Customer Reviews

Murder, Inc.: The Story of the Syndicate

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

MURDER INC. is an excellent informative source on the subject of organized crime in the United States and murder in New York City in particular. The book is written by the authors in plain english and legalese is avoided. The book reads like a whos who in the world of the Syndicate. The reader must be cautioned that this book contains intricate details of actual murders and may not be suitable to all, particularly individuals offended by material of this nature.

The author makes his arguments well and is persuasive enough to have the reader wondering if murders which appear in the daily papers as unsolvable, could possibly be related to the world of organized crime. In addition it makes one wonder about many political decisions being made by our elected officials today and if these officials have in some manner been influenced by crminal organizations such as the Syndicate.

The author clearly justifies his argument that the Brookly faction of MURDER INC. was a gang of violent thugs who employed almost every conceivable method to carry out their chosen trade. Mr. Tukus further points out that this faction is not unique to the syndicate as a national organization.The book describes among other methods, murder by ice pick, drowning, hacking by cleaver, and strangulation. The murders, as argued by the author, seem to be performed for the purposes of ensuring continued criminal operations.

This book is well written and is highly recommended to all who are serious students in the field of Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement as well as anyone interested in just reading an entertaining history of crime in the U.S. and New York City.

"Murder Inc." was written by a former Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York-Burton Turkus. In the years just preceding WW2, Mr. Turkus successfully prosecuted several members of the national crime organization he terms the Syndicate. Seven went to the electric chair at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. The author believed that the Mafia, as we now know the term, did not then exist. There are both weak and strong points to MI. Weak points include the author's breezy style, with which this reviewer was initially uncomfortable. At the outset, Turkus wrote as if his readers were as knowledgeable of the subject as he. I found it difficult to keep up with the both the story and the cast of characters. These are not the Gottis, Colombos, Gallos or Gambinos of a more current era. These guys are of the 1930s and early 40s and comparatively unknown-especially to non native New Yorkers. They are not even all Italian. We are introduced to Harry Strauss ("Pittsburgh Phil"), Louis Buchalter ("Lepke"), and Abe Reles ("Kid Twist"). I will save the infamous-and embarrassing! - tale of the Kid's demise for those who buy the book. We are introduced to Italian criminals as well: Albert Anastasia (the boss of the waterfront), the notoriously powerful Frank Costello ("The Ambassador") and the cover boy Joey Adonis, who even the author respectfully calls "Mister A". Midway through the text, this reviewer felt a shift! MI got stronger! Perhaps I warmed up to Turkus' style. Perhaps an anonymous editor took charge of the text. Perhaps I became used to the characters-and "characters" they are! I loved the painstaking recounting of various rubouts. These guys planned! I appreciated the savvy courtroom tactics needed to convict the accused mobsters, all defended by top-notch counsel. Turkus explains the delicacy of using information provided by informants, the ever- present danger of a mistrial or reversal of a conviction on appeal. Like a good professor, he drums into his readers the import of CORROBORATION at trial. Sadly, he recounts that not all in government, including his one time boss (the future Mayor O' Dwyer!) shared his zeal to bring these criminals to justice. Significantly, the author goes to lengths to demonstrate that the crimes relived here are decidedly not "victimless". As a suggestion, I might hope that future editions of the reprinted MI carry an epilog explaining what happened to those still standing at the tale's end. I know Mr. Anastasia met his violent demise in 1956-in his favorite barbershop at the old Park Sheraton Hotel on 55th Street and 7th Avenue. Minor point. The end result is a very satisfying story for those who bear down and read it through. Those who claim to like "True Crime" can't go wrong with MI. This is criminality at it truest and rawest!

One of my the many things that history has given me is the myths and legends of the underworld and the mafia. Murder, Inc. is the answer to the myriad of question history class never answered.

For over 20 years I have been reading about men like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Buggsy Siegel, Frank Costello, Johnny Torio and Albert Anastasia, and until this book I was misinformed about a number of things.

From the early 30's and into the 40's and 50's, follow along and watch the trail of over 1,000 brutal and horrific murders were committed by one the most ruthless groups of individuals ever assembled.

Read along and watch Murder Inc. bring and end to prohibition, and how this same group was taken down as the author, a former Brooklyn DA, sent seven of the men to the chair. This book ranks number 2 in my reviews for 1999!

The only thing this book doesn't give on the Mob up to the mid 50's is an org chart. This is probably the best look at the Mob from an insider's point of view outside of WISEGUY. And much of the inside information comes from a made man, something Henry Hill (the mobster in WISEGUY) never was. Learn about the Purge of Mafia, the establishment of the international cartel, the histories of the biggest names in organized crime history, including Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Albert Anastasia, Joey Adonnis, Bugsy Seigel, and the rest of Murder, Inc. The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is that it is embarrassingly out-of-date and therefore presents a distorted view of the Mob in the years up to 1955. It can't benefit from historical perspective or just the distance of time.

This book is not just a history of the mob but is part of that history, as Tukus was a prosecutor of the first big cases against the mob. As a prosecutor of the criminals Tukus is hardly objective in his views of them, their lives and so forth. Their horrific deeds speak for themselves but he feels the need to condemn them often, as if preaching to the jury. The stlye is overwhelmed by the 50s journalistic background of the co-author, and I like others find it annoying in its excess of adjectives.
Nevertheless, if you want to know the subject, this is a must read. And with all its flaws, it is still really fun.

The collaborative work of Burton B. Turkus (who was the Assistant District Attorney of Kings County, Brooklyn during the original Murder, Inc. investigations) and veteran journalist Sid Feder, Murder, Inc.: The Story Of The Syndicate is the factual chronicle and history of an infamous and feared American criminal organization that prospered in the 1930's and 40's, making their mark in American criminal history for their efficient and utterly ruthless means of eliminating rivals and enemies; controlling and corrupting local, state, and federal officials; and for resisting prosecution by the law until one of their members (Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, known for his habit of strangulation) turned state's evidence and exposed to public view a secret and lethal criminal organization with national implications. A chilling, thoroughly researched presentation, Murder, Inc. is a strongly recommended contribution to American Organized Crime supplemental reading lists.

My only real complaint about this book is the florid, expansive writing style. Cut through all that and you've got a gripping, even chilling insight into American criminal history and all the proof you will ever need that the good old days were not always good.

What an organization! This was the general public's 1st look at a well-structured criminal organization operating on a domestic and more importantly, a national scale "a nationwide cartel". We're brought back to a time where bodies were being found on every other street corner in Brooklyn, and the generally accepted view was: to mind your business and don't get involved. We get introduced to so many startling characters namely, "Kid Twist" Reles, "Judge Louis" Lepke, Charlie "The Bug" Workman, Mendy Weiss, and "Pittsburgh Phil", to name a few, along with a bunch of others that are more well-known. This book breaks down the details regarding these racketeers, their criminal activities, and their attention to detail in the murder department. These men were seasoned professionals who set the benchmark in their industry; the industry of Murder!

The book goes into tremendous detail of Kid Twist, his career and his cooperation with the government. They explain how he shed light on the underworld machinations of the Syndicate. Before his collaboration, law enforcement may have known of their existence, but they couldn't prove a thing. There were never any evidence, motives, witnesses, etc. Reles helped to send some of the Syndicate's top intricate players to jail where they received either the electric chair or life imprisonment. If he hadn't "fell/been thrown" from a building, he would have sent a few more there as well.

I will definitely read this book again and use it as a guide for this field. There is extensive information here, and you have to familiarize yourself with the time, the characters, etc. From here, I'm going to read Paul Kavieff's "The Life and Times of Lepke Buchalter". We get introduced to him in Murder Inc. and they go into significant detail, but a character as powerful and as well-connected as him deserves his own book without question.

Mr Turkus pre-emptively has one-upped Peter Maas and Joseph Valachi in this book. Written in 1950, it tells the unbelieveable story of how the Mob solidified and the murderers that made it work. And it tells of the aftermath, the early days of the Mob eating itself alive...no one gets out. Incredibly informative and lightened by Mr Turkus's narrative and emotion. Exciting and brutal...

The most riveting book I've read on the creation & operations of the early stages of the Mafia.