Trinities by Nick Tosches

by Nick Tosches

The Mafia, Asian drug lords, and Wall Street financiers wage an all-out war for control of the world's multi-billion-dollar heroin trade, while a lawman fights a battle for his own soul

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, American

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Nick Tosches was an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet. His 1982 biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, Hellfire, was praised by Rolling Stone magazine as "the best rock and roll biography ever written."

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to Nick Tosches to make me fall in love with a book about gangsters. And, as an extra bonus, I learned more about the great Eastern philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism that I expected. And, of course, Tosches' writing is sublime. Here's a taste:
"They walked quietly, with the light of the setting sun behind them. The lush green leaves in the boughs overhead turned dark and moved like a glimmering nighttime sea, and their rustling was like the sound of conjuring-gourds, the hissing of snake vertebrae and bone dust in slow, rhythmic, ghostly invocation." .... or how 'bout this first sentence of chapter twenty-two: "With his killing hand, Johnny raised a cup of coffee to his lips."

[Kevin Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read the book Trinities by Nick Tosches. It is a first-person perspective of New York’s mafia and drug trade. Out of all the books I have read in Literary Analysis, it is by far the best.
The book is told from three different perspectives: the Italian Mafia, Chinese Triads, and a D.E.A. agent Bob Marshall. The book gives a window into the personal lives of these men and their families. You find out the motivation that they have behind doing what they do, which often includes disgusting acts of violence. The main character, Johnny Di Pietro, struggles with many issues throughout the book including relationship problems, family loyalty, judging good vs. evil, backstabbers, and survival.
I enjoyed the book because I saw a lot of myself in Johnny and it was interesting to see what decisions he made. The book seems like it is written in a higher reading level then any of the other books I have read and can get confusing at times. I liked how the author used different writing styles for each perspective, so it was easy to tell who he was writing about.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please understand that my two-star review is no indictment of Nick Tosches as a writer. The fact is, Trinities is very well written. It also contains really impressive research. It felt like half of the dialog was in Italian or a dialect of Chinese or anything but English. I was impressed. And I dare say I even learned some things. But darn it, I did not enjoy reading it!

The foreign-language dialog got old really quickly (I'd sometimes sigh when I saw yet another page littered with italic text). And the huge multi-page swaths of descriptions were interesting, but just acted as barriers between me and the end of the book. I admire and respect the scholarship, but I didn't enjoy it.

[Brandyn Curd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely one of the best mafia books I've read and I've read many. It tells of an aging, decaying organization in it's declining years, and of how their brilliant leader brings them back to glory. I love how it takes you from the streets of New York, then all across the globe as they plot to take their power back from the hands of the men who have usurped it. Surprisingly, not many people seem to have read this book. If you liked the Godfather or Gangster by Lorenzo Carcatera, you're sure to love this book. Glorious.

[Frank Consalvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept hearing about this writer. So I checked him out and bought this book. Mobster book that was complex and really well done. I have to admit I got a little confused with some of the Asian characters and which side they were on and if they were going to be important as the story unfolded. Aside from that it was really a fine read. Scary ending.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best crime fiction I've ever read. This isn't just hard boiled, it is brutal, real and gorgeous. It's a shame so few people seem to know this book...and this auther.

[Joseph Mccarron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "insight" bogged me down. I prefer a quicker moving story line.

[David DeLuca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect. Just read it.

[Chris Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the late 1980s and early 90s, the Italian Mafia decided to get back into the heroin trafficking business. They'd not been involved in this business since police busted the "Pizza Connection"--i.e. the "French Connection" in the mid-70s. To do so this time around, they needed to broker relationships with the Hong Kong triads, New York Chinatown gangs, and the Sicilian Mafia. Much blood-spilling, back-stabbing, and double-crossing ensues, with a backdrop meditation on the nature of good and evil, and the differences between how each is perceived in the east and west. Tosches spins his usual spell-binding tale, offering no easy answers about this slice of the war on drugs that undoubtedly continues today.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy 2.5 stars

[Dennis Koers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on organized crime I have read.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational must-read