4 out of 4 stars
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Lucky Luciano: Mysterious Tales of a Gangland Legend is a true crime mystery novel by Christian Cipollini. It is not uncommon for people of regular status to look at the lives of big-name criminals with nothing but sheer admiration, and sometimes even envy. In the early twentieth century, people were fascinated with gangsters such as Al Capone, Frank Costello, and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Today our fascination might be directed at local drug lords who captivate us with their power, wealth, and temerity towards the law. The author asks the question, "Why are we, the purveyors of pop culture and controversy, so enamored with their stories, exploits, and history?"
The tales of criminal masterminds are fun pass times for most readers, but the facts aren't always there to give us the real story. For years, researchers and historians have studied the lives of these criminal legends, one of them being the legend of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Who is Lucky Luciano? According to the author, his role has been scrutinized and his tale has been debated about for nearly a century. "Some believe that he was the catalyst that changed the structure of organized crime, on a national level -- for the better." To answer this question, the author takes us through a series of tales revolving around both truth as well as gangland mythology.
Intended to raise questions rather than to provide answers, this novel makes for an interesting short-read about the rise and fall of mobster Lucky Luciano. The author makes use of quotes from other books on the subject of Luciano, newspaper articles, and various other materials to move his novel to its conclusion. The writing itself is remarkable and structured in such a way that you might confuse it with fiction. A few typos here and there didn't hurt my experience as I was too much intrigued by all the conspiracies surrounding Luciano; the origin of his moniker, crimes he may or may not have been involved in, etc.
I was only angry that the novel didn't include the least bit of information about Lucky's childhood. After a finite timeline shedding some light on major events in his life, the author starts off by mentioning the entire clan of "original gangsters" to help paint an image of this iconic figure in the history of organized crime. The author doesn't portray Luciano in any other way than the man he was -- a mobster bent on eradicating the "old school" Mafioso structure while unifying gangsters of all ethnic groups.
For lovers of true crime novels, this is an absolute must-have. People new to this genre will find the author's storytelling capabilities mixed with the tough subject of Luciano a well fit. With numerous photographs of iconic crime figures, their mistresses, and crime scene photos, this makes for wonderful, concise learning material for those who don't yet know anything about this legendary gangster. The author stated early on in the novel why he wrote the novel the way he did, and why there are some things about Luciano the world will never know. My rating is 4 out of 4.
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Lucky Luciano
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