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Blood Relation
A New Yorker writer investigates the life and career of his hit-man great-uncle and the impact on his family.
Growing up in a household as generic as Midwestern Jews get, author Eric Konigsberg always wished there was something different about his family, something exotic and mysterious, even shocking. When he was sent off to boarding school, he learned from an ex-cop security guard that there His great-uncle Harold, in prison in upstate New York, was a legendary Mafia enforcer, suspected by the FBI of upwards of twenty murders.
Konigsberg had uncovered a shameful, long-hidden family secret. His grandfather, a Jewish Horatio Alger story who had become a respected merchant through honesty and hard work, never spoke of his baby brother. When other relatives could be coaxed into talking about him, he wasn't "Kayo" Konigsberg, the "smartest hit man" and "toughest Jew" described by cops and associates; he was Uncle Heshy, the loudmouth nogoodnik and smalltime con, long since written off as dead. Intrigued, Konigsberg ignored his family's protests and arranged a meeting, which inspired the acclaimed New Yorker piece this book is based on.
In Blood Relation, Konigsberg portrays Harold as a fascinating, paradoxical both brutal and winning, a cold-blooded killer and a larger-than-life charmer who taught himself to read as an adult and served as his own lawyer in two major trials, to riotous effect. Functioning by turns as Kayo's pursuer, jailhouse scribe, pawn, and antagonist, Konigsberg traces his great-uncle's checkered and outlandish life and investigates his impact on his family and others who crossed his path, weaving together strands of family, Jewish identity, justice, and post-war American history.
Growing up in a household as generic as Midwestern Jews get, author Eric Konigsberg always wished there was something different about his family, something exotic and mysterious, even shocking. When he was sent off to boarding school, he learned from an ex-cop security guard that there His great-uncle Harold, in prison in upstate New York, was a legendary Mafia enforcer, suspected by the FBI of upwards of twenty murders.
Konigsberg had uncovered a shameful, long-hidden family secret. His grandfather, a Jewish Horatio Alger story who had become a respected merchant through honesty and hard work, never spoke of his baby brother. When other relatives could be coaxed into talking about him, he wasn't "Kayo" Konigsberg, the "smartest hit man" and "toughest Jew" described by cops and associates; he was Uncle Heshy, the loudmouth nogoodnik and smalltime con, long since written off as dead. Intrigued, Konigsberg ignored his family's protests and arranged a meeting, which inspired the acclaimed New Yorker piece this book is based on.
In Blood Relation, Konigsberg portrays Harold as a fascinating, paradoxical both brutal and winning, a cold-blooded killer and a larger-than-life charmer who taught himself to read as an adult and served as his own lawyer in two major trials, to riotous effect. Functioning by turns as Kayo's pursuer, jailhouse scribe, pawn, and antagonist, Konigsberg traces his great-uncle's checkered and outlandish life and investigates his impact on his family and others who crossed his path, weaving together strands of family, Jewish identity, justice, and post-war American history.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 7, 2009
Konigsberg learns while he is away at boarding school that his father’s uncle, that no one in the family ever speaks of, is a notorious hit man for the mob serving life sentences in prison. Despite his family’s warnings Konigsberg interviews his uncle and gathers tons of fascinating information about “Kayo’s” career as a killer, racqueteer, extortionist and all around thug in New Jersey and New York until he got put away in the early 60’s.
Kayo Konigsberg is an overpowering, gold mine of a character. He is huge, eats like an animal, he is psychopathic, able to turn on the charm and the death chill intimidation and the slightest turn of events. He is a master manipulator, conning guards, attorneys, fellow inmates and even judges into his flunkies.
Toward the end of the book, (beginning about chapter eleven, “On Trial in Kingston”) when Konigsberg goes deeply into court records of his uncle defending himself in court, 1977, there develops some true comedy mixed with further examples of Kayo’s menace. When interviewing potential jurors for his own case, there are transcripts of Kayo’s dissertations his expectations for being “clothed in the right of the presumption of innocence” to them and …told a butcher that , when the trial was over, he’d appreciate his advice on how to wrap a roast. p. 202.
Then, …observers were put on edge by the way Harold would, during a break, offhandedly mention by name the wives and children of the prosecution team’s attorneys, or their home addresses, or, in one case, where and when an assistant D.A.’s mother got herhair done every week. p. 209.
And he managed all his research and defense from prison.
Konigsberg also unearths FBI records of his uncle posing to give them information in return for leniency and/or immunity – which he always vehemently denied, but in truth, none of his information ever helped any of the FBI’s cases. Good book.
Kayo Konigsberg is an overpowering, gold mine of a character. He is huge, eats like an animal, he is psychopathic, able to turn on the charm and the death chill intimidation and the slightest turn of events. He is a master manipulator, conning guards, attorneys, fellow inmates and even judges into his flunkies.
Toward the end of the book, (beginning about chapter eleven, “On Trial in Kingston”) when Konigsberg goes deeply into court records of his uncle defending himself in court, 1977, there develops some true comedy mixed with further examples of Kayo’s menace. When interviewing potential jurors for his own case, there are transcripts of Kayo’s dissertations his expectations for being “clothed in the right of the presumption of innocence” to them and …told a butcher that , when the trial was over, he’d appreciate his advice on how to wrap a roast. p. 202.
Then, …observers were put on edge by the way Harold would, during a break, offhandedly mention by name the wives and children of the prosecution team’s attorneys, or their home addresses, or, in one case, where and when an assistant D.A.’s mother got herhair done every week. p. 209.
And he managed all his research and defense from prison.
Konigsberg also unearths FBI records of his uncle posing to give them information in return for leniency and/or immunity – which he always vehemently denied, but in truth, none of his information ever helped any of the FBI’s cases. Good book.
September 6, 2010
Easy read. Tale of a family's "hidden secret" that noone wanted to talk about and is disclosed from a family member in jail to another family member. Gets repetitive as it progresses. Interesting analysis of the mind of a hired hit-man.
July 24, 2016
so this guy had an uncle who was a mafia hit man. No one in the family spoke of him and the author decided to find out what he was all about, including visiting him in prison. Very good description of a true psychopath from a family's point of view.
November 1, 2015
Eric Konigsburg discovers that his great uncle is the famous K.O. Konigsburg a criminal responsible for many of the mob's killings. The book is thoroughly researched and well written, but aside for the family history gets monotonous.
July 19, 2008
Very interesting... a new perspective of Mob life. Who knew you shouldn't whack a guy on the Sabbath?
April 28, 2010
I learned alot about organized crime and pyschopathology.....be careful of that weird guy next door....
July 24, 2022
The author of this book uncovered some interesting family secrets. One of those secrets, uncovered while he was at boarding school, was that his Uncle Harold was an enforcer for an organized crime syndicate. When the author pressed his family about Uncle Heshy, they just said he was a con and had written him off. He had been in trouble repeatedly throughout his childhood, was illiterate and generally uncouth, and wasn't good to his siblings or parents. The author started digging into the life and crimes of his great uncle, and this book was born from that. His uncle even threatened him, as an article that the author had written about his uncle was dissatisfying.
Harold Konigsberg, aka Kayo, was an enforcer for several organized crime outfits. He did what one would consider freelance work. It is reported that he is responsible for at least twenty murders. He was also a very difficult prisoner. He stole food from other inmates, scarfing it down. He gave the guards trouble at every possible moment. He acted up in the courtroom, even once pooping in his wheelchair to stall court proceedings. He once threatened another inmate with rape, to which the inmate committed suicide rather than deal with that. He served time in something like fifteen correctional facilities, totaling fifty years, for on murder that he was linked to, before being paroled. He moved into an assisted living facility in Florida, where he was terrible to the other residents. He died in 2006, at age 89.
I love a good mobster book, and this one was really interesting. I had never heard of Harold Kayo Konigsberg, so I enjoyed learning about this person. I can imagine he would have been utterly impossible to put up with, and I doubt anyone was sad to see him die. Perhaps his daughters and their families, but certainly not the people who were impacted by his crimes, the inmates and guards he terrorized, or the residents at the assisted living center that he was hateful to. If you are into organized crime, especially the little talked about Jewish gangsters, this is a book for you!
Harold Konigsberg, aka Kayo, was an enforcer for several organized crime outfits. He did what one would consider freelance work. It is reported that he is responsible for at least twenty murders. He was also a very difficult prisoner. He stole food from other inmates, scarfing it down. He gave the guards trouble at every possible moment. He acted up in the courtroom, even once pooping in his wheelchair to stall court proceedings. He once threatened another inmate with rape, to which the inmate committed suicide rather than deal with that. He served time in something like fifteen correctional facilities, totaling fifty years, for on murder that he was linked to, before being paroled. He moved into an assisted living facility in Florida, where he was terrible to the other residents. He died in 2006, at age 89.
I love a good mobster book, and this one was really interesting. I had never heard of Harold Kayo Konigsberg, so I enjoyed learning about this person. I can imagine he would have been utterly impossible to put up with, and I doubt anyone was sad to see him die. Perhaps his daughters and their families, but certainly not the people who were impacted by his crimes, the inmates and guards he terrorized, or the residents at the assisted living center that he was hateful to. If you are into organized crime, especially the little talked about Jewish gangsters, this is a book for you!
June 18, 2014
Kayo Konigsberg and Tony Provenzano are not popular in the literature. Both were notorious and violent hoodlums. I was hoping to learn more about them through this book. However, the author was more focused on family ties - hence the title - than he was about describing organized crime. The result is a well-written drama about a family with hints about the mob. Sometimes I felt that Eric exaggerated his uncle's role in the mob when he threw out tidbits about his wealth and influence. It made the story less convincing. There were some gross factual errors in the book such as Anastasia was Genovese's underboss. Almost anything he said about the mob, aside from his uncle and Provenzano, was erroneous. These errors just reinforced the key idea that the book was more drama and less history. Overall, it is a very good story. But readers interested in the mob should read other books.
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December 9, 2013This book is probably one of the better books that I have read in my day. The main character in this book is Eric Konigsberg. He is the main character in this book and he is the serial killer in this book, as well. The main character in this book looks into the life of his great uncle Harold and finds out he is a hit man and he also looks into many other things of what kind of person his great uncle was, too. This whole book is about Eric trying to unravel different information and find out different secrets into the freaky mind of his great uncle. Overall, a very good book especially if you like suspenseful books. This book keeps you on your toes all the time and wanting you to keep on reading and wanting you to find out what's going to happen next.
February 27, 2011
There are many better and more interesting books about criminal knuckleheads than this one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews