Official Review: The Starlight Club by Joe Corso

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Emie Cuevas
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Official Review: The Starlight Club by Joe Corso

Post by Emie Cuevas »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Starlight Club" by Joe Corso.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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It’s the 1960’s, and you are invited into The Starlight Club, a hangout for one of Chicago’s largest mob families. The Starlight Club by Joe Corso is written in the third person and is based on a true story.

Bobby travels to New York to see his daughter, and he gets her to take them to a special place from his past. He is very disappointed when he realises that it has changed beyond recognition. He then starts to tell his daughter about the incredible place it used to be, and some of the things that happened there. It used to be called The Starlight Club!

The Starlight Club was owned and operated by Big Red. This was one of many legitimate businesses owned and operated by the mob. The mob was run by Don Yip Carnevale, and Big Red was his heir apparent. Bobby used to deliver meat there, and he was friendly with most of the staff, including Big Red. As such he knew more about the mobs business than perhaps he should, but this was the first time he’d spoken about it.

Trenchie got out of jail and went to stay at The Starlight Club. He got sent to jail for manslaughter, taking the rap for one of his bosses. As such, they had fixed him up with his own restaurant business, so he was a man of means. Being loyal to the mob he continued to work for them, even though he had come out of jail in the middle of a mob war. While still staying at The Starlight Club, Trenchie stops four Latinos when they break in and start smashing up the place. While it is being renovated, Trenchie goes for a walk and just happens to hear a woman screaming. He rescues Mary from her ex husband and offers to take her for dinner to help calm her. This is the start of a great love story.

One of the other mob boys, Jimmy the Hat, is really handsome. So Red sends him to Hollywood for a screen test. Jimmy arrives just as they are casting a new film called “Mob Enforcer” and being a perfect fit for the role is offered the lead. This among other things really shows the depth of feelings and respect that they have for each other. I really loved this about the book.

The war escalates until a large explosion kills three people, one of them very important! Who it was and what happens next? You’ll have to read The Starlight Club to find out.

Before I started to read this book, I was expecting it to contain lots of action and violence. However, after reading it I realised that this is more of a dad by day description of the lives of the members of the mob, with only sporadic action. It portrays the characters as normal humans, fighting only when they must. Fiercely loyal to each other, always willing to help each other as needed. Having never been part of something like this I can see the appeal, even if most of what they do is outside the law. The book also highlights how lucky we are to live at this time, rather than then. They just had to pay the right guy and they’d get away with just about anything. It’s very different now.

The story contains many characters, most of these were gangsters, which were hard to keep track of as they all acted in a similar way. However, the main characters stood out and were easily recognisable and I found them easy to like.

The ending of the book was not what I was expecting, which was a nice surprise. It also wasn’t a cliff-hanger, so this looks like a single book, not part of a series. Though with the style of writing I could be wrong and the tale could continue with another book.

The language of the writing is contemporary to the era concerned, so it’s difficult to say if a grammar mistake is done on purpose to go with the style or is a genuine mistake. That being said, I did find several mistakes that stood out as being wrong. These didn’t really affect the flow of the story. I found the story to be quite slow with no obvious plot, so I feel that I have to give this book only 3 out of 4 stars. I think this book would appeal to anyone who likes historical novels. I also think that people looking for an action packed story should avoid this one.

******
The Starlight Club
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kandscreeley
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Post by kandscreeley »

Well, I appreciate your review. However, this is one I'm just not interested in. The multiple characters with a day by day type of flow is not my thing. Thanks though.
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Post by EWatson02 »

Though I'm not usually a huge fan of mob fiction, the uniqueness of this one might make it a good one to look into. Thanks for the review!
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Post by Kalin Adi »

A mob story narrated to a daughter? Hmmm. Well, mafia stories are not my thing even if they are based on real events. I'm glad you could find some enjoyment when reading this even though the book wasn't what you were expecting. Thanks for the review.
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Post by Sahani Nimandra »

Breaking of a flow in a story is not for me, but I do like the details mentioned in the story. Thanks for the review!
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Post by vinodsai »

The Starlight Club is a hangout for Chicago's largest mob families in 1960's and its based on a true story. Basically, true stories pull me in. I will definitely look into it. Thanks for your amazing review.
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Post by Kat Berg »

I am not really a fan of mob stories, but I am glad that overall you seemed to enjoy the book. Thanks for the review, but I think I'll be skipping this one.
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Post by NL Hartje »

Emie Cuevas wrote: 02 Feb 2018, 00:07
The language of the writing is contemporary to the era concerned, so it’s difficult to say if a grammar mistake is done on purpose to go with the style or is a genuine mistake.

This is an interesting observation. I agree that historical or foreign heavy works can be hard to follow grammatically. (Well, for me at least :P )
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Post by Cristina Chifane »

Thank you for your review. Mob fiction is not among my favorite genres, but from time to time we need to think out of the box. :)
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Post by RebeccasReading »

It's disappointing that this book doesn't contain more action. I would have assumed by the topic that it would be very exciting. Thanks for the review!
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Post by prettysmart »

You mentioned in your review that the ending of the book was unexpected which makes this book even more appealing as I cant stand a story that is too predictive ugh. Great Job!
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