out blow-by-blow account of what Vegas was like during the mob’s heyday stranglehold of sin city; but perhaps most importantly of all it tells of the fall of the mafia’s grip on Las Vegas. A lot of the story is told through the words of Rosenthal and his own downfall, which starts to unravel when he falls into legal problems over his lack of a gaming licence due to his criminal record, his Showgirl wife’s addiction to everything that is wrong in her life, and last but not least the increasingly erratic and violent behaviour of Spilitro. 

It also flags up just how much of a crazy town Vegas was during that period. For example, Rosenthal’s answer to not being given a gaming licence was to star in his own TV chat show to combat those who had rejected his application. Read that again. That's right – he decided to host his own TV chat show because someone told him no! It’s basically the same as not being successful in a job interview so you decide to go onto Jeremy Kyle to air your grievances!

And things don’t get any better for poor Frank as his showgirl wife, Geri, spirals out of control on drink and drugs and then does the one thing that would be bloody hard for any lad to deal with – she shacks up with the local hitman and has an affair with Spilotro, who by now is playing by his own rules and is heading up the notorious Hole in the Wall gang who would break into places by, well, smashing a hole through the wall!

Evil doesn’t even do the word justice in trying to explain the type of man Spilitro was, but even for all his crimes you still can’t quite believe the shocking and gruesome demise he is met with, which probably says as much about dispelling the so-called romance around the mafia created by stories such as The Godfather that I was still unable comprehend the awful way in which these gangsters deal with their own.

My only criticism of the book – and it has to be said that it is a minor criticism – is that it doesn’t read as smoothly at times as Wiseguy did. Pileggi has done his research, no doubt about it, but there were times when trying to keep up with the narrative that had been pieced together by old interviews or FBI files wasn’t easy to follow.

But all in all, if you like your gangster stories, then you will like Casino. It harks back to an age where Vegas was not the adult theme park it has become today. "Today in Las Vegas, the men in fedoras who built the city are gone," Pileggi concludes, and whilst that is true, it still remains that one of the wealthiest cities in the world was built on the blood money by American gangsters.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: The Godfather by Mario Puzo

For anyone who has not even heard of Mario Puzo’s crime epic The Godfather, I would like you to leave this blog immediately! Seriously, just go. Walk out the door. Don’t turn around now. You, my friend, are not welcome anymore! Oh dear, did that really just happen?

Back to matters at hand, and that being the single greatest piece of literature ever written. There you go, I’ve said it. I can’t even begin to express how much I love this book. Even the old saying ‘The book is better than the movie’ doesn’t even begin to do it justice, and I think the screen adaptation is pretty awesome as well!

The Godfather is truly a literary classic. Set against the backdrop of 1940s New York, it remains a timeless tale as Puzo concentrates on the relationship of its main protagonist rather than the era that surrounds them. At the heart of the story is the Corleone family and the criminal underworld in which they are fully immersed in. The characters are wonderfully crafted from the mild-mannered yet powerful head of the family, Don Vito Corleone, to his live-wire eldest son, Sonny, and of course Michael, the cold and calculated reluctant air to the throne. They are seamlessly woven into this brilliant tale of power, murder, and honour.

Controversy surrounded this book upon its publication in 1969 due to the fact that it romanticized the American Mafia and portrayed them as loyal serving men of honour who only killed their own. But my opinion is that just shows that people back then were as quick to jump on the PC bandwagon as they are today. In many ways, this novel was to that era what computer games like Grand Theft Auto are today. It's just a story, and a great one at that. Get over it!

For those of you that have not seen the film or read the book, I won’t spoil it for you. But what I will say is that even though I knew what was coming at the end (I’d seen the film before reading the book), I was still totally blown away with the way Puzo articulates on the page the thrilling finale which takes you by complete surprise.

Each and every character play their part in bringing this together, and the flashbacks to Don Vito's roots in Sicily and his early days as an Italian immigrant in New York, only serve to offer more depth to the background of this family and at the same time offers the reader a greater insight into the man who has ruled over this crime family.

Mario Puzo set the bar enormously high with this book, and I’m not sure any other mafia fictional story has ever been able to come close. Over the years he has brought the characters back to life through a number of sequels and prequels, and for anyone who is a fan of the original, they are well worth a read as well.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Donnie Brasco by Jospeh D. Pistone

The term ‘blew me away’ is perhaps used far too often when it comes to book reviews, but I can safely say that this is one book that left me truly astonished and open-mouthed with every page turn.

Special FBI Agent Jospeh. D Pistone spent five years working undercover as a mafia associate in the Bonnano New York crime family. A film was made in 1997 based on his life starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, but like most films based on books, you only get half the story on the big screen.

Pistone’s memoirs delve deep into the background of his story of how a 3-month undercover operation going after a truck hijacking ring turns into a him living, breathing, sleeping, and eating his way through the Mafioso lifestyle.

Back in the late 70s and early 80s, the US government waged a war against the powerful crime families running New York, but unlike today’s sophisticated techniques of undercover operations, Pistone was almost left to make up the rules as he went along.

He encounters some very dangerous people along the way, including an incident when he is led down into a basement and told that unless his story and background checks out, he faces a bullet in the head. Not your every day boardroom situation!

But this isn’t just a book about the violence and cold stark reality of mobsters who once ran the American underworld. Pistone tells of the impact this ‘lifestyle’ had on his family. And at times you can’t help but laugh at some of the situations and stories Pistone relays, especially those that involve Lefty Ruggiero; the gangster ‘Donnie Brasco’ becomes closest to.

Pistone’s story is one of true courage. His testimony eventually led to hundreds of arrests and played a major role in the foundations of the American Mafia crumbling to its knees.

This is a truly enjoyable thrill-ride of a read, and one which you need to keep reminding yourself is true! If you only ever read one more gangster book (after The Godfather of course), then make it this one!

Lad Lit Book Reviews! Accardo: The Genuine Godfather by William F. Roemer, Jr

Any man that is nicknamed Joe Batters because he beat two men to death with a baseball bat is probably not the sort of man you want to mess with. Add to the fact that he got his monicker from Al Capone – the most notorious Mafioso of them all – only adds fuel to fire that this is one vicious gangster.

And who else better to tell his story than the one man who tried for years – yet never succeeded – to bring Tony Accardo to justice than former FBI Agent William F. Roemer, Jr. Whilst the likes of Capone and John Gotti will inevitably go down in American folklore as the two most well-known gangsters of the 20th Century, it was men like Accardo who achieved the highest status within their criminal underworld circles as one of the most powerful Mafia bosses in the history of the American Mafia.

For seven decades Accardo, a.k.a. Big Tuna, was embroiled in a life of crime, from his teenage years in street gangs to being recruited as a member of the Chicago Outfit in 1926. Roemer maps out Accardo’s life as a career criminal from his participation in the infamous St Valentine’s Day Massacre to seizing control of The Outfit in the 1940s.

Throughout the book Roemer speaks in a tone of grudging respect for Joe Batters (being a good family man, his foresight to expand the former Capone regime into new territories that greatly increased their power and wealth). but at the same time keeps the reader focused on the fact that this was a ruthless and merciless man, who had murdered his way to the top with some incredibly vicious and torturous methods.

Roemer uses his many experiences with Accardo and The Outfit to try and paint us a picture of how this criminal organization used the great wealth made from the prohibition era to sustain a period of dominance that would see the American Mafia wield power the like they have never seen again. Men like Accardo made that happen, rather than the ‘celebrity’ gangsters that are referenced in popular culture. Mobster Paul “The Waiter” Ricca summed Joe Batters up by saying, "Accardo had more brains for breakfast than Capone had in a lifetime."

This story is not simply portrayed as a ‘Good vs Evil’ story which would have been easy coming from a law enforcement officer who was never able to put one of his biggest nemesis’ behind bars. Instead Roemer takes a more human approach to the murderous men he is writing about; such as detailing their wishes for their sons to never follow them into this life.

In the end Roemer can only reflect on the ground work that the FBI laid in those days to help bring the mob of today to its knees. Men like Accardo will remain infamous through the annals of time, but that part of history that should not be neglected. After all, we are talking about a street thug who was expelled from school at 14 and went on to become leader of one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – factions of the American underworld, before dying at the age of 86 a free man. Lessons can only be learned from men who rule with an iron fist just like Joe Batters did.

Perhaps not my favourite book about the American Mafia, but certainly worth a read if this is a genre that interests you.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: The Bootleggers by Kenneth Allsop

Imagine wandering into your local with the boys on a Saturday night for that first drink of the day, only to be told that the sale and manufacturing of alcohol had been banned and deemed illegal to do so across the nation. You can almost hear the uproar from the daily Weatherspoon contingent of heavy drinkers, bemoaning the fact that they have nowhere else to spend their job seekers allowance!

I’m not too sure if that is a sad indictment of the fact we rely so heavily on alcohol as part of our social expression, or the fact that we would be well within our rights to rally against the Government to put forward our right to drink Jägerbomb’s when we want!

Whatever the answer, this is what happened in 1920 in the United States when the US Congress enacted a law which did indeed ban the sale and manufacture of alcohol nationwide, and in Kenneth Allsop’s book, he tackles the prohibition era which still remains as popular as ever in film, music, and of course books!

The 13-year ban would play a major role in the rise of the Chicago Outfit headed up by Al Capone, and Allsop not only covers this but also explains the historical and political reasons that led to the ban. Men such as Capone, Johnny Torio, Dion O'Banion and Big Jim Colosimo would seize on the advantage of supply and demand, while law enforcement turned a blind eye as long as they were rewarded. For a law that was created to improve the moral compass of a nation, it backfired spectacularly and simply created a trail of blood that funded street thugs to unimaginable wealth.

This is a good account of the rise of Chicago gangsters, and one that should be able to hold the attention of even a casual reader interested in the subject. Even though Allsop doesn’t shy away from the facts and discusses the frightening actions these men took to clasp Chicago in their grip, he also manages to capture the era through a dry sense of humour which keeps the book moving along at a good pace, and his knowledge on the subject shines through.

I can only really compare this book against the numerous other books I have read on the subject of the American Mafia, and that is the only reason it probably does get higher than a 3-star rating - there are other books I've simply enjoyed more. Due to the fact that the book was written in 1961, Allsop was probably unable to report on some key facts (such as the name and antics of one Joe Kennedy). All in all though, a thorough description of this infamous yet iconic era.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Mafia Dynasty by John H. Davis

If Carlsberg did New York crime organizations...

The Gambino branch of New York's five families has been led by some of the most powerful and well-known gangsters in American history. From its rise to prominence in the roaring 20s right through to the 80s and 90s under the leadership of one man who would become the most infamous mobster since Al Capone, Mafia expert John H. Davis takes us through six decades of greed, murder, deceit, and ruthless power struggles in Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family.

Davis has put together a well-written account that not only focuses on the rise and fall of the Gambino Family, but the history of the American Mafia in general, starting in the prohibition era when pockets of Sicilian immigrants took advantage of the fact alcohol had been outlawed to create their fortune.This would lead the way for the Italian/Jewish faction of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel to not only take control of the New York crime family, but to create The Commission; a corporate business-like code of conduct and chain of command that would be rolled out across the country and take the Mafia to another level.

The length of the book (500 plus pages), rarely seems a chore to read as Davis guides the reader through a whirlwind of historical theatre and drama. Despite featuring such unruly characters as Albert Anastasia (who was part of a group of ruthless murderers called Murder, Inc.) and Carlo Gambino who seized control in the 1950s of the family which would eventually bear his name, Davis uses all of this as a prelude to lay the foundations to focus on John Gotti; the man who would go on the feature on the front of Time magazine.

A seasoned Mafia expert or fan of the genre might not find anything new in this book that they didn't already know, but for the casual reader it is the perfect guide to paint the picture of the Gambino's. Personally that really works for me, because I have read other books on the subject who attempt to dig so deep to reveal every intricate detail of the history of the mob that you get a little bogged down, and for that reason I give this book two very big thumbs up.

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Bound By Honor by Bill Bonanno

Perhaps a better name for this book should be Boast By Honor. After all, this books boasts that it's 'The fascinating true story of the powerful crime family that inspired the The Godfather.' It also boasts of Mafia ties to the likes of JFK and the Hollywood elite. And Bill Bonanno does plenty of boasting about his own credentials within one of the most powerful crime organisations in American history.

Bound By Honor isn't a bad book, and it's first-hand account of an era that gave their names to New York's Five Families (Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Colombo) is certainly unique. But... having read a number of books on the subject, I can't help but think that old Bill does half try and pour on a large dose of that 'Romanticizing the Mob' cocktail! Honour, tradition, taking care of our own, etc etc.

At the heart of the book there is a good story. The relationship of John. F Kenedy's father, Joe, with the mob is well-documented elsewhere in his role as a prohibition bootlegger, so it comes as no surprise that he might have had close connections with Bill's father, Joseph Bonanno; a man who became one of the most powerful and colourful men in Mafia history.

But the line about 'Two proud men, one named Bonanno, the other named Kennedy, dream of their sons taking over their dynasties-each taking a different, but equally powerful pat...' Fuhgeddaboudit! It all sounds a little too Hollywood for me at times, especially as it implied that Bill was the inspiration for Mario Puzo's Michael Corleone character. Hmmm, hell of a boast there Bill...!

I don't want to keep taking digs at this book, because I did actually enjoy it. It has some fascinating insights into an era of the Mob that will never certainly be seen again (and for good reason!), but they mainly include the stories about Bill's father than they do about him. Tales about the Apalachin meeting, the plot to assassinate fellow crime lords Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese, and The Banana War. In many circles Bill was considered 'too weak' to lead a crime family, and he certainly does not come across as fierce as some of his counterparts.

At the end of the day, I did find this an enjoyable read, but I took a lot things with a pinch of salt. Bill Bonanno seems compelled to try and put his memoirs in the same ilk as The Godfather, when the reality is you only have to read something like Murder Machine by Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci to realise this image couldn't be any further from the truth! I'd recommend giving it a read if you are interested in that era, but I'm not too sure I'd go around boasting about it.