A book that can whisk you away to another world – even the Mob underworld – has pronounced value in apocalyptic times marked by a global pandemic, unprecedented wildfires and menacing hurricanes. Author Michael Cannell provides just such an escapist passport in his riveting true-crime gangster tale, A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc. ... What Cannell brings to this lurid banquet of a story is meticulous research and writing flair ... What Cannell has frozen in sparkling amber is a New York, and indeed a nation, from a century ago. It’s a fascinating and punishing place worth visiting from the comforts of a self-quarantined reading nook, if in part to distract us from the assaults of 2020.
Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, and a multitude of other criminal names are often recognized before the names are even spoken. But what about Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles? ... In A Brotherhood Betrayed author Michael Cannell introduces the reader to Reles in minute detail, starting with his minor league crimes in Brooklyn until he rises to 'assassin-in-chief for an underworld death squad loosely known as Murder, Inc.' ... Cannell winds up his story with what happened to many of the characters, and he closes the loop well. Cannell’s telling of this story is page turning. His research is unquestionable, his descriptions chilling, and his character development is absolutely visual ... This book is a fast read and informative.
Cannell takes readers along for the ride as he documents — in remarkable, often chilling detail drawn from newspapers and archival documents — Reles’ inexorable rise ... reads like a Brooklyn version of The Irishman, and Cannell’s riveting narrative unfolds with the simmering tension and explosive violence of a Scorsese movie ... another engrossing descent into the dark corners of the criminal mind, this time with a mystery that’s unlikely to ever be solved.
Cannell expertly interweaves stories of Reles and other gangsters with those of the police, prosecutors, and even Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, whose campaign promises included dismantling Murder, Inc. and prosecuting Reles and company. Reles was responsible for the shockingly cruel deaths of upward of 50 people, described in vivid detail by Cannell. Though well researched, the book suffers at times from an overuse of adjectives, perhaps mimicking the pulp true crime fashionable in the era of Murder, Inc. While it is Italian American gangsters who are most remembered today, Cannell reminds readers of an era when many other first-generation immigrants of different ethnic backgrounds found success in the underworld. His narrative serves as a who’s who of prewar Jewish assassins, although the work leans more toward titillation than social anthropology. Cannell also examines the mystery of Reles’s death, which would have long-term consequences for the district attorney who convinced Reles to turn state’s witness ... Will resonate with fans of the true crime genre, and mob and crime history.
Cannell dials in the the right level of detail in this grim story of violence, corruption, and the dogged efforts of law enforcement to break organized crime’s hold on New York City. Readers interested in a non-sensationalized treatment of a major chapter in American crime will be riveted.
Cannell stuffs his eventful narrative full of murder and mayhem, featuring a cast of hard-boiled and corrupt cops, extremely nasty gangsters, sleazy politicos, and Reles, a true psychopath. 'Who killed Kid Twist?' asks Cannell, using Reles’ nom de crime. It took years and another mob killer to secure the definitive answer, confirmed by none other than Lucky Luciano. Fans of Mario Puzo–style true crime will revel in Reles’ deviant behavior and his comeuppance.
