Customer Reviews

Luciano's Luck

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Luciano's Luck is a wonderfully written novel about
the US government's desperate attempt to persuade
the Mafia to assist them during World War II.
Don Antonio Luca, the "Boss of All Bosses"
of the Mafia in Sicily has the power to drive all
Nazi forces out of Italy and Sicily, but he has an extreme dislike for Americans
and is reluctant to help them in any way.
Only two people have the slightest chance of persuading
him: his only granddaughter who ran away
from him years ago, and Lucky Luciano, the
most feared gangster in America.

Carter is a former agent with ground knowledge in the hills of Sicily, where the Allied landing forces will need the cooperation of resistance fighters to avoid heavy losses to the occupying German forces. Carter has to recruit Luciano, a convict with Mafia ties, and Maria who has fled the mother country to escape the abuses of the underworld, represented by her grandfather, the key figure needed to coalesce the resistance fighters with the Allied cause.

After I read a couple of mentions of Higgins in books on writing, I pulled this off the library shelf. Higgins knows how to get right into the action of a story and move the plot to adventure. He skillfully sets all the elements in place to give a dramatic story with action and conflict. The characters are a step above cardboard cut-outs, serving to propel events, and scenes are quick-cut, keeping the reading at a brisk pace. In all, it's a quick read that isn't entirely predictable.

A delightful change of pace as far as the main hero (Luciano) is concerned. Higgins does the WWII background well no matter what the story. (or plot) He manages to stick to his facts from other novel about the "Mafia Connection" and German forces. Though some of these facts are repetitive he manages to keep his readers on the edge with this change of pace (and hero).

Having read this book almost 12 years ago, I must say that it was a good book if I can still remember it. The story might seem a little far fetched to beleive, but it is an interesting one. Higgins has written an exciting story filled with adventure and suspense that keeps the readers attention. Its also not the long of a book to rea so that is also an advantage to the reader. In all, it is a well written novel

A fast, interesting listen.

General Eisenhower is willing to take advantage of any means to make the Allied invasion in Sicily a success. The Allied leaders want to gain the intervention of the Sicilian Mafia Godfather, Don Antonio Luca, to give the word to the Sicilian people to support the American and Allied efforts. To accomplish this British Professor/intelligence officer, Harry Carter, is sent to a New York prison to seek the help of Gangster, Mafia leader, Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Carter pulls Luciano from prison to meet with President Roosevelt who implies that Luciano's parole would go favorably if he helps his country in this matter.

Luciano isn't inclined to believe the Don will be helpful but they pick up the Don's estranged Granddaughter, Maria, a Nun and a nurse, to help gain access and for an extra voice for convincing him. Carter, Luciano and Maria are teamed up with two American Rangers, one of whom clearly hates Luciano. They parachute into a small village in Sicily to join with resistance leaders who have to hide them from Nazi troops as they wait to meet with the Don.

I thought the characters were well developed for the roles in the story. This story contains elements of intrigue, danger, arrogance, brutality, loneliness, a touch of romance, stubbornness, forgiveness, sacrifice and `luck.' I was surprised to learn this bit of history where the American President engages the services of the Mafia. I enjoyed the few meetings described between Carter and General Eisenhower and tried to jot down what may have been quotes but I did not find them so they may be part of the fiction. That is one draw back of audio books that you cannot mark a spot to check it later, especially when you are driving.

This particular audio book was a production for Book of the Road and was made with a male and a female reader. The male did a good job with the different accents, British, American, German, Russian, Italian. The woman however sounded rather the same for the two important Italian female characters.

You don't have to like war stories to enjoy this story. It involves a lot of personalities and some war strategy, good and bad, that makes it interesting. One thing that was clear in the story is that the actions of one person can have a great impact on how events play out.

Things you'd never learn without movies (or before that, thrillers) ...

1. In Nazi thrillers, the professional honourable gentleman German officer usually have Prussian ancestry and has to deal with powerful rabid SS maniacs. If they come to blows, the SS always shoots first.

2. Women who despaired of life and went into nunnery are always beautiful and unable to completely severe their ties to the mortal world.

3. Tarot card readings are way more accurate than scientific projections.

Sounds familiar? Perhaps with movie blockbusters today, all movie-goers would be familiar with the inexplanable facts of life but remember folks, you read it first in the books, one of those books being Higgin's Luciano's Luck.

The unusual title is more unusual considering the central character of the story is not really Luciano, a big-time American mafia who was convicted on a bum rap. As the invasion of Sicily looms, the Allies desperately sought the compliance of the Mafia to reduce casualties and win over the Italian troops weary of Il Duce Mussolini. The most widely respected figure in Sicily was of course not the local governor nor the Italian generals nor the German commanders but the illusive Don Antonio, the capo of capos in Sicily. On his word, the whole island would rally behind the Allies, "encouraging" Italian troops to cease resistance and provide passage over inhospitable terrain from the landing beaches to Palermo.

But Don Antonio disliked the Americans, just a little less than the Nazis. Only his estranged granddaughter, the Sister Maria, and the famous Sicilian American "homeboy-made-good" Luciano had any hope to gaining the ear of the Don.

Harry Carter who slipped in and out of Sicily countless times found himself saddled with the two "persuaders", dropping into enemy held territories, where not all Sicilians greeted their arrival with full enthusiasm.

At the core of the matter, no one really knew how Don Antonio thought, and whether the mission was futile in the first place.

Characterisation wise, there was a good range provided, from shepherds to soldiers to airmen. Higgins played out the full range of human emotions, from love to hate, jealousy to bitterness, pride and prejudices. It was a drama of humanity as much as gunfights and subterfuge.

With additional work, Higgins could have made the book longer and even more interesting. But it was tricky, and the wrong move could kill the potential of a better book. Maybe he was right to quit while everything was still in place.

This book, while not the best by Higgins, is a fairly exciting book with a story line which could have been used better by an author of Mr.Higgins skill.

Lucky Luciano helping to put an end to the invasion of Sicily --- I think not. The story line was a little too hard to believe. Don't mix up gangsters with your stories of war and espionage. Stick to your Dillon and Ferguson characters. They're the ones that we like to read Mr. Higgins.