The Whisky King: The remarkable true story of Canada's most infamous bootlegger and the undercover Mountie on his trail

by Trevor Cole

A rich and fascinating history of Canada’s first celebrity mobster, Rocco Perri --King of the Bootleggers--and the man who pursued him, “Operative No. 1,” Canada’s first undercover Mountie, for readers of Erik Larson, Dean Jobb and Charlotte Gray

At the cusp of the twentieth century, two Italian men, among many others, arrived in Canada during waves of immigration. One, Rocco Perri, from southern Italy, rose from the life of a petty criminal on the streets of Toronto to run the most prominent bootlegging operation of the Prohibition Era in central Canada, taking over Hamilton and leading one of the region’s most influential crime families. Perri was feared by his enemies and loved by the press, who featured him regularly in splashy front-page headlines in the Toronto Star. So great was his celebrity, following the murder of his first wife and business partner, Bessie Starkman, a crowd of 30,000 thronged in the streets of Hamilton to watch her funeral.

Perri’s businesses—which included alcohol, drugs, gambling and prostitution—kept him under constant police surveillance. He caught the interest of one man in particular, the other arrival from Italy, Frank Zaneth. Zaneth, from the Italian north, joined the RCMP and became its first undercover operative. His work took him across the country, but he was dogged in his pursuit of Rocco Perri and worked for his arrest until the day Perri was last seen, in 1944, when he disappeared without a trace.

The Whisky King is the story of the fascinating rise to power of a notorious 1920s Canadian crime figure twinned with the life of the man who pursued him.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Canada, Biography Memoir

512 pages, Hardcover

First published April 11, 2017

About the author

Trevor Cole (born Trevor William Cole on February 15, 1960) is a Canadian novelist and journalist. His first two novels, Norman Bray in the Performance of his Life (2004) and The Fearsome Particles (2006), were nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Reviews

[Cheryl]

I quite enjoyed this book. Most people hear of the mobsters of the US, such as Al Capone or Lucky Luciano, but it isn't often you hear about the Canadian Italian mobsters. This was an interesting history of one Canadian Italian mobster and a Canadian Italian RCMP. Both from Italy, but both leading very different lives. This is an easy to read book that is well written.

[Lindsay Doyle]

Clearly very well-researched. And it was so cool to learn about some movie-level Canadian history. However, it was a little tedious at times and it was difficult to keep track of various players in the recounting.

[Teena in Toronto]

Rocco Perri was born in southern Italy in 1887 and moved to Canada as a young man. He eventually settled in Hamilton, ON, and became one of the most prominent mob bosses in Canadian history. He made his fortune in bootlegging, drugs, prostitution and more and was usually able to stay one step ahead of the law. His common law wife was Bessie Starkman and she murdered in 1930 as they were arriving home one night ... her murder was never solved.

Frank Zaneth was from northern Italy and also arrived in Canada as a young man. He headed out west and tried homesteading with his then wife in the prairies. This turned out to be not what he had bargained for so he sold his land and became a Mountie. Over the years, he spent most of his time undercover and eventually investigating Perri became one of his cases.

Perri went for a walk in April 1944 and was never seen again. There are theories that he is encased in cement at the bottom of Hamilton Harbour or that he took off to Mexico and lived out his days in hiding.

I hadn't heard of Perri or Zaneth or their stories. I came across this book and it sounded interesting and it was. It's obvious the author did a great amount of research as it is quite detailed. I knew there was bootlegging going on during the Prohibition area and this book definitely gives you a feel of what it was like at that time living outside the law. Plus I didn't realize Canada had such a big mob presence.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2017/07...

[Amanda Borys]

This book makes me wonder where the adage "Crime doesn't pay" came from. Because the Whisky King, Rocco Perri, lived a very luxurious lifestyle while the Mountie, Frank Zenith, had to fight for every per diem and salary increase, living most of his life financially precarious. And they both faced about the same level of violence and danger.

I enjoyed the book and it certainly showed a side of Ontario that I knew nothing about. I am sure every big city, Calgary included, has it's gangs and mobs and criminal underside. I have just been very sheltered from that aspect. But the idea that the Godfather could have been set in Hamilton or Niagara is a bit disconcerting. Though the fact that Perri's first partner, Bessie Starkman, was more ambitious and ruthless than he was, wasn't really a shock. :)

My only criticism of the book was that is portrayed Perri as a kinder, gentler form of a mafia mobster, who used diplomacy and bonhomme to control his part of the territory when dealing with the other violent crime bosses. I have a hard time believing Perri's hands were clean. He may have worked through junior members of his gang, but I doubt he would have had any qualms about killing anyone. But I don't know if that is necessarily how the author intended to portray Perri or how he was portrayed in the press at the time to sell more papers.

[Denise]

An interesting look at the Canadian bootleggers that worked through Prohibition, most notably Rocco Perri and the RCMP officer that took on the case to arrest Perri. The bootleggers operated in Hamilton, Toronto and the Niagara area and really helped develop those cities with their illegal activities. There were some slow areas in the book where the writing could have been a little tighter but it is a great piece of history.

[Taveri]

This story would make a great movie.  Two Italiens: one from northern Italy (Frank Zanetti becomes Zaneth) and the other from southern Italy (Rocco Perri becomes Perre) immigrate to Canada pre WWII. One becomes Canada's first undercover cop (secret service); the other a leading considerate gangster in Hamilton.  Although a true story it reads like a mystery novel with anticipation as to when these main characters will meet up, with surprising twists along the way.

In addition one learns about what is was like to be an immigrant in those days and how prohibition came about, then went.  Liberal MPs, of the day, were involved in protecting the racket and the stinginess of the RCMP is revealed, as multiple times their valued agent is refused his entitled per diems.  At one time working undercover in the labout movement he was earning four times what he was paid as a mountie; he had to turn the excess over to the Crown

There is some humour as one is on trial and the author points out the questioning sounds like the Abbot and Costello routine "Who' on First" a decade later:


How much did you get a case?

A case for what?

For the goods ordered over the phone?

I never ordered no stuff over the phone.

How much did these men pay you a case?

What men?

These men who ordered over the phone.

What you mean, the distillery?

No paid you.

The distillery pay me?

How much were you paid a case by anybody?

I never pay nobody a case.

I asked you how much you were paid.

I never buy any liquor.

How much were you paid?

Paid to whom?

Paid by Penna or any distillery in respect of the calls put though on the phone.

How much I paid Penna for using the telephone?

How much were you paid?

All I pay?  Or they pay me?

Yes

What for?

I ttold you what for.  Now answer my question.

[Mark Lisac]

I guess it would normally be classed as true crime but it's much more — social history, biography, occasional glimpses of the quirks of legislation and official hierarchies. Rocco Perri was an Italian (from the southern region known as Calabria) immigrant who built a bootlegging empire based in Hamilton, Ontario. The book follows his life and, in less detail, the life of Frank Zaneth, who hailed from northern Italy and became an RCMP investigator assigned at times to investigate Perri. It's an absorbing story. I would have made some small editing changes but it's very well done, strong on both large themes and eye-catching details. As a Hamilton native, I also appreciated the references to specific city locations, even though many of the buildings cited in the book now have been replaced by newer buildings or developments like parks.

[John]

Interesting history of Hamilton ON bootlegger Rocco Perri, and the women who abetted him throughout the Prohibition era (19-teens through 1930s). His enterprises included prostitution and, later, narcotics. Also, the parallel story of RCMP officer Frank Zaneth (also Italian) who spent years trying to nail Rocco, Bessie and Alice and their accomplices. Complicit, through dubious schemes that skirted temperance laws, were distillers Seagrams, Corbys and Gooderham-Worts, plus a number of breweries that produced booze for "export" and "medicinal purposes". The cast of characters is quite rich. This is a very-well researched history, though some remains speculative due to the understandable lack of records kept by bootleggers.

[David Bril]

A truly fascinating, well researched and entertaining non fiction tale of the life of Rocci Perri, Hamilton ON, most notorious bootlegger.

It tackles the early life of Rocci, his Italian birth, to his rise to becoming one of Canada's best bootleggers to his bizarre disappearance, to everything in between.

It also tells the life story of Frank Zaneth the mountie who was instrumental in bringing Perri done.

It's a great piece of history from my home town and well worth reading for anyone interested in mobsters or bootlegging.

[Colin]

A good book displaying the dichotomy of two very similar men and how they went down very different paths in life. Both the "Whisky King" and the undercover Mountie (although a bit of a misnomer as he doesn't spend very long tracking the bootlegger) are poor Italian immigrants in the early part of the 20th century, yet they have vastly different outcomes in life. Much of the credit of the Whisky King's success must go to his partner, Bettie Starkman, who was very skilled at financial and organizational crime. I wonder what happened to the Whisky King?

[Richard]

This was an enjoyable read and I particularly liked the Ontario/Hamilton angle (being from the GTA). The author also did an admirable job filling gaps to "guess" what people's motives/thoughts may have been. This added some depth to the story. My only complaint is that the Rocco and Zaneth stories never really together all that well. It was mostly 2 separate individuals, although their lives were equally interesting. Bonus points for the Canada angle. It was also impressively researched.

[Rakhi]

I liked this book! Who would have thought such drama and intrigue existed in Canada! Great journalistic prose, use of old newspaper references and some witty descriptions thrown in to keep it entertaining. The book reveals the deep racism and ostracism Italians faced in the early 20th century, when Canada was considerably less tolerant.

[chloé]

i am immensely grateful for the amount of effort put in this book. i was trying to do some research on rocco perri for my history essay, which proved to be more difficult than i imagined not having many ressources available to me. i learnt so much from this and really appreciate the time spent researching to write this book.

[Juris Graney]

This is a fantastically written tale about one of Canada's original crime families and their bootlegging ways while also chronicling Prohibition in Canada and the shifty critters who tried to circumvent the law from New Brunswick to Saskatchewan and Alberta.

[Patrick Book]

I have a few minor quibbles, but on the whole this is something I've been looking for a long time -- a clearer picture of how Canada's liquor industry and bootleggers operated in prohibition days. Having one and a half engaging, thoroughly-told personal stories only helps make it even better.

[Kali Desautels]

This book was so interesting! I found myself thoroughly invested in both Rocco Perri and Frank Zaneth! I have never been aware of Canadian bootlegging, as to the extent of the Americans, and it was so engaging!!

[Patricia Atkinson]

the story of rocco who was a famous bootlegger during probition and the criminals that he met and helped him along the way and the people and friends he has met along the way a great book on the history of hamilton from way back....

[Rhoddi]

Fun and knowledgeable read about a famous whiskey kingpin here in Canada. Compared to the boring, whitewashed Canadian history I learnt in school, this book was an eye opener with how new immigrants were badly treated and just how crime riddled Canada was back in the day.

[Anastasia]

The beginning did not tie to the ending, which is my only gripe with this book.
It was a well researched microhistory of Canada, specifically Southern Ontario during prohibition. Some of the family names mentioned can still be seen in Hamilton today.

[litost]

I've always loved Cole's novels, now I love his non-fiction as well!

[Tyler Coghlan]

Very well put together on a side of Canada's prohibition days I had no idea about. This tells very well like a story rather than a list of history.

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn]

Really interesting book.

[Jack Curtis]

Very well researched and written account of the Whisky King. Truly fascinating stuff, b'ys were getting after that sweet sawce back in the day.

[Jason Wirch]

A good look into a canadian bootleger the life and capture of him and the legalization of alcohol. and the undercover officer who spearheaded the investigation.

[Virginia Van]

Arriving in North America as a poor Italian immigrant, Rocco Perri rose from being a petty criminal to running one of the biggest Prohibition bootlegging operations in Southern Ontario. His life involved gambling, prostitution, alcohol and drugs, but he was still loved and respected by many of his workers and the press. The other person in this book is Frank Zaneth, a northern Italian who also came to North America seeking his fortune. But after a failed attempt at homesteading, he joined the RCMP and became a famous undercover policeman breaking various criminal gangs, pursuing Rocco until the latter disappeared mysterious;u om 1944. Well researched and told in a compiling style, this well-researched book sheds an interesting light on Prohibition era Canada.

[Shannon White]

This non-fiction work about bootlegging takes place in Ontario. It was interesting to read about the local area and the characters of the time. Unfortunately I did not find the writing in this book to be very good. In the beginning, way too many characters are presented and it is quite difficult to follow. Had it not been written about areas that I am familiar with, I may have bailed on it.

[Dan Buchanan]

Trevor Cole takes us into the seedy and hyper-agressive world of gangsters and bootlegging in Ontario during prohibition. Rocco and Bessie Perry were the most successful gangsters in Ontario, working out of Hamilton to build a multi-million dollar enterprise that controlled much of the booze business as well as other vices of the day. But the cops were on the trail. Whisky King weaves the intricate game of cat and mouse that unfolded with the backdrop of the coming and going of prohibition and developing law enforcement methods and technology. It's an adventure story with tantilising true crime complexity. We see both the presistence and ingenuity of the bad guys and the perseverance and convictions of the good guys. A great read!

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Rocco Perri, in Toronto and Hamilton, became one of Canada's most prominent bootleggers. The RCMP's Frank Zaneth pursued him.