18 books like The good mothers

What to read after The good mothers — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Homegoing Yaa Gyasi · 2016 · ★ 4.5 · 320p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Homegoing is the debut historical fiction novel by Ghanaian-American author Yaa Gyasi, published in 2016. Each chapter in the novel follows a different descendant of an Asante woman named Maame, starting with her two daughters, who are half-sisters, separated by circumstance: Effia marries James Collins, the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is held… Shares: Women

Cass Cass Pennant · 2001 · 340p · ≈ 11h · Moderate He arrived to rally the troops, the main man in the Inter City Firm and his greeting passed into football fan history. 'Afternoon, gentlemen, the name's Bill Gardner.' That introduction alone was often enough to provoke sheer terror in his opponents. He is a genuine legend to anyone who's ever stood proud on a football terrace. No serious book on the culture would be complete without at least one… Shares: Criminals & Outlaws, Social Science, True Crime, 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, Women

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: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, Crime

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: Criminals & Outlaws, Mafia, True Crime, Biography & Memoir

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, Crime

Once upon a Crime Jimmy Cryans · 2012 · 288p · ≈ 9h · Moderate ''Once upon a Crime'' (1992 film), 1992 American black comedy mystery film Shares: Criminals & Outlaws, Social Science, True Crime, 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: 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

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

A Talent to Deceive William Norris · 2006 · 327p · ≈ 10h · Moderate The kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's infant son, and the subsequent trial and execution of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, have been a source of fascination for more than 70 years. Now, for the first time, William Norris delves into sources of information ignored by previous investigators and comes up with the identity of the true culprit. Lindbergh is exposed as having obstructed the… Shares: True Crime, 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

The executioner's men George W. Grayson · 2012 · 308p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Los Zetas represent a new generation of ruthless, sadistic pragmatists in Mexico and Central America who are impelling a tectonic shift among drug trafficking organizations in the Americas. Mexico's marines have taken down the cartel's top leaders; nevertheless, these capos and their desperados have forever altered how criminal business is conducted in the Western Hemisphere. This narrative… Shares: Organized crime, True Crime, Crime

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, Crime

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

Donnie Brasco Joseph D. Pistone · 1987 · ★ 4.1 · 393p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Posing as jewel thief "Donnie Brasco," FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone carried out the most audacious sting operation ever, working undercover for six years to infiltrate the flamboyant community of mafia soldiers, "connected guys," captains, and godfathers.Now his unforgettable eyewitness account brings to pulsating life the entire world of wiseguys—their code of honor and their treachery, their… Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, True Crime, Crime

By the Fire We Carry Rebecca Nagle · 2024 · ★ 4.4 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate "No part of the judiciary exposes the chasm between American ideals and institutional practice like federal Indian law. In By the Fire We Carry, Nagle, a Cherokee journalist, turns a case most Americans haven’t heard of into a legal thriller." —New York Times Book ReviewNATIONAL BESTSELLERThe New Yorker’s Best Books of 2024 • Publishers Weekly Top 10 Book of the Year • NPR 2024 "Books We Loved"… Shares: Social Science, True Crime

The Company She Keeps Georgia Durante · 1998 · ★ 4.0 · 456p · ≈ 15h · Moderate A female Goodfellas— the true story of A supermodel turned getaway driver for the mob.All-American beauty Georgia Durante was one of the most photographed models in the country when she married mobster Joe Lamendola. It plunged her into a world she never dreamed of—and one she feared she’d never survive—as a getaway driver for the Mafia and an eyewitness to unspeakable violence, brutality, and… Shares: Mafia, True Crime, Women, Biography & Memoir

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