18 books like Smaldone

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

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, Mafia, Organized crime, Case studies

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, Mafia, Organized crime, Criminals

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, Case studies, Criminals, True Crime

The private diary of Lyle Menendez Lyle Menendez · 1993 · ★ 4.6 · 263p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The personal story of Lyle Menendez is based on a four-and-a-half-year intimate correspondence with the author and covers the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez by Lyle and his brother Erik and the court trials that ended in hung juries. Shares: Case studies, Criminals, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

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 Good Rat LP Jimmy Breslin · 2008 · ★ 3.0 · 296p · ≈ 9h · Moderate "I didn't tell anyone that I was going to Santa Fe to kill myself."On the outside, Terri Cheney was a highly successful, attractive Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer. But behind her seemingly flawless facade lay a dangerous secret—for the better part of her life Cheney had been battling debilitating bipolar disorder and concealing a pharmacy's worth of prescriptions meant to stabilize her moods… Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

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: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, History

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

Nutcracker Shana Alexander · 1985 · ★ 4.1 · 453p · ≈ 15h · Moderate Nutcracker begins at the ballet but tells the story of a seemingly wholesome all-American family, whose tranquil life's surface erupted in shocking acts of avarice, theft and murder. The victim was Franklin Bradshaw, Mormon self-made millionaire, workaholic. The killer was Bradshaw's grandson, prep school student. The architect of the crime was said to be Frances Schreuder, Bradshaw's daughter,… Shares: Case studies, Criminals, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

Hit #29 Joey. · 1974 · 248p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The New York Times–bestselling author of Killer: The Autobiography of a Mafia Hit Man reveals the true story of his most harrowing contract murder. "Joey the Hit Man" was a Bronx-born hired assassin who achieved widespread notoriety after writing a bestselling memoir and appearing on the David Susskind show. In this "down-to-earth realistic account," Joey tells the riveting story behind the… Shares: Mafia, Case studies, Criminals, True Crime

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: Gangsters, Organized crime, Criminals, 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: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, History

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

REVERSIBLE DESTINY JANE AND PETER SCHNEIDER SCHNEIDER · 2003 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, History

The Godfather Mario Puzo · 1969 · ★ 4.4 · 450p · ≈ 15h · Moderate The Godfather is a crime novel by American author Mario Puzo. Originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, the novel details the story of a fictional Mafia family in New York City (and Long Beach, New York), headed by Vito Corleone. Puzo's dedication for The Godfather is "For Anthony Cleri". The novel's epigraph is by the French author Honoré de Balzac: "Behind every great fortune there… Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Criminals

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, Organized crime, Criminals, History

The good mothers Alex Perry · 2018 · ★ 3.9 · 342p · ≈ 11h · Moderate "An unprecedented look inside a ruthless and obscenely wealthy branch of the Italian Mafia and the electrifying story of the brave women who decided to fight back"-- Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

A rip in Heaven Jeanine Cummins · 2004 · ★ 4.2 · 302p · ≈ 10h · Moderate It was a headline story in the New York Times and USA Today. It was covered by Court TV and profiled on the Ricki Lake Show. Now, here is the intimate memoir of a shocking crime and its aftermath...one family's immediate and unforgettable story of what victims can suffer long after they should be safe. Shares: Case studies, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

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