Books on mafia, serial killers, or hitmen

[Slow Play Ray]

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Black Mass is a good read about James "Whitey" Bulger.

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I am reading this right now - it's decent so far.

Also, Lorenzo Carcaterra's (the guy that wrote 'Sleepers') newest novel 'Gangster' is a decent quick read - it's a fictionalized life story of a mobster with a pretty generic, yet entertaining anyway, plot. I am a fan of his writing style.

[2/325Falcon]

SPR,

Black Mass is probably better if you're a Masshole who already knows Billy & Whitey Bulger etc. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Boyos is fiction, but it was written by a former Massachusetts State Trooper who went to prison for robbing armored cars.

Prince of Theives is another crime novel I can recommend.

[Ser William]

[EvilSmurf]

Chopper

Also a fantastic movie starring Eric Bana (when he was still an Australian stand-up comedian)

[Cyrus]

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[image]

[/ QUOTE ]I heard that every one of those smiling idiots was eventually tracked down and killed by the narcotraficantes.

BTW, this is what a reviewer wrote in the Amazon.com link to the book:

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The book is full of mistakes, some of which would have been quite easy to detect and fix. These are just a few I found in a quick reading:
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(1) Simon Bolivar did not try to join Colombia with Peru and Venezuela to form the "Gran Colombia" (p. 16)(the "Gran Colombia" included Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela);
(2) The Rojas Pinilla dictatorship did not last five years (p. 18) (it lasted four years:1953-1957);
(3) Carlos Lehder and Jose Rodriguez Gacha were not "Antioquia Crime Bosses" (p. 29) (Lehder was from Quindio and Rodriguez was from Cundinamarca);
(4) President Alfonso Lopez Michelsen was not a founder of the Liberal Party (p. 62) (the Liberal Party dates back to mid-nineteenth century and thus could not have been founded by President Lopez Michelsen, who is still alive); (
5) President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo was never part of Bogota's elite (p. 122) (Gaviria comes from an upper-middle class family in the provincial town of Pereira);
(6) Marina Montoya was not a slender woman (p. 127) (Miss Montoya was a heavy-set woman);
(7) Father Garcia Herreros was not named Fernando (p. 130) (his name was Gabriel); (
8) The "Procuraduria General de la Nacion" is not "a kind of internal-affairs unit for the government" (p. 189) (the Procurador General is a constitutional level state official appointed by Congress and not part of the government);
(9) The government owned radio and television station is not called Intravision (it's named Inravision);
(10) Natives of Medellin are not called Medellinos (p. 280) (they are called medellinenses or just paisas).


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[Cyrus]

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Does anyone have some recommendations for books about the mafia, serial killers, or hitmen?

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"PROFESSIONAL KILLERS An Inside Look" by Burt Rapp

Your name will probably be entered in some list if you dare access this. Or order it.

[sandycove]

Maybe a bit off the mark, but my view is that the gold standard in "bad guy" crime fiction is the Parker series by mystery grandmaster Donald Westlake, writing under the pseudonym Richard Stark. Most are now back in print.

Another great "bad guy" is Andrew Vachss' Burke. But he's an amoral independent on a moral crusade.

For shooting people, Stephen Hunter's sniper Bob Lee Swagger is without peer. He is not, in fairness, a classical hitman.

[CheckRaise]

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For shooting people, Stephen Hunter's sniper Bob Lee Swagger is without peer. He is not, in fairness, a classical hitman.

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I remember reading those books when I was little, I thought they were very cool although I don't know if I would like them now.

[Keystone]

Helter Skelter about serial killer Charles Manson

[sandycove]

Yup, know what you mean. At 55, I thought they were pretty cool. Maybe I've outgrown them at age 62? I reckon C.S. Lewis and Dickens are next.