The Friendship of Criminals

January 5, 2015
In Glinski’s strong first novel, the imprisonment of Italian-American mob boss Tom Monte leaves a vacancy at the top of his Philadelphia crime organization. In the subsequent fight for leadership, Raymond Rea wins. Rea flexes his newfound muscles by reneging on agreements made with the city’s other crime families, including a Polish outfit controlled by the ruthless Anton Bielakowski, a 60-year mob veteran. Believing he can outwit the old-timer, Rea precipitates a struggle that exposes a fascinating world of lawyers, FBI agents, motorcycle gang members, and defendants awaiting trial. All of them must figure out whom to support and whom they can trust, because their lives and fortunes depend on making the right choices. Glinski vividly portrays the seamy side of Philadelphia, while providing absorbing backstories for all the major characters. As the battle wages, the action sweeps the reader along toward the satisfying climax. Agent: Kirby Kim, William Morris Endeavor.

January 1, 2015
One of the revelations in all the accounts of crime families is that they are, well, families. Along with workaday matters of murder and extortion, a mobster must endure deadbeat relatives, long and dull dinners, children in rehab, and whining spouses. And he suffers ills of the flesh. Anton Bielakowski, Philadelphia's Polish crime boss, has to pause in his torture of a rival to gulp antacids for his bleeding ulcer. Then there are the crime conferences, as dreary as staff luncheons. Fortunately, Glinski spices his account of Mob turf war with vivid action scenes and encounters with quirky fringe criminal wannabes. Look for Angie and her attempts to hijack a truckload of Viagrait's a long, touching, and funny sequence worth the price of admission. And there's aging Sonny, the only one of these goons who knows how to enjoy his blood money. He buys his girlfriend a BMW with gold wheels and a twenty-grand stereo system. The rest of the book has a documentary feel, but even those parts will please readers who like to watch the wheels go around.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)