OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Lucky Luciano" by Christian Cipollini.]

Lucky Luciano: Mysterious Tales of a Gangland Legend is a true crime mystery novel by Christian Cipollini. It is not uncommon for people of regular status to look at the lives of big-name criminals with nothing but sheer admiration, and sometimes even envy. In the early twentieth century, people were fascinated with gangsters such as Al Capone, Frank Costello, and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Today our fascination might be directed at local drug lords who captivate us with their power, wealth, and temerity towards the law. The author asks the question, "Why are we, the purveyors of pop culture and controversy, so enamored with their stories, exploits, and history?"

The tales of criminal masterminds are fun pass times for most readers, but the facts aren't always there to give us the real story. For years, researchers and historians have studied the lives of these criminal legends, one of them being the legend of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Who is Lucky Luciano? According to the author, his role has been scrutinized and his tale has been debated about for nearly a century. "Some believe that he was the catalyst that changed the structure of organized crime, on a national level -- for the better." To answer this question, the author takes us through a series of tales revolving around both truth as well as gangland mythology.

Intended to raise questions rather than to provide answers, this novel makes for an interesting short-read about the rise and fall of mobster Lucky Luciano. The author makes use of quotes from other books on the subject of Luciano, newspaper articles, and various other materials to move his novel to its conclusion. The writing itself is remarkable and structured in such a way that you might confuse it with fiction. A few typos here and there didn't hurt my experience as I was too much intrigued by all the conspiracies surrounding Luciano; the origin of his moniker, crimes he may or may not have been involved in, etc.

I was only angry that the novel didn't include the least bit of information about Lucky's childhood. After a finite timeline shedding some light on major events in his life, the author starts off by mentioning the entire clan of "original gangsters" to help paint an image of this iconic figure in the history of organized crime. The author doesn't portray Luciano in any other way than the man he was -- a mobster bent on eradicating the "old school" Mafioso structure while unifying gangsters of all ethnic groups.

For lovers of true crime novels, this is an absolute must-have. People new to this genre will find the author's storytelling capabilities mixed with the tough subject of Luciano a well fit. With numerous photographs of iconic crime figures, their mistresses, and crime scene photos, this makes for wonderful, concise learning material for those who don't yet know anything about this legendary gangster. The author stated early on in the novel why he wrote the novel the way he did, and why there are some things about Luciano the world will never know. My rating is 4 out of 4.

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Lucky Luciano
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Like Leon Durham's review? Post a comment saying so!

Have you had an opportunity to look at the Amazon page for this book? You are briefly quoted in the editorial reviews section. That's pretty cool!

I really enjoyed reading your review. I tend to shy away from non-fiction reading, but I've been trying to expand past reading only from my very favorite genres. This sounds like it would be worth reading.

Great example of a well-written review.

Great Review! I love crime and mystery novels. I have never read a nonfiction crime book. I'm going to add this to my list!

Nice, insightful review! I like true crime books and Lucky Luciano sounds like he was a fascinating person.

If you like mob or Mafia books try a book I just read called Dirty Money by Joe LaFratta. It is about his life in the Boston mob but it is not like any other mafia book I have ever read. It does not glorify the life and in fact does the exact opposite. It is a good story and the guy has a great ending that doesn't end up with him being a rat or killing someone... LOL

Car dealer - Thanks for the recommendation.

@car dealer

Thanks; I've actually never read a fiction book revolving around the mafia book before. Promise to take a look at your recommendation as soon as I can.

Sorry if i confused anyone regarding Dirty Money. It is not a work of fiction. I dont think any books about modern gangsters will ever be as flashy as the glory days of the mafia but I do like reading about the current decline of the mafia and how something that was once so powerful has now become mostly guys just telling on each othe .

@car dealer

Thanks for the heads up.

A combination of mystery, crime and true events regarding a real criminal personality is very interesting writing. From your review it seems that the author had managed it very well.

@chytack18

He did. If you like these types of books, you should definitely give it a try. Although I wrote this review a while ago, I still remember the good parts, which includes a timeline of events concerning Lucky, the myths surrounding the origin of his name, and a huge collection of photographs of all those larger than life mafioso of the 60s. I don't know why reading a book or watching a movie about the old school Mafia is so fun, but they just are. And the author even explains our fascination with them in the beginning, sounding very believable.

I love true crime. I love the review and will add this toy list of books to read in 2016.

I read the Godfather book series by Mario Puzo and I enjoyed them. Now this one sounds really really interesting. Great review! Congratulations to Christian Cipollini for such a well-written book.