Toughs

August 4, 2014
For this hard-hitting crime novel, Falco (The Family Corleone) draws on historical events involving Vince "Mad Dog" Coll, an Irish-American gangster who gained notoriety for, among other things, the accidental killing of a five-year old boy during a shoot-out in New York City in 1931. Set amid the poverty and despair of the Great Depression, Falco's unapologetically brutal narrative adeptly captures the dichotomy of the timesâfrom the ruthlessness of life in the Bronx to the glittering revues of the Cotton Clubâby chronicling the desperate lives of Coll and those around him, namely Loretto Jones, who met Coll at an orphanage when they were children and followed him into the world of organized crime. But as Coll rises to infamy and starts bloody conflicts with mobsters like Owen Madden and Lucky Luciano, Jones tries to leave the lifestyle and begin a new life with girlfriend Gina only to be pulled back time and time again. The story line takes a while to get up to speed, but patient readers will be rewarded with a satisfying albeit predictable conclusion.

July 15, 2014
Falco (The Family Corleone, 2012,etc.) dissects a New York City ganglandwar over Prohibition speak-easies and rumrunning.In 1931, the Mafia didn't rule BigApple crime. The illegal booze trade was controlled by a loose confederationcalled the Combine, made up of a variety of Irish mobsters and the tightfisted,ever angry Dutch Schultz's gang. Falco's plot is anchored by historicalgangland figures such as Schultz and Vince Coll-the "Mad Dog" oflegend-but it's Coll's fictional friend Loretto Jones who provides perspective.Coll was a soldier in Schultz's gang, which led to his brother's death; inretribution, he wants to destroy the Combine, led by Owen Madden, anotherhistorical figure neatly fitted into the narrative. Coll's first shot is theattempted assassination of a hot-tempered subcapo. His fusillade kills a child;politicos grab headlines offering big rewards; and the Combine wants blood.With Loretto nearby, witnessing the shooting, the police and the Combine thinkhe was involved. The action moves from the mean streets of the Bronx tobasement speak-easies and the fabled Cotton Club, showing Falco's grip onenvironments from cold-water tenements to greasy spoons. Mad Dog is the moststriking character here, a charismatic psychopath. Loretto's loyal to him, buthe's also tied to the Baronti family, which gives him refuge after he witnessesthe shooting; he's also in love with Gina, their beautifuldaughter. Loretto grows into a somewhat sympathetic protagonist,considering the mean streets of his youth, through outside influences andintrospection. Coll is one-note, his only positive quality a twisted sense ofloyal. Madden, Schultz, Luciano and the rest of the historical gang are straightout of newspaper columns yet subtly nuanced. There's gunplay for action fans,some R-rated gore and PG-sex. Falco's style tends towardreportorial, which gives the book a texture different from classic noir yetprovides an intriguing read for crime-fiction fans.

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August 1, 2014
Big chunks of the public can't get enough of the Godfather saga, and Falco's novel is aimed at them (as was, even more blatantly, his previous The Family Corleone, 2012). The core of this story is factual. It's Prohibition. A brutal Irishman who deserves his moniker, Mad Dog Coll, is out to unseat crime kings Dutch Schultz and Owen Madden. Falco has reimagined the story, inventing a childhood chum androgynously named Loretto and making his the primary point of view. He's a reluctant tagalong during the knifings, shootings, and bombings, and he's there at the bloody phone-booth finale. He has a made-up girlfriend named Gina, while Coll has a real one named Lottie. Curiously, it is the women's moments that are the novel's best written and most affecting. Some readers may be slowed down by the Loretto-Lottie confusion, but this one is for Corleone wannabes, who won't find the narrative overlong or the goons cartoonish. They'll know what a pineapple is, and how to use a chopper, and they'll be right at home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)