Forty Steps to Old Sparky: The Doom-fated Life of Trigger Burke

by Jim DeFilippi

FORTY STEPS TO OLD SPARKY is unique, a book like no other, a white-hot scramble of true crime, biography, and social commentary. Elmer “Trigger” Burke was a gangland assassin of America’s 1940s and 1950s. He was executed in Sing Sing’s electric chair on January 9, 1958. Each chapter of this book draws Burke closer to his state-sanctioned death, and draws the reader into a total, terrifying emersion.

286 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2023

About the author

Jim DeFilippi is a crime novelist (DUCK ALLEY, BLOOD SUGAR, JESUS BURNED) and humor writer. His crime novels are all times humorous; his humor writing at times is criminal. Newsday called his stuff “Suspenseful, often hilarious,” Publishers Weekly added, “Excellently paced and imaginatively told,” but his favorite blurb is “Whoa, that was good.”

Reviews

[Jim DeFilippi · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A legendary killer made notorious by the Brinks Job — as well as for waving to his audience as he awaited execution — Elmer ‘Trigger' Burke was a hitman like no other, and Forty Steps to Old Sparky is a true crime book like no other. To evoke the texture, the atmosphere, and the utter blackness of a true-life film noir, Jim DeFilippi employs a blistering style and an excoriating prose as brutal as pest control.

“You’ve never read anything like it.”

— Craig Nelson, New York Times best selling author of The Age of Radiance and Rocket Men.

[Betsy Ellor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Jim DeFilippi's work and this is my favorite so far. Even though you know from the beginning how Burke will end each chapter brings a new layer of intrigue and compelling commentary on the history and society that brought Burke to his untimely end. DeFilippi found a fascinating subject in Burke and reading this brought me hours of enjoyable reading and ideas that will stay with me for a lifetime.

[Joanne Brasil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book

Jim gets the whole bloody perspective about murder--single murders and mass murders. It actually changed my thinking about the death penalty, and about Thomas Edison and Averell Harriman. So noir that sometimes I could only read one page per day. Well written, and unforgettable piece of literature.