5 comments about Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

1. I think this book is spectacular! The author did some deep and complete research! I was impressed, plus I live in New Orleans and most of the action takes place in NOLA! There is even some speculation that The Mob played a role in the death of MLK and RFK! Read this book,you won't be
   disappointed! Read Dr. Mary's Monkey too and you won't ever need to read another JFK book again!



2. I'm exhausted. By the time I reached the finish I'd forgotten the start. Look, Great facts, alot of research, but I found this book mentally fatiguing. If you are in to conspiracies get it. Meanwhile, I'm going to go lay and rest my head.



3. I can practically read anything on the Mafia . . . except this book. I could barely finish it. It was so boring. The first 50 pages were good. It was actually focused on late Louisiana Mafia boss Carlos Marcello. Then, it happened. Nonstop writing on the assassination of President Kennedy. Again, it is nonstop and the author continually asks the reader questions that I don't think he ever conclusively answered. (By the way, I have never seen some many questions presented to the reader before in ANY book; my guess would be a couple hundred questions the author poses to his readers.)
   
   I swear about 500 pages is just going over the same points in the assassination again and again. Oswald knew this guy. This guy knew this guy. Jack Ruby knew this guy. All these connections go back to the Marcello organization. I GET IT! ENOUGH!
   
   You read about a page and half on Marcello and you think, yes, he's finally back on track. He's actually writing about Marcello now. But no, all of the sudden it gets back to the Kennedy Assassination. I have rarely rolled by eyes while reading a book except for this one -- and I am continually rolling my eyes. Not because the author states that Marcello was probably involved in the Kennedy Assassination, but because he has to hammer his points over and over again and again (nonstop).
   
   Now, if you are looking for a book on the Kennedy Assassination, you got it here. But if you are looking for a book about Carlos Marcello, then skip it because you are just going to get mad with the author barely touching on Marcello past the first 50 pages without his throwing in some Kennedy Assassination angle.
   
   This should not be called "Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of President Kennedy." It should be called "The Assassination of President Kennedy: The Assassination and Some Mob Boss Named Carlos Marcello." Very little is about Carlos Marcello and his secretive organization. It's all about the Kennedy Assassination and Marcello's possible connection to it.
   
   The last part of the book is on the FBI operations in the late 1970s that finally brought Carlos Marcello down. But it's only about 50 or so pages long, too. In short, there is maybe a hundred or so pages dealing with Carlos Marcello, and what you have left is the author trying to link the Marcello organization to the President's assassination, and nailing his one-tracked hammer on the same points time after time, page after page.
   
   What a waste! Had this book been nearly 700 pages on Carlos Marcello and his organization it would have been perhaps one of the best, groundbreaking books on the underworld in the history of the American Mafia being there is very little actually known about the man and his organization other than the basics. Instead, we get a 100 pages on Marcello and 600 pages on his possible connection to the assassination of President Kennedy.
   
   Sorry if I hammered my point over and over again about this book, but I was giving you a preview of what you will experience if you buy and read this book. As the mob would say, "Give it a pass."



4. This book is dated,but I'm not so sure that any other book on the subject is better.
   Mr. Davis exposes the numerous links the Marcello family had to other key conspirators in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.Lee Harvey Oswald,Jack Ruby,and David Ferrie all knew each other and had Marcello family connections.
   
   Another highlight of this book is the contrast of the New Orleans mafia and other families.They operated quite differently than say,the New York or Chicago mob.The culture of that area was much like Sicily.
   
   Mr. Davis gives details on the extent of the corruption and political power enjoyed by Carlos Marcello.The transcripts of recorded conversations from the sting by the FBI reveal a lot regarding who was bought.Some major political figures are mentioned.
   
   The details of Carlos Marcello's deportation clarify the animosity between the mafia and the Kennedy brothers.The egos on both sides of the law were factors in the eventual assassination.
   
   The monumental part that J. Edgar Hoover played in the coverup and possible motivation for doing that are explained very well in this book.
   
   In the end of the book Mr. Davis briefly covers some of the books that were contemporary with his.
   The only thing he doesn't do is name the actual trigger men.
   This book is available and inexpensive.It's a book I highly recommend for anyone wanting to study the assassination of JFK.



5. This book has been around for a few years but I've only read it recently.
   The author, John H Davis, certainly convinces me that, regardless of who pulled the triggers, the shootings of John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy were mob hits ordered by New Orleans mobster Carlos Marcello, while the truth was kept from the American public through the connivance of the FBI whose hands were far from clean.
   
   The Kennedy's dared to bite the hands that fed them. John Kennedy used the Mafia in his rise to power & then not only turned his back on them but declared war on them with the assistance of Robert Kennedy as Attorney General.
   Robert Kennedy had a long history of failed attempts to deport Carlos Marcello which included kidnapping him & dumping him (literally) in a deserted backwater of Honduras. The Mafia & Marcello in particular hated the Kennedy's so intensely it was only a matter of time.
   Consider this:
   The unstable and unemployed Lee Harvey Oswald was a patsy of the Mafia & the FBI. Oswald's uncle & surrogate father Charles Murret, aka Dutz, was a bookmaker in Marcello's gambling operation in New Orleans. In the summer of 1963 Oswald who was living in Dallas came to his uncle for financial help & did not go away empty handed.
   
   The FBI, headed by the megalomaniacal J Edgar Hoover, was so riddled with corruption itself by this time that any investigation done by them was bound to be a whitewash as it would expose the FBI's connections to the New Orleans underworld. Hoover had a long history of friendship with mob boss Frank Costello & stubbornly insisted that the Mafia did not exist. When presented with a report of the infamous crime conclave of 60 mafia heads in upstate New York in 1957, Hoover ordered all copies destroyed. When Robert Kennedy became Attorney General he identified organised crime -- not Communism -- to be the greatest menace to American society; he also earned Hoover's enmity by putting a stop to Hoover's hitherto direct access to the President's office, ordering Hoover to report instead to the attorney general, ie, him.
   
   Jack Ruby, who has been portrayed as a Patriot distressed by the death of his idol, had underworld connections & was at that time suffering from terminal cancer. He owed large sums of money to certain Mafia figures & he executed Oswald to shut him up & to redeem his own Mafia debt. Ruby died in prison of cancer.
   
   The Robert Kennedy assassination is murkier. It was blamed on Sirhan Sirhan, although there is evidence at least one other gun was used in the shooting. Sirhan perpetually owed gambling debts & often did odd jobs for low level crime figures. He hung around California race tracks whose betting operations were connected to Marcello; he also worked as a groom for horse ranch owner Desi Arnaz who was a known friend of LA mobster Mickey Cohen . Cohen's penchant was for secretly filming movie stars in sex setups & blackmailing them - Lana Turner & Marilyn Monroe were victims. Jack Ruby and Mickey Cohen were old friends too: it was all one big extended family
   
   There is evidence suggesting Robert Kennedy's real killer was Thane Cesar, the security guard who escorted Kennedy through the hotel kitchen where he was shot. Cesar was not the hotel's usual security guard; he was temporarily hired to fill in for the day of June 5; he had strong ties to a San Diego mobster (later imprisoned for skimming race-track revenues) & associate of Mickey Cohen. The Ambassador Hotel was partly owned by investors connected with organised crime. Not long after the shooting, the Hotel's director of security disappeared.
   
   The Kennedy brothers were undoubtedly touched with greatness and vision, but with such flaws of character and judgement and hubris that it brought their downfall. Meanwhile the public has been content to be fed a load of crap rather than have the Kennedy name & legacy tarnished. False gods usually have feet of clay.

5 comments about Without a Doubt.

1. Yeah, I am a white guy. And you can call me any names that you would like, but it is upon you to prove it. Marcia Clark has written a book and has laid herself open to all the negative attention and snide remarks that she endured during the case that IMHO was a gut wrenching travesty. Marica proves to me that she is a mighty fine lawyer, a great mother and even more important a real LADY that dealt with extremes with the utmost integrity and honesty. She should be held up as an American heroine for what she endured, doing battle daily for more than a year with the "Dream Team," and their race baiting and a judge that was oh so very weak. I can't remember ever reading a book that made me want to meet and honor such a very special person as I do Marcia Clark. The trial was all about race and nothing that the prosecution could do would change that. They are the heroes. But instead, they are held up to ridicule for what they did or did not do. Orenthal James Simpson is guilty of snuffing out two lives with vicious and bloody attacks and if you don't get that message from this book, you have a serious lack of comprehension or you just don't get it. It would be a great honor for me to be able to meet Ms. Clark, just to thank her for what she went through while trying to find some sort of justice while fighting all of the elements that she came across. Great book. I am proud to live in a nation that has people like Marcia Clark. being an attorney, mother or just a lovely person. Ms Clark. Good Job!!!!!!



2. Any reasonable person who listened to the evidence at the so-called "trial of the century" knows without out a doubt that O. J. Simpson killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, the hapless waiter who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyone who watched the announcement of the verdict and saw the shock and disbelief on O. J. Simpson's own face, as the not guilty verdict was read, would know that even the defendant knew he was guilty.
   
   The prosecution never had much of a chance, because the presiding judge, Lance Ito, was a bumbling idiot who could not control his courtroom and make sound evidentiary rulings. . Instead, Lance Ito allowed his courtroom to become a three-ring circus. As a career prosecutor, I was appalled at the time at what went on in that courtroom, and Lance Ito's courting of the media was reprehensible. It was also clear that he was awed by and enthralled with the celebrity of the defendant appearing before him. One need only look to the civil trial in the matter to see how an effective judge controlled his courtroom. There, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki made sound rulings on evidentiary matters and remained in control of his courtroom at all times. Consequently, justice was obtained in the civil case.
   
   This tell all, no holds barred book is a well-written, engaging behind-the-scenes account of the "trial of the century". While Ms. Clark does include some personal information about herself, it is in the context of why she became a prosecutor and makes for a more fully fleshed account of how and why she may have acted as she did under the circumstances. She admits to some mistakes, and probably one of the biggest was having been lulled into a false sense of complacency about the competence of the criminalist assigned to the case, rather than going with her gut instinct to get whom she thought would be the best person for the job. Consequently, she was saddled with criminalist Dennis Fung, who for his incompetence in such a high profile case should have been summarily fired thereafter.
   
   As for the defense "Dream Team", having watched their antics on court TV during the course of the trial, it was clear that they were playing to the media for all it was worth, and the media was lapping it up. So much of what the defense did went beyond what was sanctioned by evidentiary rules and the rules of professional conduct that I was both amazed and appalled. That they got away with this kind of behavior was reprehensible. The only one able to call them on it, however, was Judge Lance Ito, and he failed to do so. The blame, therefore, for all the shenanigans that went on during the course of the trial lies squarely on Lance Ito's shoulders. He definitely gets the prize for one of the greatest failures in American jurisprudence.
   
   Still, one cannot forget prosecutor Chris Darden's ill-advised decision in proceeding to have O.J. try on the bloodied, weathered gloves found at the scene and at his home, rather than waiting for an exact duplicate pair to be delivered by the manufacturer. In light of the fact that the manufacturer had advised the prosecution that the original gloves would have shrunk as much as fifteen percent due to repeated exposure to dampness and extremes of heat and cold, it was downright stupid for Chris Darden to proceed to have the defendant try them on. While Ms. Clark had counseled Chris Darden not to proceed with this demonstration, but rather, to wait for the new duplicate pair, he did so anyway with disastrous results. As the lead prosecutor in the case, however, the fault for this debacle lies squarely with her on this issue, rather than Mr. Darden, because when you are the lead prosecutor, the buck stops with you. Ms. Clark need look no further than herself for this major faux pas and for the ensuing creation of Johnnie Cochran's famous, catchy sound bite, "If the glove doesn't fit, then you must acquit". Never mind that the new, duplicate glove fit O. J. to perfection!
   
   Notwithstanding the glove debacle, the forensic evidence against the defendant was overwhelming, despite the bungling of criminalist Dennis Fung. Unfortunately, the painstaking forensics case put together by the prosecution was lost under the smokescreen set off by the defense. The "Dream Team" played the race card to perfection to a sound bite crazed media that helped create a public frenzy, no doubt aided by the celebrity of the defendant. The defense team's cries of police mis-conduct and the Fuhrmanizing of the trial was a pulp journalist's dream come true. It was also a travesty of justice, as all the hoopla and media distortion masked what the trial was really about, the savage and wanton murders of two innocent human beings. Moreover, while much has been said about this being a crime of passion that the prosecution tried as dispassionately as possible, one must keep in mind that Judge Ito tied the prosecution's hands in large part, while giving the "Dream Team' an unprecedented free rein.
   
   This book will keep courtroom junkies enthralled with its war stories and sneak peak into the "trial of the century". Ms. Clark gives an excellent analysis of what went wrong, and while some of it may be a bit self-serving, she is right on the money for the most part. This is a riveting, page turning account, and she doesn't hold back any punches. Ms. Clark painstakingly goes through the evidence that was presented at the trial, as well as that evidence that Judge Ito, in his infinite wisdom, did not allow the prosecution to present. Anyone who reads this book will be outraged by the obvious miscarriage of justice, as it will be clear as a bell why O. J. Simpson is, without a doubt, guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.



3. I read four books after the trial. I read the Schiller 1000 page saga, Outrage, the present book and a book on Johnny Cochrane. Each book was different and gives us different insights.
   
   I think it is clear to any reasonable and unbiased thinking person that O.J. did in fact kill Nicole and Ron and it is just as it is clear that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. Also it is clear from the other reviewers that Marcia Clark evokes a certain emotional response that colors their view of the book. If you still think O.J. is innocent then I think that is a personal problem or internal devil that you must deal with but it is not related to reality. As the title says "Without a Doubt" he was guilty.
   
   Johnny made buckets of money as a criminal attorney. Both he and Shapiro could make sums of money in hours that only the rest of us can dream about. Johnny drove a Rolls and Shapiro rubbed elbows with the LA movers and shakers.
   
   Marcia is more like the average citizen, working for the DA's office, probably driving a Chevrolet or Honda. She was a single divorced mother that commutes to work. After the trial she had decided enough was enough, and she wrote the book along with everyone else. And I say good for her! Make a buck or two! Its America.
   
   Now for the book. It is what you might expect. It is the story of her involvement with the trial. It presents some prior background on her life and earlier trials and then goes in detail through the O.J. saga and what it was like from her perspective. I think is a well written book and for the most part entertaining. "Outrage" is a bit more gripping and Schiller's "American Tragedy" longer and more comprehensive. But this book is what we would expect. It deals mainly with her role and it is a solid job. She was basically a civil servant and she was the front "man" facing a raft of America's most famous lawyers including the above mentioned plus F. Lee Bailey. Then to complicate things, the whole mess was presided over by the star blinded Judge Ito. Together they faced essentially 12 black female jurors who loved Johnny and O.J.
   
   Could she win? "Without a Doubt" she could not win, but it was nothing to do with her.
   
   Recommend. 4 stars.



4. It wouldn't have mattered who prosecuted this case. The jury were never going to convict OJ after the race card was played.
   
   Pretty good account of the trial, and an interesting insight into the author's ordeal in handling such a nightmarish case. She lays into Judge Ito & the cyncical tactics of Cochrane.
   
   You come away doubting that the jury system really delivers justice.



5. I have read most of the books written about the O.J. Trial. All have been more about setting forth that particular author's personal/ or political agenda and not about true analysis.

   What I fail to find in any of these books is what role did the media play in turning a simple crime of passion into the racial mess that this trial came to symbolize?

   This story is simple. Man and woman have a very sick/tormented relationship, where many sick games are played. One day man loses his head and murders woman and the poor guy who comes to her rescue. Man goes to trial. Man goes to jail for a crime of passion. End of story.

   Instead the SCLM (So Called Liberal Media) as described in the Eric Alterman's book, "What Liberal Media," enters the picture driven by the almighty dollar and turns this simple crime into the trial of the century simply for the profit margin.

   We still trust the media to inform us and they failed miserably as they have done in every important story of our generation. There is no liberal media bias. It's all about the money and polarizing the country to fuel the tragic story of the Simpson case was more important to the Media than actually telling the real story.

   They forgot that Nicole and O.J. loved each other and created two very lovely kids together. Race had nothing to do witth it until the media focussed on it.

   Marcia Clark lost her case, because she drank the Kool Aid from the media and followed their narrative as opposed to trying the case for what it was a crime of passion.

5 comments about Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag.

1. I read this book in Spanish, in condensed form, when I was fourteen years old. (1987, to be exact) Twenty-one years later, I still think about it. It made an anti-Communist out of me, and made me absolutely abhor what Fidel and Raul have done to such a beautiful island as Cuba, and to its people, for almost fifty years.
   
   Sure, you might say they have "free health care". Trust me: they have paid a terrible price for "free."
   
   It should be a must-read, together with Vaclav Havel's essays, for those who need to know what Communism really is: the rottenness of the soul, and an ideology borne out of the bowels of hell itself. Nothing else can describe it.
   
   Viva Cuba Libre! (And this from a boricua.)



2. A beautiful and terrifying memoir of Castro's Cuba. This man suffered unspeakable injustices at the hands of Castro's servants. The honesty and heartfelt memories of this man persecuted by the Communists is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. Wonderful testimony to the bravery and courage of the human spirit in the face of horrible odds.



3. Another Amazon reviewer got it right when he wrote that this book should be given to all one's deluded friends sporting hip "Che" T-shirts. This eye-opening, stomach-churning account of the author's 22 years in Cuban prisons, the conditions of which make Shawshank seem like a Club Med, demolishes the romanticized memory of "freedom fighters" like Che and exposes the lie that Castro's Revolution created a socialist paradise. And it highlights Communism's inability to understand or erase one of the most important traits of human nature: our hunger for individual freedom and personal dignity.
   
   Valladares wastes no time plunging us into a hell Dante himself could barely have imagined - on page one he is abducted in the middle of the night by the political police on trumped-up charges (having been denounced, he feels, by a jealous coworker for his disapproval of Castro's embrace of Communism), and before his prison odyssey is over, he endures and observes the worst extremes of totalitarian repression. The tension and the drama never let up, and often reach the breaking point. The litany of sadistic human rights abuses goes on page after page, every page; the degree of physical and psychological cruelty is so incomprehensible as to nearly defy belief. And yet Valladares and others maintain an almost superhuman strength of character and will to live that are inspirational and humbling. Amazingly, there are even flashes of humor and an ultimate triumph in this maddening and disturbing memoir.
   
   Against All Hope is one of the most gripping books you will ever read. It has a compelling social conscience and an inspirational message of hope, faith, courage, determination, and even love, and it will leave you with a changed perspective on yourself and the world.



4. Give a copy of this book to all your friends wearing Che t-shirts. After so many descriptions of beatings and hunger strikes, you become numb to the next ones. I recall the AI campaigns in the 70s-80s to send letters and postcards to the Cuban and Soviet embassies just to remind them that the world was watching. Sadly today AI has degenerated into just another wacko outfit. The UN comes in for a beating of its own in this book, as it just sat back and closed its eyes, passing resolutions against Israel and other nonsense instead of putting pressure on Cuba. This continues today with Zimbabwe, NK, and others.
   
   Take a look at "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" for a look at the same song, different verse.



5. I read this book, translated to the portuguese, here in Brazil, some years ago.It's a book about the decades, who this Castro's victim was under prision in Cuba.A nightmare's life and for more then two decades.
   The failures of this book really exists.At first, the author don't tells you nothing about cuban revolution.In fact, never there existed a battle in cuban revolution.Fulgencio Batista simple scaped, without a single shoot.A mafia's man, whithout a single drop of moral or courage.This was really the true Fulgencio Batista.
   At second he doesn't tells you nothing about the sucess of castrism in latin America and the catholic church "liberation theology".Having nothing of liberation and nothing of theology, the catholic church in latin America became a marxist organization.

5 comments about Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief.

1. It's rare to get a look inside the mind of a successful solo operator like this guy. It's well written and engaging. Maybe it's not 100% true; I wasn't there so I can't say. But it certainly has the ring of truth, and even if it's all fake it's still a fun read.



2. I read this book mainly because I was involved in an important aspect of Bill Masons life, his arrest. I think the co-author did a good job of putting the events as he knew them down on paper. However much of the information was not true.. Therefore I see the book as being partially fiction.. The author Bill Mason has either a poor memory as to the facts of his arrest, or like in so many instances in his book he blames everyone else for his lack of integrity.. In a true, and honest account of his arrest, try reading Badge 149, Shots Fired, by retired Captain Gary Jones, these facts are undisputable and documented.. Overall the book of course is interesting and exciting until you factor in the lives of family and friends, and others that he harmed. I reviewed his book in a local library, not wanting to contribute to his continued lifestyle .Justice in his case is still pending, I bet his father if real proud of him..(hic).



3. The first half of this book was very entertaining. I loved the descriptions of the heists Mr. Mason pulled. The last half of the book was tedious. Mostly how he was in and out of jail.
   Still a good overall read.



4. Yes, Bill Mason was a professional burglar and jewel thief! I know this is true because I was one of the original Fort Lauderdale police officers who first spotted him, and then followed him for weeks, until he was eventually arrested. Mason's version of events, in his book, about how Fort Lauderdale P.D. first became aware of him, is NOT true. He would have his readers believe an informer told us about him and that's how we first became aware of him. Not true! The simple truth is Mason got careless and he became predictable. In a phone conversation, after his book was released, I even told him this. But, he still doesn't believe this. After all, this version doesn't fit the image he tries to portray of a slick professional crook who never ever made a mistake. In my own book (Badge 149 - "Shots Fired!") I devote two full chapters to Bill Mason, and his arrest. If you are interested in reading what really happened, I encourage you to read my book, instead of the fiction Bill Mason has written. Or, read both his book and mine, and then judge for yourself which one of us is more honest and credible.



5. Buying this book about a year ago I struggled with spending money on a person who made a living stealing. It was written well and I enjoyed the action. However, I Just finish reading Badge 149 the author is the policeman who arrested him. Wow, it was definately interesting to see the other side of his jewerly heist! All the action and this time money was well spent and some dedicated to fallen policemen !!!!!!!!

5 comments about A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer, Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier.

1. Dampier was a fascinating person, a real live buccaneer and also one of our first naturalists. Since I like buccaneers and naturalists, he works well for me. The book is fun to read and well-researched. I dug it.
   
   If you're into books about explorers, you can check out my list - imaginatively titled "Books about explorers" - for a few more recommendations.



2. One hundred years before Charles Darwin there was a pirate whose works Darwin called "a mine of information". Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe used his experiences in writing Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. Capital James Cook depended on his observations when circumnavigating the globe and Nelson urged his officers to study his books. In the history of exploration, few have ventured farther or achieved more than William Dampier.
   
   Dampier circled the globe 3 times and sailed 200,000+ miles visiting people and places never seen by any other European. Beginning his journey in Virginia and the Caribbean, this pirate crosses the Pacific east to west, spending time in Southeast Asia. The publication of his observations influenced generations of scientists, explorers and writers. His observations and calculations surpassed Edmund Halley and sent Bligh and the Bounty in search of breadfruit. He reached Australia 80 years before Captain Cook and is responsible for over 1000 entries in the Oxford English Dictionary.
   
   Completely forgotten by historians William Dampier has handed down a profound impact throughout the ages. And yes, he was a most decided pirate!



3. This book about 17th Century Explorer William Dampier really surprised me - it was so good! I received the book as a gift and it turned out to be one of those books that I might not have chosen on my own, but I really enjoyed.
   
   The book chronicles Dampier's 3 voyages around the world, is interesting, and super easy to read. Two thumbs up for sure.



4. Ol' Cap'n Bill plundered only knowledge - couldn't keep two pieces of eight together to save his life. In fact, when he crossed the Isthmus of Panama, he was a lot more worried about keeping his charts dry than about the gold. Trouble was, nobody in his earlier days ever thought about funding a mission for pure scientific research - at least 'til Edmund Halley's voyage in about 1702 or so. And the only British vessels heading into the Pacific had to subsidize their own voyages (at the expense of the Dons, of course). So what was an insatiably curious soul to do? He stuck out his thumb, sailed everywhere -- and I mean EVERYWHERE! and if he's no longer at sea, he's now in print -- everywhere! Don't believe me? Pick up ANY book on exploration, vanished species, oceanography, evolution, British history, British colonialism -- and, of course ... pirates ... and you'll find him there, glaring huffily at anyone who'd demean him as a pirate.



5. Extraordinary story of one of the most important explorers and cartographers we've never heard of! Fascinating facts and a well written account of some of the early round-the-world navigation.

5 comments about I'll Do My Own Damn Killin'.

1. THIS STORY IS SO WELL WRITTEN AND SO INTERESTING THAT NICK CASSAVETES, MOVIE PRODUCER AND POKER PLAYER, HAS PURCHASED THE RIGHTS TO MAKE IT INTO A MOVIE. WHILE KICKING THIS AROUND A POKER GAME THE OTHER DAY THE PLAYERS AND I AGREED JOSH BROLIN SHOULD PLAY THE YOUNG BENNY BINION.



2. If you have found yourself in Soprano-withdrawal, this book is for you. "I'll Do My Own Damn Killin'" is a raucous gangland tale of a long and bitter feud between two former partners for control of the Dallas gambling scene of the 1930s and 40s.
   
   Most people know Lester Ben Binion as the Las Vegas icon who
   owned some of the early casinos there, with the downtown Horseshoe Club being the most famous and longest-lived. But before his Las Vegas days he was known as the Dallas "boss gambler." He had most of Dallas law enforcement "fixed" so he could run his numbers, his policy wheels, and his poker games at the Southland Hotel without fear of arrest. He was temperamental, braggadocios, but also jovial in a sinister sort of way. The title of the book comes from a reply he gave when asked if he had ever hired a hit man.
   
   Herbert Noble ran crap games in downtown Dallas and soon came to resent the 25-percent protection money he had to pay to Binion. He had dreams of being the Dallas gambling kingpin himself, and formed a partnership with a like-minded underworld financier. Soon the gambling wars had begun, with one Noble partner after another turning up dead, and back and forth contracts put out on various hardcases from both sides. Noble himself had no less than thirteen assassination attempts made on him. As the author says, "By the early Fall of 1950, planning to kill Herbert Noble had practically become a cottage industry in Dallas and Fort Worth."
   
   Tragedy finally struck when Noble's 36-year-old wife made the fatal mistake of borrowing her husband's booby-trapped car. The explosion was heard eight miles away and the blast shattered windows for blocks. Her mangled body was laid to rest in a solid copper casket said to be the most expensive one ever sold in Dallas.
   
   After this incident, the hatred that consumed Noble escalated the war and led to a hellish confusion of such grisly murders and maiming that it's hard to believe that this actually happened in Texas and not in some 12-hour Francis Ford Coppola trilogy. Notorious people move in and out of the pages, people like Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, Bugsy Siegal, Meyer Lansky, Estes Kefauver, and even one Jacob Rubenstein, aka Jack Ruby.
   
   Finally by the end of the book, the good guys have arrived on the scene, the Texas Rangers, who put a stop to the violence. Thus ended the bloodiest two decades in Dallas history. The appendix contains testimonies, transcripts of recorded conversations, and progress reports on some of the still-unsolved murders from this shocking, full-scale gangland war that happened in Texas.



3. This is a great book. I knew Benny Binion. My new novel, Texas Poker Wisdom, has several stories about Benny, including the day I met him in 1960. When Binion moved to Vegas, he took a giant step down being a casino owner considering the many things he controlled in Dallas and Ft. Worth and elsewhere. The gambling wars in Dallas and Ft. Worth are hard to believe. Mr. Sleeper has written a book any Texan, gambler, or curious reader will love. I loved this book.
   Johnny HughesTexas Poker Wisdom



4. I expected to be somewhat entertained and learn a small bit about the history of Dallas gambling. I didn't expect to be so thoroughly consumed with the stories, the history and the characters. Excellent!



5. Although that fellow on the cover could not read, he was making over a million dollars a year from illegal gambling --in 1940! (That was a lot of dough!) Anyone encroaching on his business was killed in "a clear cut case of self-defense." ;^) The title is both a quote and a lie. He is portrayed as a self-made man in a world of treachery.
   
   This is more than a chronology of a gangland war; it is a window on another place and time: Texas in the old days, where you could get your tail kicked just for having a tail. ( <- Appropriate word considering what rats the "soldiers" were. It was double-cross-o-rama.) Although it has 16 pages of photos, I wanted even more as I read about these formidable characters, some of whom are not pictured, and most of whom succumbed to lead poisoning. In a refreshingly realistic observation, the author points out that they were lousy shots. The book is a fun little romp until it gets to what happened to a 36-year-old Mildred Noble, who really had nothing to do with any of this.
   
   Other notable persons in this story: Jacob Rubenstein (aka Jack Ruby), Clyde Barrow of Bonnie & Clyde fame, Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade (as in "Roe vs. Wade"), and the "Two Tonys," whom I suspect inspired the twins in Mario Puzo's novel "Omerta."
   
   This is well-researched, well-written, and it's only got four typos --not bad copy editing by today's crummy standards. Includes a good index. One appendix is an interesting transcript of a bugged conversation. Got to agree with the suggestion that there is the potential for a movie here. [Confidential to Gary Sleeper: put your fishing pole away and write us another one.]

3 comments about Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History.

1. This book has helped me allot in regards to a project I am working on. When one recognizes the significance between Jack the Ripper and the media, and it's part in ascending him from serial killer to Victorian icon, it is impossible to ignore this book. I highly recommend it.



2. I had to read this took for a Collage Class and have never enjoyed reading a "textbook" more.
   
   Paul Begg is a very entertaining author and gave alot of details concerning the Jack the Ripper Murders.
   
   At first he tells about the area of London called Whitechappel where it happened and then he talks about the Ripper Murders themselves.
   
   Not only does he give much detail about the Ripper Murders he talks about the Police investigation about it, as well as goes into detail about some of the people that historians and investigaters have claimed were Jack the Ripper.
   
   All in all a very comprehensive acount of the Jack the Ripper Murder case.



3. The book really is more about the context than the case itself, but Begg present solid research and writes very well. In terms of presenting the conditions of 1888 Whitechapel, it is probably the best book out there. For a history strictly of the JtR case, Sugden would be the way to go. However, Begg's new book, "Jack the Ripper: The Facts" (only available at amazon.co.uk now), which contains much of the research done in the past ten years, would be definitely worth getting from there. Still, this book is worth it for the Ripperologist.

2 comments about The Ski Mask Way: Based on a True Story.

1. Randy Thompson aka Ski had two options while growing up poor in Long Island New York, ball or be a baller. Randy had the skills neccessary to leave his hood behind and pursue his basketball dreams but sometimes even the most seemingly attainable goals can slip away. When's Randy's opportunity slipped away he still had to provide for his family and being a small time drug dealer just wasn't gonna cut it. Randy was gonna have to do things the Ski Mask Way and with his clique of childhood friends that wouldn't be hard at all.
   
   From Long Island to upstate NY nowhere was safe from the wrath of Ski and his crew. Jewelry Stores, Drug Dealers and Department Stores all got touched but would Ski's clique remained untouched? Or would Ski find out that becoming a baller by amassing ill gotten wealth would be even harder than going to school to pursue his NBA career. Especially when you have to overcome more than just the police but jealousy within his own clique. Read the Ski-Mask Way and find out what's harder balling or becoming a baller!



2. Although words can't be used to describe how truly HOT, this novel really is, I decided to pick a few of my favorite to give you an idea!
   
   SPLENDID, SUPERB, SUPERIOR, WONDERFUL...and the characters were...VICIOUS, WICKED, FIERCE FEROCIOUS!!!
   
   To say that I thorougly enjoyed this novel is an understatement. And the fact that it's based on a true story is CHILLING!
   
   From the very begginging Randy pulled me into the pages of this novel and I felt like I was right beside Ski through his entire journey. Although some disloyal people surrounded themselves around Ski, (disguised as friends) I smiled when I realized that in the end REAL friendship prevails.
   
   You are a fool if you call yourself a lover of "Street Fiction" and don't cop this book!
   
   It's a MUST READ!!!

No comments about Another Man's War: The True Story of One Man's Battle to Save Children in the Sudan.

5 comments about Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer.

1. Far too little research has previously been available about Frank Nitti, Capone's "Enforcer" and the public face of the Chicago Outfit after Capone was sent to prison, but anyone with an interest needs look no further than this book. Ron Humble, in what can only be described as an amazing researched book, has brought Frank Nitti back to life within these pages and has revealed the complex and contradictory gangster in a way that no other writer has ever been able to do. This is a highly readable (although filled with great detail) book that no one with a serious interest in the Chicago gangland era should be without. Don't miss this one!



2. Author Ronald Humble mentions a number of things I wasn't aware of prior to reading this book on Frank Nitti. Humble mentions that Nitti was likely responsible for the hit on Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in retaliation for Cermak's sending two men to eliminate Nitti. Giuseppe Zangara was chosen by the mob to assassinate Cermak because Zangara was in debt to the mob, and if he didn't carry out the hit he and his family would suffer torture and death. If Zangara did as the mob ordered, the mob would see that Zangara's family was taken care of in a positive way. Author Humble draws comparisons between the assassinations of Mayor Cermak and President John Kennedy. Zangara and Lee Oswald were both expendable. Zangara was quickly eliminated through execution, and didn't dare express what he knew due to concern for his family. Oswald was quickly eliminated by Jack Ruby. Author Humble also states Nitti was likely in on the rub out of despised enemy Machine Gun Jack McGurn, and north sider Hymie Weiss. The author wonders whether Nitti's death was a suicide or was he a victim of foul play. I would stick with a suicide due to his reluctance to return to prison. Finally the author spends quite a bit of time on Nitti as he was portrayed on television and in the movies showing how much coverage he was given in this area. When the author isn't sure about events in Nitti's life he makes sure to point that out. I found the book very worth while and one that should interest those who enjoy mob-related books.



3. Everyone knows of mob boss Al Capone. But what of his successor in the mob, Frank Nitti, who should be just as infamous, if not more so? "Frank Nitti: The True Story Chicago's Notorious 'Enforcer'" is his tale, bringing the tale of the countless murders and conspiracies for more, the vice and corruption that came with Nitti's leadership. With examinations of how Nitti has been portrayed in myth, legend, television, and movies, it tries to find out the truth about the man through scholarly research, covering everything from his time as Capone's enforcer, his plots to extort Hollywood, and his mysterious death, ruled as a suicide, but could it have been a complex assassination? "Frank Nitti: The True Story Chicago's Notorious 'Enforcer'" is highly recommended for anyone with a strong interest in the golden age of the mob and for community library true crime shelves.



4. I thouroughly enjoyed Ron Humble's book on Frank Nitti. The incredible detail of Nitti's grim circumstances in his youth and the insights the author provides of how his personality fit the needs of the mob and allowed him to rise to mythic status was fascinating. The depictions of Frank Nitti by Hollywood that Humble includes are further indications of how ruthless a person can become in the right circumstances while still retaining a human quality. I highly recommend the book.



5. I enjoyed this book so much - I read it in two sittings. As a ghostwriter on several mafia stories I've had to read dozens of books about Chicago's powerful mob organization - The Outfit. I've found most to be overly sensational, speculative and gruesome in their story telling. Ronald has broken through the mold. Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer is written in a refined style that makes the true horror jump off the page. Ronald does a great job framing the mafia in historical context, showing the blurred lines between good and evil in mid-nineteenth century. Great book.