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A Bloody Business
ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF PROHIBITION, LEARN WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.
In 1919, the National Prohibition Act was passed, making it illegal across America to produce, distribute, or sell liquor. With this act, the U.S. Congress also created organized crime as we know it. Italian, Jewish, and Irish mobs sprang up to supply the suddenly illegal commodity to the millions of people still eager to drink it. Men like Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone in Chicago and Nucky Johnson in Atlantic City, waged a brutal war for power in the streets and on the waterfronts. But if you think you already know this story…think again, since you’ve never seen it through the eyes of one the mobsters who lived it.
Called “one of the most significant organized crime figures in the United States” by the U.S. District Attorney, Vincent “Jimmy Blue Eyes” Alo was just 15 years old when Prohibition became law. Over the next decade, Alo would work side by side with Lansky and Luciano as they navigated the brutal underworld of bootlegging, thievery and murder. Alo’s later career included prison time and the ultimate Mob being immortalized as “Johnny Ola” in The Godfather, Part II.
Introduced to the 91-year-old Alo living in retirement in Florida, Dylan Struzan based this book on more than 50 hours of recorded testimony—stories Alo had never shared, and that he forbid her to publish until “after I’m gone.” Alo died, peacefully, two months short of his 97th birthday. And now his stories—bracing and violent, full of intrigue and betrayal, hunger and hubris—can finally be told.
In 1919, the National Prohibition Act was passed, making it illegal across America to produce, distribute, or sell liquor. With this act, the U.S. Congress also created organized crime as we know it. Italian, Jewish, and Irish mobs sprang up to supply the suddenly illegal commodity to the millions of people still eager to drink it. Men like Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone in Chicago and Nucky Johnson in Atlantic City, waged a brutal war for power in the streets and on the waterfronts. But if you think you already know this story…think again, since you’ve never seen it through the eyes of one the mobsters who lived it.
Called “one of the most significant organized crime figures in the United States” by the U.S. District Attorney, Vincent “Jimmy Blue Eyes” Alo was just 15 years old when Prohibition became law. Over the next decade, Alo would work side by side with Lansky and Luciano as they navigated the brutal underworld of bootlegging, thievery and murder. Alo’s later career included prison time and the ultimate Mob being immortalized as “Johnny Ola” in The Godfather, Part II.
Introduced to the 91-year-old Alo living in retirement in Florida, Dylan Struzan based this book on more than 50 hours of recorded testimony—stories Alo had never shared, and that he forbid her to publish until “after I’m gone.” Alo died, peacefully, two months short of his 97th birthday. And now his stories—bracing and violent, full of intrigue and betrayal, hunger and hubris—can finally be told.
- GenresNonfictionCrime
672 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2019
39 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 24, 2022
A great read for fans of prohibition era gangster history: Meyer and Lucky feature prominently. Minor gripe; needed a character index/short bio.
June 18, 2019
Entertaining novel purporting to be a novelized version of what the author was told by Jimmy Alo after pledging not to use anything he said until after his death. So we get the familiar cast of real life characters; Charley Luciano, Meyer Lanksky, Masseria, Maranzano etc. Events unfold pretty much as previously known, although there is one very different account of one event that I will add at the end after warning not to read further. What is different, and I believe true, is the fact that being "in" was simply a franchise, a license to operate without interference, and any interference would be non violently mediated by the ranking members. That was the ideal, and it usually worked....but not always.
Spoiler coming up. In this account of the Masseria murder, it is Charley Luciano himself who deals with it up close and personal. He's not in the bathroom as in most accounts. Also (and I have long thought this) it seems that guys like Charley L. regarded the blood oath thing as medieval BS that the old "mustache Petes" thought was meaningful (or good show business).
Spoiler coming up. In this account of the Masseria murder, it is Charley Luciano himself who deals with it up close and personal. He's not in the bathroom as in most accounts. Also (and I have long thought this) it seems that guys like Charley L. regarded the blood oath thing as medieval BS that the old "mustache Petes" thought was meaningful (or good show business).
January 11, 2024
A narrative non-fiction based on the testimony of nonagenarian gangster Jimmy Alo to the author. Reads like a dramatised mini-series, as the opportunities of Prohibition lead to the rise of organised crime and tensions build inexorably towards mob war. When this comes, it is brutal and its aftermath leaves the underworld with the structures of organised crime that last to the present well established.
Without knowing what the fifty hours of recorded testimony from Alo contain, we can’t know how Struzan handled her material - was the narrative as clear as this, did his input only give local colour and flavour? This, with illustrations and cover by the author’s illustrator husband, is certainly a readable pop history.
Without knowing what the fifty hours of recorded testimony from Alo contain, we can’t know how Struzan handled her material - was the narrative as clear as this, did his input only give local colour and flavour? This, with illustrations and cover by the author’s illustrator husband, is certainly a readable pop history.
June 23, 2020
Love your leaders. Pay your taxes. Be ready to pay for more armed police to protect the beloved leaders.
June 12, 2021
1920-1933. This is the real story of the rise of the American Mob during Prohibition… All the colorful criminal figures of the era are in this story: Arnold Rothstein, Johnny Torrio, Joe "the Boss" Masseria, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Salvatore Maranzano, Abe Zwillman, Al Capone, Waxy Gordon, Nucky Johnson, Frank Costello, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, Frankie Yale, Big Jim Colosimo, Joe Adonis, Dutch Schultz, Owney Madden…
Author Dylan Struzan emphasizes how the New York and Chicago mob wars were the result of cunning, greed and strategy, not unstable emotional outbursts as often portrayed in movies and books. These bootleggers transformed organized crime from neighborhood street gangs into an efficient national distribution network. Lansky and Luciano in particular were known for finding creative ways for American-born immigrants to collude peacefully, regardless of their family ties or their Italian, Jewish, or Irish heritage.
Many of these men eschewed violence when they could. But not all of them, and not all the time: Hence the title.
This historical novel is based on two decades of recorded conversations with Vincent Alo, aka "Jimmy Blue Eyes", who was Meyer Lansky's right hand man from 1929 until the mid-1970's. Because Alo did not become a prominent figure in the Genovese crime family until the end of Prohibition, this book is based primarily on stories he heard secondhand from Lansky, Luciano, and Bugsy.
I absolutely love the stories in this book. It is the most complete tale of Prohibition I have found. All the classic gangster stories I have read or seen depicted in films are included:
- Arnold Rothstein fixing the 1919 World Series
- Lucky Luciano gunning down Rocco Valenti in the streets
- Italian gangster Frankie Yale killing Irish mob boss Dean O'Banion in his flower shop, as a favor for Al Capone
- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
- The war between Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano that creates the first "boss of bosses" and establishes the Five Families
- The owner of the swanky Cotton Club ransoms Frenchy DeMange for $100,000 in cash
In addition, there were many stories that were new to me:
- Meyer Lansky protects an Orthodox winery so Jews can have kosher wine on the Sabbath
- Luciano's opium habit
- Izzy and Moe, the "rumhound" cops who don clever disguises to bust speakeasies
- The US government poisons industrial alcohol-based cleaners, killing its own citizens to put an end to the practice of making bathtub gin
- Rothstein ends a six month garment workers strike, thus creating the first foothold for organized crime in the unions
- Rothstein is accidentally murdered by an Irish bookie and no one collects on his last half-million dollar bet
- The Atlantic City mob conference of 1929
- The Harlem Baby Massacre of 1932
What I did not like about the book is its writing style. Scenes are episodic, sometimes disjointed. Dialogue rarely provides glimpses into the characters' personal lives or private motivations. The book is best viewed as a "nonfiction novel"; it reads somewhat like a textbook at times. The only fiction aspects are the invented conversations between characters, which invariably explain their strategy and business maneuvers.
Struzan sticks strictly to the historical facts in all but one instance. She asserts Lucky Luciano and Vito Genovese carried out the still-infamous hit on their boss Joe Masseria. Most historical accounts have Luciano hiding in the bathroom, sending out Bugsy, Vito, and Joe Adonis. The truth may never be known, but I prefer to believe Luciano did his own dirty work that night…
The real-life Alo was the first mobster to be referred to by the appellation 'Godfather' even though he was never a don. He has never been depicted on screen but was purportedly the inspiration for the fictional Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II (played by Dominic Chianese) and Victor Tellegio in American Hustle (played by Robert De Niro).
Struzan has said she may write a sequel based on the rest of Alo's life. It would presumably include Bugsy's dramatic rise and fall in Las Vegas, Luciano's role as a US spy in World War II, and Lansky's gambling empire in Cuba getting nationalized by Fidel Castro. I would definitely sign up for that that book.
Author Dylan Struzan emphasizes how the New York and Chicago mob wars were the result of cunning, greed and strategy, not unstable emotional outbursts as often portrayed in movies and books. These bootleggers transformed organized crime from neighborhood street gangs into an efficient national distribution network. Lansky and Luciano in particular were known for finding creative ways for American-born immigrants to collude peacefully, regardless of their family ties or their Italian, Jewish, or Irish heritage.
Many of these men eschewed violence when they could. But not all of them, and not all the time: Hence the title.
This historical novel is based on two decades of recorded conversations with Vincent Alo, aka "Jimmy Blue Eyes", who was Meyer Lansky's right hand man from 1929 until the mid-1970's. Because Alo did not become a prominent figure in the Genovese crime family until the end of Prohibition, this book is based primarily on stories he heard secondhand from Lansky, Luciano, and Bugsy.
I absolutely love the stories in this book. It is the most complete tale of Prohibition I have found. All the classic gangster stories I have read or seen depicted in films are included:
- Arnold Rothstein fixing the 1919 World Series
- Lucky Luciano gunning down Rocco Valenti in the streets
- Italian gangster Frankie Yale killing Irish mob boss Dean O'Banion in his flower shop, as a favor for Al Capone
- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
- The war between Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano that creates the first "boss of bosses" and establishes the Five Families
- The owner of the swanky Cotton Club ransoms Frenchy DeMange for $100,000 in cash
In addition, there were many stories that were new to me:
- Meyer Lansky protects an Orthodox winery so Jews can have kosher wine on the Sabbath
- Luciano's opium habit
- Izzy and Moe, the "rumhound" cops who don clever disguises to bust speakeasies
- The US government poisons industrial alcohol-based cleaners, killing its own citizens to put an end to the practice of making bathtub gin
- Rothstein ends a six month garment workers strike, thus creating the first foothold for organized crime in the unions
- Rothstein is accidentally murdered by an Irish bookie and no one collects on his last half-million dollar bet
- The Atlantic City mob conference of 1929
- The Harlem Baby Massacre of 1932
What I did not like about the book is its writing style. Scenes are episodic, sometimes disjointed. Dialogue rarely provides glimpses into the characters' personal lives or private motivations. The book is best viewed as a "nonfiction novel"; it reads somewhat like a textbook at times. The only fiction aspects are the invented conversations between characters, which invariably explain their strategy and business maneuvers.
Struzan sticks strictly to the historical facts in all but one instance. She asserts Lucky Luciano and Vito Genovese carried out the still-infamous hit on their boss Joe Masseria. Most historical accounts have Luciano hiding in the bathroom, sending out Bugsy, Vito, and Joe Adonis. The truth may never be known, but I prefer to believe Luciano did his own dirty work that night…
The real-life Alo was the first mobster to be referred to by the appellation 'Godfather' even though he was never a don. He has never been depicted on screen but was purportedly the inspiration for the fictional Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II (played by Dominic Chianese) and Victor Tellegio in American Hustle (played by Robert De Niro).
Struzan has said she may write a sequel based on the rest of Alo's life. It would presumably include Bugsy's dramatic rise and fall in Las Vegas, Luciano's role as a US spy in World War II, and Lansky's gambling empire in Cuba getting nationalized by Fidel Castro. I would definitely sign up for that that book.
May 11, 2019
As far as I'm concerned, the years directly before and after prohibition and the events leading up to and following prohibition are the most interesting in American history. There's no mystery why there are so many books and movies written to take place in that time period. Obviously, those were hard times. But, no matter how much I learn about those years and the people who lived them, I am always more than willing to learn more and experience more--even through the mediums of fiction and art.
I can only imagine the things Struzan learned while researching for A Bloody Business. And, what a telling title, too! Being released 100 years after the National Prohibition Act was passed was a happy coincidence, right? But, getting down to the grit of this review, I feel like I should warn you--the book is not what you might expect. It is less story, more historical account, but it isn't as seamless as most would like it to be.
First, as most readers of historical novels would expect, there is language used within the text in both speech and expression that is unique to that era. There are lines like "Old Bill Rockafeller was a flimflammer," tucked in here and there, which really made me think my granddad may have been telling me the story. I don't mean that to be a negative, either, but it does take some getting used to at first if you don't read a lot of stories from this time period.
I'm not sure if I should even mention characterization since Dylan Struzan actually met with a man who was called "one of the most significant organized crime figures in the United States" and listened to more than 50 hours of recorded testimony (see blurb above). I think she knocked it right out of the park. I think Dylan Struzan knew, probably within a week or two of research, exactly how her characters operated, what drove them to be the way they were, and got everything perfect, from mannerisms to thoughts, within the first few pages of a rough draft. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm not.
There were bits of story here and there I feel could have been cut out during her first few rounds of edits and revisions, but those pieces are iffy, meaning they could have stayed or gone and nobody would have been the wiser. Usually in that case, a writer would cut those bits, but sometimes they get left and it doesn't really change anything. It just takes a reader longer to read the story. Obviously, that can sometimes lead a reader to get bored and walk away and, because of this, I would urge the author to think about this next time she sits down to revise a novel. It's not a deal breaker--but, it's a slippery slope leading toward boredom.
I feel it worth noting, however, that the plot itself is little more than prohibition and organized crime itself. As a historical account, I feel like the story was delivered in an informal way (obviously), but an effective delivery was certainly given. After a few pages, you can imagine how Dylan Struzan may have felt whilst giving her interview of Alo. Maybe he said something like, "Well, ya see, what happened was..." and she began her notes. Probably not, but it's very easy to imagine the story having formed that way. It certainly isn't what I might call a campfire tale, but it bridges the gap between today's more technologically advanced generations and the generation that our great grandparents grew up in. There are themes expressed that we can all relate to.
I can only imagine the things Struzan learned while researching for A Bloody Business. And, what a telling title, too! Being released 100 years after the National Prohibition Act was passed was a happy coincidence, right? But, getting down to the grit of this review, I feel like I should warn you--the book is not what you might expect. It is less story, more historical account, but it isn't as seamless as most would like it to be.
First, as most readers of historical novels would expect, there is language used within the text in both speech and expression that is unique to that era. There are lines like "Old Bill Rockafeller was a flimflammer," tucked in here and there, which really made me think my granddad may have been telling me the story. I don't mean that to be a negative, either, but it does take some getting used to at first if you don't read a lot of stories from this time period.
I'm not sure if I should even mention characterization since Dylan Struzan actually met with a man who was called "one of the most significant organized crime figures in the United States" and listened to more than 50 hours of recorded testimony (see blurb above). I think she knocked it right out of the park. I think Dylan Struzan knew, probably within a week or two of research, exactly how her characters operated, what drove them to be the way they were, and got everything perfect, from mannerisms to thoughts, within the first few pages of a rough draft. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm not.
There were bits of story here and there I feel could have been cut out during her first few rounds of edits and revisions, but those pieces are iffy, meaning they could have stayed or gone and nobody would have been the wiser. Usually in that case, a writer would cut those bits, but sometimes they get left and it doesn't really change anything. It just takes a reader longer to read the story. Obviously, that can sometimes lead a reader to get bored and walk away and, because of this, I would urge the author to think about this next time she sits down to revise a novel. It's not a deal breaker--but, it's a slippery slope leading toward boredom.
I feel it worth noting, however, that the plot itself is little more than prohibition and organized crime itself. As a historical account, I feel like the story was delivered in an informal way (obviously), but an effective delivery was certainly given. After a few pages, you can imagine how Dylan Struzan may have felt whilst giving her interview of Alo. Maybe he said something like, "Well, ya see, what happened was..." and she began her notes. Probably not, but it's very easy to imagine the story having formed that way. It certainly isn't what I might call a campfire tale, but it bridges the gap between today's more technologically advanced generations and the generation that our great grandparents grew up in. There are themes expressed that we can all relate to.
March 12, 2022
As much as I enjoyed this, the frame of the book states that the author knew a guy who knew these guys. And the whole thing was told to her by this old man.
But it reads like a work of historical fiction. Thoughts of the main characters that neither she nor the primary source could have known are part and parcel of the Elmore Leonard-ish prose. Sort of like Nick Tosches’ Dean Martin biography.
I’d rather the whole thing had been presented as the engaging historical crime fiction it actually is instead of the “based on interviews with those who were there.” Because those guys without never talk even on their deathbed.
But it reads like a work of historical fiction. Thoughts of the main characters that neither she nor the primary source could have known are part and parcel of the Elmore Leonard-ish prose. Sort of like Nick Tosches’ Dean Martin biography.
I’d rather the whole thing had been presented as the engaging historical crime fiction it actually is instead of the “based on interviews with those who were there.” Because those guys without never talk even on their deathbed.
May 25, 2019
It should have been called A Bloody Bore. A fictionalized version of the rise of Jewish Mob during the Prohibition years, it sticks to historical events accurately but doesn't find a way to come up with a plot arc. Even worse, the prose is so flat and boring that I had trouble keeping track of the actions of the main players. Instead, my mind would wonder what James Ellroy could do with this material. I think now I'll watch Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In America to wash out the bland taste this book left behind. Skip it.
January 31, 2022
Ugh. I’ve read dozens of books on Prohibition, and this one was recommended to me. Alas, it’s garbage mostly as it takes some of the most colorful characters of the era and reduces them to stereotypes. Also, there’s no story here, just a collection of moments all built around these otherwise memorable souls. A big misfire. For the record, I gave up at the halfway mark.
April 8, 2023
A hot mess of tenses and an incomprehensible spider's web of names.
March 13, 2020
Rating 3
An interesting book that tells a biographical style tale of the prohibition boot leggers / crime family leaders during the 1920’s in New York, specifically concentrating on Meyer Lansky and ‘lucky’ Luciano.
Rather then a comprehensive tone the book instead relates separate incidents in a vignette style. This works quite well and indeed for me at least that offsets the rather dry writing style.
More a book for dipping into over a period of time I feel instead of a cover to cover read.
An interesting book that tells a biographical style tale of the prohibition boot leggers / crime family leaders during the 1920’s in New York, specifically concentrating on Meyer Lansky and ‘lucky’ Luciano.
Rather then a comprehensive tone the book instead relates separate incidents in a vignette style. This works quite well and indeed for me at least that offsets the rather dry writing style.
More a book for dipping into over a period of time I feel instead of a cover to cover read.
July 18, 2020
The Roaring Twenties come alive with Prohibition and the rise of Organized Crime. Dylan Struzan does a commendable job at giving the reader a tour of the times in which the Jewish, Italian and Irish Mobs flourished in America. If you're looking to step into the everyday lives of historical figures like Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, Joe Masseria, Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz and Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo, this is the book for you.
May 9, 2019
As a fan of Depression - Prohibition Era Gangsters this one was a No Brainier but then they add the amazing artwork of Drew Struzan which made me even more giddy for this book. Although I would have preferred the artwork in color it's still beautiful to look at. Based on the memories and stories told to Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo.
May 6, 2019
A Bloody Business could have been a great book if Jimmy Alo's voice had been used instead of the historian's. It got boggedf down in places and I missed the Brooklynese that should have been there throughout.
May 24, 2019
A wonderful novel on the rise of organized crime, covering all the different rackets, and the different gangsters of different nationalities, who for 13 years (1920-1933) created the crime families of this country. This was well written and very well researched.
October 7, 2021
Gangsters killing other gangsters. They all have nicknames.
September 27, 2024
Very long. Absorbing in some places; a real slog in others. A list of characters would have been helpful
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February 27, 2025A captivating story.
June 13, 2023
“This is the story of Meyer Lansky and the beginning of organized crime.” The story takes place during the thirteenth years of Prohibition, 1920-1933.
There is a LOT of information in this book, and for me, it read more like a history book than a Hard Case Crime novel. And “I know a guy…” leads to a never ending list of names, overwhelmingly so! If you’re looking for a detailed book about the rise of organized crime in the United States, especially the Jewish mob, this is a good read. If, like me, you’re interested in more of a fiction story, you might want to take a pass on this one.
There is a LOT of information in this book, and for me, it read more like a history book than a Hard Case Crime novel. And “I know a guy…” leads to a never ending list of names, overwhelmingly so! If you’re looking for a detailed book about the rise of organized crime in the United States, especially the Jewish mob, this is a good read. If, like me, you’re interested in more of a fiction story, you might want to take a pass on this one.
April 20, 2019
Writing a long novel about historical event is a tricky business: the people most likely to pick it up are the people most likely of knowing how it ends. It's exactly what happens here. The selling point of this novel is not how it ends, but how it really happened. Some sort of dramatized secret history if you like. Told by one of prohibition's key figures Jimmy Alo.
I mean, this is not a bad novel. There are some killer character moments, which pleasantly color your reading. Featuring notably Meyer Lansky and Al Capone. But at the end of the day, 600 pages of mobsters arguing and politicking is what it is. It can get a little heavy and frustrating at times. The book could've used a little bit of streamlinging and trimming around the edges. It would've been as cool as Games of Thrones if we didn't know already everything that happened to the characters.
I mean, this is not a bad novel. There are some killer character moments, which pleasantly color your reading. Featuring notably Meyer Lansky and Al Capone. But at the end of the day, 600 pages of mobsters arguing and politicking is what it is. It can get a little heavy and frustrating at times. The book could've used a little bit of streamlinging and trimming around the edges. It would've been as cool as Games of Thrones if we didn't know already everything that happened to the characters.
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