Gangsterland

Gangsterland by Tod Goldberg           Audio Book:  10 hours, 30 mins      Hardback Book:  464 pages                      

I love this series.   I read, “Gangster Nation,” the second book in the series first and loved it so much I had to get the first book and read it.   EXCELLENT!    If you are a fan of, “Goodfellas,”, “The Godfather,”   “Casino” or any of the books or films regarding mobsters/gangsters  then this book is absolutely for you.     The main character, Sal Cupertine is a hitman for the mob with killing skills like you wouldn’t believe and without giving too much away I will say that there were a number of Feds exterminated in a hotel and Sal Cupertine had to disappear fast.   More of the tale details the intricacies of making a person diappear and it involves Missouri as one of the jump-offs.    After reading that chapter you will never look at a Big Mac the same way, but, the book is a terrific story and the characters that come and go (sometimes the hard way) are great.    Long story short Sal Cupertine goes underground off the radar and Rabbi David Cohen appears.    If you are at all squeamish you might want to rapidly page through some of the more graphic stuff and there is a lot of it, but, if you find that whole Mafioso factor intriguing you will absolutely LOVE this series.   It is so well written – it is a rush.   So well put together how everything connects and all the amazing ways bodies are “distributed,” and the way unlikely businesses come into play in various ways to make the process so linear – it is like a piece of perfect art – so many facets blended together you don’t see the rough edges only the smooth outcome of the crafter.    And if there is a tic something a little off, immediately kick to plan B and things still go off like clockwork.    It is a thing of beauty even if there are a lot of bodies left behind.   And you learn so much along the way.    This author has really done some extensive research on the real crime families in the U.S.,  the business end of remaining low-key while still continuing the “family” business and how those businesses have melded to meet the times and adapt over the years and the medical descriptions of things done and where and how the body reacts.    You will be so engaged in this story you literally will not want to put this book down.   It is that good.   This series should definetly be made into a film and  t.v. show with a big budget.   Fantastic.

Gangster Nation

Gangster Nation by Tod Goldberg              AudioBook:  11 hours, 25 min.  357 pages              

Great book – well written and like a good Scorsese crime film plot it has all the old school mob and new school g’s.    Lots of plot twists, guilty and innocent fatalities, hitmen, FBI, surveillance, Quantico spying technology, and some of the best dialogue.    Like the hitman in Grosse Pointe Blank you get to know Sal the main character and hitman extraordinaire what has happened in his life up to 9/11, much of his murderous past, his love for his family and come to know that while his career is extreme, other than that he is a pretty honorable, nice guy that would make good friend material.   Hey, we all have our flaws, doesn’t mean underneath all that we aren’t good folks.   Like with the Red Baron, he was known as the Bloody Red Baron for all his kills but in his biography he says he didn’t go out seeking to kill anyone, actually he preferred just to down their plane and hope his opponents were able to survive.   He said he didn’t go out to kill but to perform his job to the best of his ability.    Sal Cupertine is like that, too.   In many places you will be reminded of the characters in Pulp Fiction or Casino with Las Vegas seeming not just the background but playing another character in this book.  I love Sal’s cover, too.  Bringing the Rabbi element in is such a clever touch.    Tod Goldberg brings a lot to this book and I thoroughly enjoyed the story from beginning to end.   Another of those you don’t want to put it down till the end books.   I did not realize until today that this book is part of a series and this is the second book in the series.   Now, I must go back and read the first and continue to the next volume because there is a real cliffhanger ending to this one and I am pleased to know the story continues and if you read it, you will be, too.     Kudos for Tod Goldberg this is a hit in so many ways and on so many levels.