Gangster Squad: Covert Cops, the Mob, and the Battle for Los Angeles

by Paul Lieberman

"Read this man's book." --James Ellroy Gangster Squad presents a harrowing, edge-of-your-seat narrative of murder and secrets, revenge and heroism in the City of Angels—the real events behind the blockbuster Warner Brothers film starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. GANGSTER SQUAD chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. In 1946, the LAPD launched the Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing the strutting gangster Mickey Cohen. Sgt. Jack O'Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical maverick. About all they had in common was their obsession. So O'Mara set a trap to prove Mickey was a killer. And Wooters formed an alliance with Mickey's budding rival, Jack "The Enforcer" Whalen. Two cops -- two hoodlums. Their fates collided in the closing days of the 1950s, when late one night "The Enforcer" confronted Mickey and his crew. The aftermath would shake both LA's mob and police department, and signal the end of a defining era in the city's history. Warner Brothers developed the film Gangster Squad based on the research award-winning journalist Paul Lieberman conducted for this book, which reveals the unbelievable true stories behind the film. He spent more than a decade tracking down and interviewing surviving members of the real police unit as well as families and associates of the mobsters they pursued. Gangster Squad is a tour-de-force narrative reminiscent of LA Confidential.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime, Historical, Biography, Audiobook

561 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Amanda Patterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warner Brothers developed the film Gangster Squad based on the research journalist Paul Lieberman conducted for this book. The blurb promises Gangster Squad is a tour-de-force narrative reminiscent of LA Confidential. It isn’t.
Lieberman writes about the lives of the members of the Gangster Squad – ‘eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds’ – while they watch the Mafia. The problem is the policemen concerned aren't that interesting. Decent dedicated law men having dinner do not make a riveting read. He writes about the LA Mafia, but the characters, Mickey Cohen, Jack Dragna, and others, are almost as boring as the men watching them.
There is a lack of focus and conflict. Nothing much happens. And then there’s the writing. Clichés and twee phrases abound. What self-respecting crime writer pens phrases like ‘There were no guarantees in police work, or in life ...’ or ‘all those men had marvellous dark hair’?
I’m sure the film will be better.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gangster Squad chronicles the true story of the secret police unit that was assembled to wage war against Mickey Cohen and any other hoodlums in Los Angeles. In 1946 the LAPD created this squad to take down Cohen and clean up the streets by any means necessary. Lasting about four years this war lead to an aftermath that shocks both the LA mob and the police department but ultimately ensuring the mob will never have a foot hold on this city ever again.

I recently saw the very loosely based movie adaptation of this true crime novel and it left me curious to know more about this squad and the life of Mickey Cohen. So I went out and read the book; while it was very story driven, the novel did get rather dry about half way through. I love books about organised crime and I was happy to learn more about the infamous Jewish mobster and his downfall.

I’m not too sure how accurate this book is; I took it was a huge grain of salt but I found out afterwards this was compiled but interviews of the gangster squad and others involved in this operation, so maybe there is some truth to it. But with all true crime and non-fiction books, I remain sceptical of the research. I always read these books and wonder just how much is researched and how much is just pure speculation, I think in this aspect I prefer the fictionalised novels of true events; that way I know for sure it is just their take on the events.

I loved the movie; it was an enjoyable Hollywood butchering of what really happened and I’m fine with that, it was entertaining. As for the book, it read like a novel at the beginning but then I think the author realised we was writing True Crime and tried to over correct himself because it became really dry and clinical. I wish he didn’t shift gears because when he tried to stick to the facts I found myself getting lost with all the people mentioned; I wasn’t sure if I’m meant to know who they all where but the cast was big and there was no point of reference for them all.

It starts off with a pulp feel to it but then it changes so drastically, I’m very interested in learning more about organised crime in America through true crime and novels but this book didn’t really teach me anything. I think the book just got so jammed pack with names that I was confused and I didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know. Finally verdict; watch the movie, it’s very entertaining and will give you some idea of what actually happened. As for the book, it didn’t really work, I like how they explored all aspects, including their failed operations but in the end Gangster Squad didn’t work as well as I was hoping.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/...

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was entertaining. I guess. Shady cops and shady thugs in shady LA. Nothing new.

[Juan Araizaga · Rating 1 out of 5]

6 días y 563 páginas después.

Después de leer tanto a Ellroy estoy acostumbrado a estas biblias. Pero... Honestamente... Que aburrida y maldita mala forma de escribir un libro con hechos tan interesantes. ¿El punto era hartarse? El autor lo logra, y hace que odies leer a todo y a todos.


Pocas veces digo esto, pero vean la película y jamás toquen este libro.

Mickey Cohen se hubiera revolcado en su tumba si se entera se esto.

No habrá absolutamente nada más del autor.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars. I adore film noir -- the shadow-drenched films of the 40s and 50s that brought to life a world inhabited by gangsters, femme fatales, and hard-boiled private eyes, double-crosses and shoot-outs, a murky cinematic world where the line between good and evil was more often than not blurred beyond recognition. The first time I heard of the upcoming film Gangster Squad was in the aftermath of the Aurora, CO theater shooting, when the trailer was pulled due to the fact that it contained scenes of a movie theater shoot-out (the sequence was subsequently cut and a new scene shot to take its place). I assumed the story was a fiction -- until I saw the trailer just over a week ago and absolutely fell in love with the look of the film. Generally speaking gangster pictures are a bit out of my viewing norm, but I am a total sucker for the look of the 40s and 50s and whatever else may be said about the upcoming film -- it has style in spades. When I learned that the film was based on the real-life exploits of LA-based gangster Mickey Cohen and the LAPD's secret "Gangster Squad," I knew I had to investigate the book that chronicling the LAPD's mid-century war on organized crime. And oh what a wild ride -- if nothing else Gangster Squad more than proves the old adage that the truth is stranger, and oft-times more compelling, than any fiction.

Journalist Paul Lieberman's 500-plus page account of the LAPD's Gangster Squad is a highly readable, page-turning account of the men whose shadowy crusade against the rise of organized crime in their city arguably changed the face of law enforcement forever. The Los Angeles of the early twentieth-century was a city on the cusp of great and profound change. With the rise of the film industry, LA was becoming an entertainment mecca -- and during the Depression years thousands sought their fortunes under California's sun-drenched skies. The advent of World War II brought a serious population boom to LA, as the city quickly swelled to become one of the top five most populated cities in America. But along with the burgeoning entertainment and industrial sectors came imports of a less desirable sort -- gangsters like Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen who sought to establish gaming and protection racket empires of their own, set to rival their eastern counterparts in Chicago and New York. And thus ten-Chief C.B. Horrall greenlit the formation of the Gangster Squad, the elite, off-the-books, virtually invisible team was hand-picked for their brawn or their brains, and their willingness to completely dedicate themselves to ridding LA of the invading gangster menace.

What is perhaps most amazing about the Gangster Squad is the virtually unquestioned autonomy they were given in their assignment to investigate, tail, and harass the gangster element. Initially their only offices were two beat-up sedans wherein meetings were scheduled on shadowy corners and in vacant lots via coded messages. Since they weren't officially recognized (at least in the first years), they were given free rein to use any method at their disposal to clean up LA's streets -- unwarranted wire taps, their fists -- if a bookie or pimp was "encouraged" to leave town it was tallied a win, no matter the circumstances. What intrigued me most about the team was their pioneering investigative methods. Led by brilliant "bug man" Con Keeler, the squad pioneered new forms of electronic surveillance and wire tapping. And in an age when J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI refused to acknowledge the existence of an organized mafia in America, the Gangster Squad was among the first to meticulously document the network of connections between LA operatives and their east coast counterparts, building massive handwritten dossiers on targets openly operating in the shadow of the law.

Lieberman's extensive exploration of the Gangster Squad's activities, its members (particularly straight-arrow John O'Mara and the roguish Jerry Wooters relative to Mickey Cohen), and their targets, is a highly readable, fast-paced account of a transformative era in the history of American law enforcement. Whether or not you agree with their methodology, Gangster Squad is a fascinating examination of the lengths a group of men were willing to go to in order to stand in the gap for their family and city in peril from gangsters who regularly got away with murder. Lieberman's prose and colorful metaphors pack a punch suggestive of the likes of Chandler, bringing his history to life with a flair worthy of a noir classic. I do with a character list, index, and bibliography were included -- the foremost particularly since due to the scope of the history and Lieberman's not exactly linear storytelling it can be difficult to keep the players straight. That aside, for those intrigued by this tumultuous time period Gangster Squad is a fast-placed, not-to-be-missed thrill ride -- an absorbing and thought-provoking window into an explosive period of American history.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lieberman’s looks at the special unit formulated to stop the wave of mobsters heading to LA promised to be a bare knuckle, bruising and bloody affair. It had it all; colourful mobsters (Cohan at least started out that way while Jack Whalen’s history was slowly building via his criminal genes), ruthless cops who wouldn’t think twice about stepping over the line to enforce justice, and sultry women hanging off the arms of the bad guys. In other words, GANGSTER SQUAD was reading like a well detailed pulp, brimming with interesting back story, multiple plot threads, and intriguing police cases (later the Black Dahlia case comes up only to be mentioned in passing). It maintained this premise for the majority before becoming bogged down at times with filler content – while seemingly thoroughly researched; I felt it had a tendency to push the entertainment value to the side in order to pursue a more journalistic angle (Lieberman is a journalist, and this story did, in part at lease appear in serial form in the 1990’s).

Supposedly focused on this elite group of lawmen, I found it more a book of Cohan and Whalen’s journey to crime and subsequent deaths. While Lieberman hit the mark for the most part, I would’ve liked to have seen more of a focus on the squad themselves (O’Mara and a few others have adequate page time but I was still left wanting more – a good sign).

There are many interesting factoids within GANGSTER SQUAD, from their success rate, influence, relationship with the FBI and their individual members. All added a picture perfect snapshot of the real LA noir. There is a lot of re-read value without a doubt.

Despite enjoying GANGSTER SQUAD I got the feeling it was watered down to curb the violence, particularly as the story progressed as the squad members themselves fell in line with LAPD policy. If Lieberman had written more about crime and punishment over back story and lives of his character studies then I wouldn’t hesitate in giving GANGSTER SQUAD 5 stars.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one to review.

I love true crime, even more so I love film-noir. This true account of gangsters, notably Mickey Cohen in LA in the 40's and 50's teetered on that film-noir feel throughout its entirety.

While balancing the facts with their relative excitement, I understand there is a great deal of ground (and fascinating men) for Lieberman to cover, so it's not always (in fact, hardly at all) the action-packed, crime drama you see in the trailer for Warner Bros. 2013 film adaptation. This I can handle, I would always prefer a realistic account of curious and even unsolved events to a dramatized, speculative and Hollywood approach to the past.

My beef with Lieberman, is that he writes as though he is giving a fictionalized version of events. The pages are riddled with characters who are drawn to hypnotize you and then dropped suddenly, as well as cliche sayings that you would expect to come from Philip Marlowe like, "Nothing is certain in police work, or in life..." pfft. C'mon Lieberman, tell it to me straight!

I will say though, that while I hope the movie keeps me more entertained, the final 50 pages of the book (afterword included) made the whole thing entirely worthwhile.

[Kath Castán · Rating 4 out of 5]

The movie and the book make almost at the same time but are totally diferent one of each other.
if you are specting read about shooters and undercover missions this is not your kind of book.
this is a real history where the end, not is a epic end like in movies.
Is about the History of 4 important people: Jack Whalen, Mickey Cohen, Jerry Wooters and Jack O´Mara.
Here there isn´t a history of the love in 50's, is a history about true people.
I haven't see the movie but I almost sure that I´m going to get angry, because they change the real history only for this have sucessful in theaters.
I like that only for once that the characters were make like the real life. But that's not the reality
This is a book really slow,and is write in 3rth person so the action scens not feel like if you will witness.
Make that you realize how the time pass and how the people change in real life not as in a invented story.

[Myles Nester · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting story, poorly told.

The book is adapted from a series of newspaper articles and it feels like it. There is little narrative flow or focus over its 500 page length, and the editorial discipline to stick to the subject is sorely lacking.

However, it is a study of a fascinating time, where gangsters where stars and the police were hopelessly ill equipped to deal with organised crime. There are numerous intriguing moments and snapshots of an era now largely forgotten in the shadow of Chicago's more famous characters.

It is hard to recommend tho because it never really builds these stories into a book. As a contrast Public Enemies, which focuses on the loose society of bank robbers in the pre-war era, is a much more successful attempt at taking a collection of cops and robbers and turning it into a real page turner.

If you have a keen interest in the american underworld, its worth picking up a copy but there's nothing here for anyone but the enthusiasts.

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed listening to this story of LA's gangster squad. Tale of how they "took down" Mickey Cohen. This was the basis for the movie Gangster Squad.

The story of the squad was interesting but I felt like it went on a little long. However, I felt like there was a saving grace in the audio version at least in that there was an interview with the author as a sort of afterword. He talked about how he found out about the unit and got the surviving members to talk to him, especially since most of them didn't really want to very much.

Most of it I listened to on my way home from Christmas and then I had to check it out of the library again to finish it.

[Carol Bagley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the movie is not the same as what really happened, the book is much closer to the truth.
My father is One of the Original Gangster Squad Members- 1948-1968. He was the " Bug Man" Phelps. I am Proud of the fact that at the times when things were going so wrong, that my father not only worked hard for the Police to not only fix the crime in Los Angeles, but to Help make the LA Police Department Do better as well. I wish i could post the pictures i have, of the real story of this whole Gangster Squad and what The LA Dept. was up against, i wish i could post the pictures, of the time and what it was like back when the LA Police Dept was Corrupt and how My Father Helped to make it Better... I do again state, the whole Movie is Not like the Real Story, but The Book is Very Close to the true facts and I thank Paul Lieberman, for his efforts to get the Information out there.

[Remi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved every minute of this book. The people are so fascinating and so quotable and they aren't even characters in a novel, they're real people! I'm on a true crime book spree because of books like this! I don't expect the movie to be very good, especially with all of the changes they're making to it in light of the Batman shootings but I'll watch anyway just to see it with the open eyes of someone who read the book that inspired it.

[Christal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough Ryan Gosling.

[Bradley Noell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gangster Squad is the fascinating story of the mob’s attempt to move into L.A. and the cops who were often just as bad as they tried to stop them. The history is from a collection of newspaper articles at the time, with a bit of the author’s voice thrown in, and while the history is fascinating, the way that it is put together could use a little work. The author is clearly fascinated by the subject and goes in depth on much of it but that is part of the problem. Some of the information given here is just so off topic that it’s hard to see why it is included. This makes the book feel much longer than it actually is, and not always in a good way.

But there is some good here too. The history that this book is going over stretches roughly from the 1940’s to the 1960’s and goes into a lot of detail about the L.A. of the time. If you enjoy that particular time period in history than the side tangents that the writer goes on will probably not bother, you. The semi-noir style that the author tries to write in is entertaining (though it starts to be a bit much as the book gets into the five-hundred-page mark). Ultimately this is an entertaining read that will probably start to wear on you as you approach the end but is worth dealing with its flaws to get the story.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some interesting insights provided by this book. Ask me to be specific and I'm unsure if I could furnish you with the details of a single one. Why? Because of the writing style. To begin with, the writing is in the style of the kind of noir fiction popularised in recent times by the likes of James Ellroy. Lieberman in fact seems to make a lot of references to the noir style in this, making me think that this is the style to which he truly aspires to. It may be to some people's taste but I just think with a text such as this, interesting information on how the characters lived their lives would be far more enlightening.

There were various other issues. Lieberman had the unendearing trait of revealing what he was about to write in the next chapter, destroying any suspense or wonder at how events might pan out. Not good. But the main problem was the fact that he seemed to focus on the banal. I'm not sure if this was due to a dearth of material for the book or what, but telling me the life histories of many, many, many insignificant characters in minute detail added nothing to the story. The main protagonist (Mickey Cohen) and antagonist (Jack O'Mara) were the only ones we needed to know about in detail. Maybe Jerry Wooters as well, at a push. Lieberman described the lives of EVERYONE in the book, trading his desire to do this against the need for the reader to know about the main characters. As a result, I felt that I knew far too little about Cohen by the end of the book.

If you have plenty of time, give this a read. But there are hugely superior gangster books (Murder Machine, Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco, Five Families to name a few) that will give far better insight into the lives and times of these guys.

[Elizabeth Stockton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was eager to read this because I was familiar with Lieberman's works set in the South, in which the sweep of history would set the stage for an invariably dramatic story. That's just what I found here, except the story was set in the shadowy Los Angeles of a Humphrey Bogart movie. Knowing his past work, I had faith that the use of history, and introduction of characters, was leading somewhere worth going, and it was. Everything was headed toward a seedy restaurant in the San Fernando Valley and a bullet between one character's eyes just before the stroke of midnight. That killing brought together everything that came before, and all four main characters, in full collision. Following the genre, though, none of their plans pan out, to put it mildly. This is no Hollywood ending, in the best sense.
E. Stockton, Atlanta

[Lynsie · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I find a book interesting, I am usually unable to put it down. Gangster Squad was an entirely different story... I couldn't even finish it! This was quite disappointing, because it is now a movie that I think looks fantastic. (Ryan Gosling, hello!)

The plot seems great; however, it is soooo slow. I probably finished a little more than half of the book, but just could not force myself to complete it.

[Kevin Koppelmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, I think the fact I had just finished Gangland New York and Mafia summit made it a little better. It was cool to see the differences and connections between the East and West coast gangsters. The information on the cops helped to show a little more realistic everyday life to the book.

[Justin Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cheeseball style was entertaining at first, but over the course of 500 pages gradually wore out its welcome. Worse, it obscured some of the facts it was trying to convey. There are much better histories of Los Angeles of the time.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stranger than fiction! A fascinating account spanning two decades of aggressive, invasive, innovating policing (thanks in no small part to a number of now illegal tactics...) and the high profile mobsters they were after.

[Cee Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written and engrossing book on the Gangster Squad and their battles against Mickey Cohen in the 40s and 50s. A lot of interesting and funny anecdotes are included as well as thorough research and interviews with survivors and family members involved in the time period .

[Steve Schlutow · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was poorly written book. The story was very interesting, the writing ruined it. I had to put it down. I can't wait for the movie--the story was good.

[Trent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well researched, put together, and executed. Will be interesting to see how much from the book actually made it into the upcoming movie.

[Joe Colville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a little hesitant to try but a supremely fascinating story (or series of true tales) about criminals and mob L.A. in the late 1930s to postwar.

[Lawrence Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the Audible audiobook version.

This book was an experience that paralleled and complemented another historical LA epic I read a while back: LA Noir by John Buntin. It was somewhat weirdly comforting to dive back into post war Los Angeles and hear about the tales of the LAPD vs Mickey Cohen again. Though in this book, Paul Lieberman focuses on the titular Gangster Squad, a group of tough cops who worked behind the scenes and many times outside the law to try and put a stop to the massive organized crime problem in 40s-50s Los Angeles. They made a movie out of this book which I watched a few years ago, and I must say this book is not really anything like that movie, so keep that in mind if you are going into this expecting an epic shootout at the end for example. They really Hollywoodized this book, which in a weird way is actually quite fitting given the topic.

This is a very thoroughly researched historical book, the exact type I like. While LA Noir mostly focused on telling the story of Los Angeles through the lens of the dynamic between Mickey Cohen and LAPD Chief William Parker, this book follows the lives and careers of a much larger cast of characters that, through their actions, demonstrate how intense the conflict between cops and robbers could really get back then, and how naive the country as a whole was to organized crime as a problem in the great metropolises of America. You'll follow the members of the Gangster Squad like the straight and true Jack O'Mara, Jerry Wooters who befriended a criminal tough man, and the technical expert Conwell Keeler. In the underworld, along with the legendary Mickey Cohen, you're introduced to Jack Dragna, the entire Wheeler family, and a whole slew of other wiseguys, bookies, and bootleggers. Through it all, you get the sense that L.A. was a city both held hostage yet enthralled by the very criminals that made it infamous. Everything just seems more glamorous in Hollywood, even the gangsters.

Besides the history, I actually really liked the writing style. There were many period accurate terms and phrases used, particularly when recounting interviews. It makes the reader/listener feel like they're truly heading back in time, which is always a nice touch for someone like me who values immersive experiences. Robert Petkoff did an excellent job attempting the accents of 1940's gangsters, which are somewhat considered ridiculous nowadays but it lent credence to the idea you were really listening to court recordings of Mickey Cohen, for example.

A high recommend from me and an entertaining and informative historical account of a rather secretive LAPD squad that would likely never be even considered today. These were different men facing a different problem in a very different time. It's good that there is a preserved record of their history, and an entertaining and informative read at that.

[John Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the true story of the special team established by the Los Angeles Police Department in the late 1940s to rein in organized crime and preserve the city's squeaky-clean image, as told by a longtime Los Angeles Times reporter and editor. Since the story is located at the intersection of Hollywood and gangster glamour, it's not surprising that it makes an interesting and sprightly tale. In the end, however, the so-called "gangster squad" appears not to have done much beyond following gangsters around and occasionally roughing up a few of them. The only significant convictions noted in the book were for tax fraud (the same thing that led to Al Capone's downfall in the 1930s), while murder, extortion, and other crimes never were punished. Organized crime in Los Angeles also never was as serious or violent as in Chicago, New York, or even smaller markets like Boston or Kansas City. Indeed, one of the mob enforcers detailed in the book, a wannabe Hollywood actor named Jack Whalen, typically went about his business unarmed, and relied instead on his bulging muscles to intimidate opponents.

The LAPD's efforts over the course of over a decade, however, aided in developing the evidence used to prove tax fraud, and the gangster squad's efforts also performed a service in showing the interconnected web of criminals and criminal enterprises at a time when the FBI denied that organized crime even existed. It also makes a colorful and enjoyable story.

Today, of course, Los Angeles no longer has a squeaky-clean image to protect. It is widely and accurately regarded as a den of sin and corruption, of government failure and social conflict, and as a place that's not all that different from the near-future dystopian science fiction epics which have been among Hollywood's best productions in recent decades. Gangster Squad hearkens back to an era which may have been more naive than the present, but at the same time more honest and good-hearted, even though it included gangsters, and police who didn't always stay within the bounds of the law in attempting to bring them to justice.

[Willow Rankin · Rating 1 out of 5]

*DNF*

I read the first 98 pages of this, and then I thought no, this was not for me. Firstly the introduction does a poor job at highlighting who's who. I spent the whole time I read this, trying to keep track of everyone - the cops and the gangsters. Secondly, the writing was full of clichés and just very poor - the story telling came across as bad fiction. Whilst I am sure the subject matter is interesting (gangsters running LA during the early part of the 20th century), the poor writing makes it incredibly hard to follow.
Undoubtedly their is good research - from the interviews to surviving members, to the newspapers and media of the time, the fact that a thread was not followed made it hard to be that invested in the book.
It was too much of a chore to read so I decided it just wasn't for me.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is not a suspenseful movie script, it is a well researched history of the first law enforcement agency to target organized crime in the United States.

The audiobook presentation added color to the distinct voices of the witness interviews collected by the author.

It seems some readers were put off by the author using some of the same, sometimes cliché, phrases used by the major players. However, I enjoyed the theme carried beyond the voices of the witnesses.

I also appreciated learning about what happened to the major players decades after the dust of the turf wars settled.

[Jim Kendall · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was young I thought the past was gone but I know better now. Paul put a lot of effort into this and interviewed a lot of old time LA mafiosos. In the LA area we see LA cops around and sometimes need to talk with them. They're based in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium. Being a cop in any jurisdiction is a hard job, no doubt. Got my copy of Paul's book right here and flipping through it gives me the willies. Was LAPD corrupt? Are they still? A lot of it's about Mickey Cohen the mobster from East and West LA. Funny but true. Some mobster got caught due to flickin' fidos into a pay phone, fidos are slugs. Tried to cheat the phone company and lost that game.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written in a rat-a-tat, newspaperman style; I could almost hear Walter Winchell's voice as I read it. There's not a lot of plot or character development, instead it's a collection of colorful anecdotes about crime, gangsters and shootouts in L.A. in the forties and fifties. The lead gangster is Mickey Cohen (played by Sean Penn in the movie adaptation) and the lead cop is Jack O'Mara (played by Josh Brolin). The main reason I will see the movie is because Emma Stone is in it. She's becoming one of my favorite actresses (and she went to my high school!). Her character is Grace Faraday, a gun moll, I presume. If you're looking for good writing, move along, nothing to see here.