American Gangster - And Other Tales of New York

Mark Jacobson

Sinopsis

The “riveting account” of a Harlem drug kingpin—the basis for the Ridley Scott film starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe (Entertainment Weekly).

In the 1970s, Frank Lucas was the king of the Harlem drug trade, bringing in over a million dollars a day. So many heroin addicts were buying from him on 116th Street that he claimed the Transit Authority changed the bus routes to avoid them. He lived a glamorous life, hobnobbing with athletes, musicians, and politicians, but Lucas was a ruthless gangster. He was notorious for using the coffins of dead GIs to smuggle heroin into the United States and, before being sentenced to seventy years in prison, he played a major role in the near death of New York City.

In American Gangster, Mark Jacobson’s captivating account of the life of Frank Lucas (the basis for the major motion picture) joins other tales of New York City from the past few decades. The collection features a number of Jacobson’s most famous essays, as well as previous unpublished work and recent articles on 9/11 conspiracy theorists, America’s #1 escort, and Harlem’s own Charles Rangel, the retired chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. American Gangster is a vibrant, many-layered portrait of the most fascinating city in the world, by one of the most acclaimed journalists of our time.

“Gripping reading . . . Whether covering the high life or lowlifes, Jacobson boasts a novelistic eye and muscular prose in the tradition of urban chroniclers like Joseph Mitchell, A.J. Liebling, and Pete Hamill. A-.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Mark Jacobson is a living American Master.”—New York Daily News

Disponible desde: 01/12/2007.

Longitud de impresión: 288 páginas.

Otros libros que te pueden interesar

Jack of Jumps

David Seabrook

A dark and deep dive into the “Jack the Stripper” murders that “rips open sixties London and leaves her swinging from a lamp-post for all to finally see” (David Peace, author of the Red Riding Quartet). Between 1959 and 1965, eight prostitutes were murdered in West London by a serial killer. The killer’s motive and identity were the subject of endless speculation by the media, who dubbed him “Jack the Stripper.” Links to the Profumo scandal, boxer Freddie Mills and the notorious Kray twins were rumored. By the time the body of the eighth victim was found in February 1965, a massive police operation was underway to catch the killer. The whole country waited to see what would happen next. The police had staked everything on the murderer striking again. But he didn’t . . . David Seabrook, the author of All the Devils Are Here, interviewed surviving police officers, witnesses and associates of the victims and examined the evidence, the rumors and the half-truths. He reconstructs every detail of the investigation and recreates the dark, brutal world of prostitutes and pimps in 1960s West London. He questions the theory that the police’s prime suspect was Jack the Stripper and confronts the disturbing possibility that the killer is still at large. “Seabrook taps away at the darker recesses of the metropolitan mind, relishing the fact that his subject is so heroically unglamorous.”—The Guardian “The genius of this one is how it teases horror from the banal . . . A terrifying portrait of the dark side of Notting Hill and Shepherd’s Bush at the time, with its stew of sex, drugs, immigration, violence, and a residual white working-class.”—The Telegraph

Ver libro

Innocent Victims - Two Novellas

Minette Walters

In December, 1924, a murder took place on a chicken farm in East Sussex, England. Although Norman Thorne never confessed to killing his girlfriend, Elsie, he was tried and hanged for the crime. In Chickenfeed, Walters burrows deep into an English legend, creating a suspenseful tale of fiction based in fact. Was Thorne guilty? If so, what was his motive?  Set in the small village of Sowerbridge, The Tinder Box is a tale of chilling ambition. Patrick O’Riordan has been arrested for the brutal murder of elderly Lavinia Fanshaw and her live-in nurse, Dorothy Jenkins. As the village unites against the O’Riordan family, Siobhan Lavenham is convinced that Patrick is the victim of a prejudiced investigation. But when terrible secrets come to light, she is forced to question her loyalties.

Ver libro

Fatal North - Murder and...

Bruce Henderson

It began as President Ulysses S. Grant's bid for international glory after the Civil War-America's first attempt to reach the North Pole. It ended with Captain Charles Hall's death under suspicious circumstances, dissension among sailors, scientists, and explorers, and the ship's evacuation and eventual sinking. Then came a brutal struggle for survival by thirty-three men, women, and children, stranded on the polar ice. When news of the disastrous expedition and accusations of murder reached Washington D.C., it led to a nationwide scandal, an official investigation, and a government cover-up.The mystery of the captain's death remained unsolved for nearly 100 years. But when Charles Hall's frozen grave in northern Greenland was opened, forensic scientists were finally able to reach a shocking conclusion.Now, telling the complete story for the first time, bestselling author Bruce Henderson has researched original transcripts of the U.S. Navy inquests, personal papers of Captain Hall, autopsy and forensic reports relating to the century-old crime, the ship's original log, and personal journals kept by crewmen to bring to life one of the most mysterious tragedies of American exploration.

Ver libro

To Kill or Be Killed - A True...

Joni Ankerson

A convicted murderer tells the story of the years of domestic abuse she endured that drove her to kill her police sergeant husband. The day we met in October of 1997, I was working at the District Court in Traverse City, Michigan as a Deputy Clerk. It was like most other days with arraignments, sentencings, civil case hearings and the like. People shuffling in and out, everyone taking care of their important business with court appearances, document filings, paying tickets, fines and bonding loved ones out of jail. I loved my job. It was extremely satisfying and interesting with constant interaction with all walks of life, including people on either end of the judicial spectrum and many in between. Suddenly, there he was. Tall, handsome, and looking so impressive and important in his Michigan State Police uniform with his hat, gun belt and badge. A powerful man who had chosen a profession to serve and protect. He was extremely friendly and upbeat, smiling profusely. Best of all, he, too, was unattached. What could go wrong? He was like a dream man. We clicked, immediately, and began dating exclusively. But he was not a dream man. He was a nightmare . . . as I learned over the next twelve years. Twelve years of enduring domestic violence at its absolute worst. Constant abuse, control, manipulation, and threats. Sadistic sexual deviance and sexual violence. It was only going to end one way: someone would die in our bed and someone would go to prison for murder. This is my story about domestic violence, resilience, reckoning and survival.

Ver libro

The Hatfields & the McCoys

Otis K. Rice

“A captivating account of two families whose stubbornness and loyalty were exceeded only by their capacity for a terrible revenge.” —Southern Living   The Hatfield-McCoy feud has long been a famous part of Appalachian history, but over the years it’s become encrusted with myth and error. Novelists, motion picture producers, television writers, and others have neglected to separate fact from fiction, and sensationalized events that needed no embellishment.   Using court records, public documents, official correspondence, and other sources, Otis K. Rice presents an account that frees, as much as possible, truth from legend. He weighs the evidence carefully, avoiding the partisanship and the attitude of condescension and condemnation that have characterized many of the writings concerning the feud.   He also sets the feud in the social, political, economic, and cultural context of eastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By examining the legacy of the Civil War, the weakness of institutions such as the church and education system, the exaggerated importance of family, the impotence of the law, and the isolation of the mountain folk, Rice gives new meaning to the origins and progress of the feud. These conditions help explain why the Hatfield and McCoy families, which have produced so many fine citizens, could engage in such a bitter and prolonged vendetta.

Ver libro

From Gangland To Promised Land -...

John Pridmore, with Greg Watts

Brought up in the East End of London, son of a policeman, John was already dabbling in crime by his early teens, ending up in a young offenders institute and then a borstal. Hed left home at 15 and the only occupation he knew was theft. He landed a job doing security at concerts for stars such as Simply Red, Queen and Bruce Springsteen and was lured deeper into the world of drugs and crime. By his 20s he was well-acquainted with the capitals criminal underworld. Thanks to drug dealing and racketeering he lived the classic gangster life of loads of cash, women, sports cars, designer clothes and a penthouse flat. Violence became a way of life, with his jackets tailored to hold his machete, knuckledusters and CS gas. One night he beat up a guy outside a nightclub, fleeing the scene thinking hed killed the man. Thankfully the victim survived but John finally had to confront the reality of the life he was leading and something extraordinary happened.

Ver libro