This is the story, objectively and graphically told of the gradual passing of Sam Vettori, a gang boss in Little Italy, on the north side of Chicago; of his inevitably yielding the leadership to his young lieutenant, Cesare Bandello (called Rico); and of Rico's brief lived days of power, his forced flight from Chicago because of the murder of a police captain, and of Rico's violent end, while hiding in Toledo.
Published in 1929 this is 'the first gangster novel' that was later made into the movie that launched the career of Edward G Robinson in 1931.
This is all about the dialogue which is all in gangster vernacular - " you want me to get my neck stretched over a dirty double crosser that ain't worth a good bullet? Listen, I'm gonna run that bird out of town."
Once you are used to the language this rolls along as a story of ambition where a 28 year old moral vacuum takes anything he wants at the point of a gun. He rises fast and falls fast as these types tend to do.
What I have never seen is any hat tip from Graham Greene where his 'Pinky' character in Brighton Rock is a 19 year old carbon copy of Rico, the physical description is almost identical and would appear lifted completely from this novel.
This was a fun read, deeper than I thought it would be and worth the investment of time.
The edition I found was a beautiful facsimile of the original with cut pages in a slip case which was a bonus to getting a good read.
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