18 books like Brutal

What to read after Brutal — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Paddy Whacked T. J. English · 2005 · ★ 4.3 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Moderate Here is the shocking true saga of the Irish American mob. In Paddy Whacked, bestselling author and organized crime expert T. J. English brings to life nearly two centuries of Irish American gangsterism, which spawned such unforgettable characters as Mike "King Mike" McDonald, Chicago's subterranean godfather; Big Bill Dwyer, New York's most notorious rumrunner during Prohibition; Mickey… Shares: Irish American criminals, Irish Americans, Gangsters, Organized crime

Black mass Dick Lehr · 2001 · 417p · ≈ 13h · Moderate John Connolly and James "Whitey" Bulger grew up together on the tough streets of South Boston. Decades later in the mid-1970s, they met again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the FBI's Boston office and Whitey had become godfather of the Irish Mob. Connolly had an idea, a scheme that might bring Bugler into the FBI fold and John Connolly into the Bureau's big leagues. But Bulger had… Shares: Américains d'origine irlandaise, Crime organisé, Irish Americans, Boston

The Westies T. J. English · 1990 · 400p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Published in the UK for the first time in 2008. Shares: Irish American criminals, Irish Americans, Criminals, True Crime

Wild Swans Jung Chang · 1989 · ★ 4.3 · 729p · ≈ 24h · Moderate "Jung Chang vividly evokes China's sights, sounds, and smells to create what must be one of the grimmest, yet most perceptive accounts of growing up middle-class in the maelstrom that has swept China since the 1920s." - Back cover. Shares: Américains d'origine irlandaise, Irish Americans, Social conditions, Biography & Memoir

Smaldone Dick Kreck · 2009 · ★ 2.0 I never thought it would end.—Clyde SmaldoneStarted by Italian brothers from North Denver, the high-profile Smaldone crime syndicate began in the bootlegging days of the 1920s and flourished well into the late twentieth century. Connected to such notorious crime figures as Al Capone and Carlos Marcello, as well as to presidents and other politicians, charismatic Clyde Smaldone was the crime… Shares: Gangsters, Organized crime, Criminals, True Crime

Mafia son Sandra Harmon · 2009 · ★ 4.0 · 301p · ≈ 10h · Moderate In this dark, jagged true crime thriller, wily mob head Gregory Scarpa Sr. (alias the "Grim Reaper") secretly steals and kills under FBI protection for decades. When faced with arrest for his own crimes, he betrays his adoring son, Gregory Jr., whom he'd groomed to take his place. Taking the fall for his father out of familial respect and love, the young Scarpa endures decades of maximum security… Shares: Gangsters, Organized crime, Criminals, True Crime

Live by Night Dennis Lehane · 2012 · ★ 3.5 · 416p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Joe Coughlin is nineteen when he meets Emma Gould. A smalltime thief in 1920s Boston, his task is to tie her up while his accomplices loot the bank she works in. But Joe falls in love with Emma - and his life changes forever. That meeting is the beginning of Joe's journey to becoming one of the most feared and respected gangsters. It is a journey beset by violence, double-crossing, drama and… Shares: Gangsters, Boston, Organized crime, Criminals

The profession of violence John Pearson · 1972 · ★ 3.5 · 336p · ≈ 11h · Moderate John Pearson details the lives of Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the infamous brothers who, for decades, ruled the criminal underground in London's East End. This biography of the identical twins is, at times, humorous and revealing, but always maintains a clear-eyed view of the seriousness of the brothers' crimes. An absorbing read. Shares: Gangsters, Organized crime, Criminals, True Crime

The Camorra Tom Behan · 1995 · 234p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Over the last twenty years the camorra of Naples and the surrounding region has risen to a level of strength rivalling that of the Sicilian mafia.This is not a new organization: the Camorra first emerged in the last century, several decades before the mafia. Tom Behan traces the history of the organization from its inception to the present. Until the 1970s the extent of its influence fluctuated,… Shares: Crime organisé, Organized crime, True Crime

The origin of organized crime in America David Critchley · 2008 · 348p · ≈ 11h · Moderate While the later history of the New York Mafia has received extensive attention, what has been conspicuously absent until now is an accurate and conversant review of the formative years of Mafia organizational growth. David Critchley examines the Mafia recruitment process, relations with Mafias in Sicily, the role of non-Sicilians in New York’s organized crime Families, kinship connections, the… Shares: Crime organisé, Organized crime, True Crime

Close Martina Cole · 2006 · ★ 4.1 · 512p · ≈ 17h · Moderate Don't miss NO REGRET, the brand new novel from Martina Cole. Coming October 2025. She'll do whatever it takes to keep them together... Hard-hitting and uncompromising, CLOSE by the 'undisputed queen of crime writing' (Guardian) and Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Martina Cole tells the story of a woman determined to protect her family from an increasingly dangerous world... Patrick Brodie knows… Shares: Gangsters, Criminals

Gangster warlords Ioan Grillo · 2016 · 377p · ≈ 12h · Moderate "In a ranch south of Texas, the man known as The Executioner dumps five hundred body parts in metal barrels. In Brazil's biggest city, a mysterious prisoner orders hit-men to gun down forty-one police officers and prison guards in two days. In southern Mexico, a meth maker is venerated as a saint while enforcing Old Testament justice on his enemies. A new kind of criminal kingpin has arisen: part… Shares: Gangsters, Organized crime, Criminals, True Crime

Mob star Gene Mustain · 1988 · ★ 4.3 · 269p · ≈ 8h · Moderate John Gotti is terminally ill; when he passes on to that great Mafia in the sky, co-author Capeci will be in great demand for interviews and will the plug the book.As he battles terminal cancer in a federal prison in Illinois, John Gotti, still the acting head of the Gambino Mafia family, is constantly in the news. Once Mr. Gotti ascends to Mafia heaven, he will be worldwide news-and Alpha will… Shares: Organized crime, Criminals, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

Big Shots Adam Shand · 2007 · ★ 3.5 · 423p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Vast shoplifting ring operating in Britain'A highly organised gang of Australian shoplifters is at work in Britain stealing goods worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. New members of the gang are flown from Australia whenever the organisers want replacements.'The Guardian, 15 August 1968From the mid 1960s, a brazen band of Australian thieves ran riot in London for more than a decade,… Shares: Organized crime, True Crime

Tishomingo Blues Elmore Leonard · 1975 · ★ 3.9 · 308p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Dennis Lenahan is a daredevil and the girls love him. Things are going along okay with his gig at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, "the Casino Capital of the South," until the day he looks down from the high-dive platform and witnesses a mob hit -- Dixie style. The killer looks up and says, "Let's see you dive." Suddenly, being a daredevil has lost its kick. Leonard calls… Shares: Gangsters, Organized crime, Criminals

Dead man running Ross Coulthart · 2008 · 405p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Steve Utah provides an account of his experiences as a member of the Bandidos, one of the world's most feared outlaw motorcycle gangs, and discusses why he came to the decision to become a police informant, revealing details of the gang's operations in Australia and North America. Shares: Organized crime, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

The Friends of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins · 1972 · ★ 4.0 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate "Eddie Coyle is a small-time punk with a big-time problem - who to sell out to avoid being sent up again. Eddie works for Jimmy Scalisi, supplying him with guns for a couple of bank jobs. But a cop named Foley is onto Eddie, and he's leaning on him to finger Scalisi, a gang leader with a lot to hide. And then there's Dillon, a full-time bartender and a part-time contract killer pretending to be… Shares: Boston, Criminals

The History of the Life of Jonathan Wild, the Great Henry Fielding · 1754 · ★ 3.4 · 287p · ≈ 9h · Demanding This book is a satire of Walpole that draws a parallel between Walpole and Jonathan Wild, the infamous gang leader and highwayman. He implicitly compares the Whig party in Parliament with a gang of thieves being run by Walpole, whose constant desire to be a "Great Man" (a common epithet for Walpole) should culminate only in the antithesis of greatness: being hanged. Shares: Organized crime, Criminals

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