Gangsterland: A Novel
By Tod Goldberg
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
"[An] exciting and darkly funny crime novel." —C. Moon Read, Las Vegas Weekly, 1 of Our 20 Favorite Books of the Past Twenty Years
Sal Cupertine is a legendary hit man for the Chicago Mafia, known for his ability to get in and out of a crime without a trace. Until now, that is. His first-ever mistake forces Sal to botch an assassination, killing three undercover FBI agents in the process. This puts too much heat on Sal, and he knows this botched job will be his death sentence to the Mafia. So he agrees to their radical idea to save his own skin.
A few surgeries and some intensive training later, and Sal Cupertine is gone, disappeared into the identity of Rabbi David Cohen. Leading his growing congregation in Las Vegas, overseeing the population and the temple and the new cemetery, Rabbi Cohen feels his wicked past slipping away from him, surprising even himself as he spouts quotes from the Torah or the Old Testament. Yet, as it turns out, the Mafia isn't quite done with him yet. Soon the new cemetery is being used as both a money and body-laundering scheme for the Chicago family. And that rogue FBI agent on his trail, seeking vengeance for the murder of his three fellow agents, isn't going to let Sal fade so easily into the desert.
Gangsterland is the wickedly dark and funny new novel by a writer at the height of his power—a morality tale set in a desert landscape as ruthless and barren as those who inhabit it.
Tod Goldberg
Tod Goldberg is the author of more than a dozen books, including Gangsterland, a finalist for the Hammett Prize; The House of Secrets, which he co-authored with Brad Meltzer; and the crime- tinged novels Living Dead Girl, an LA Times Book Prize finalist, and Fake Liar Cheat, plus five novels in the popular Burn Notice series. He is also the author of the story collection Simplify, a 2006 finalist for the SCIBA Award for Fiction and winner of the Other Voices Short Story Collection Prize, and Other Resort Cities. His essays, journalism, and criticism have appeared in many publications, including the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Review of Books, Las Vegas Weekly, and Best American Essays, and have won five Nevada Press Association Awards. He lives in Indio, California, where he directs the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside.
Read more from Tod Goldberg
Living Dead Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Other Resort Cities Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Gangsterland
Related ebooks
The Good Samaritan: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnscrupulous gold digger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Glorieta Pass (A Dan Wilder Novel) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlayboy Zombie, Innocent Secretary: Having His Zombie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouse of Smoke Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Before It Breaks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outlier #4: Zappers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFallout: An addictive gangland thriller from Edie Baylis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne More Valentine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl From Paradise Hill: The McClintock-Carter Crime Thriller Trilogy, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hobby Horse Murder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Semper Fi Cowboy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKissssss: A Miscellany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Sometimes Thing: Clint Faraday Mysteries, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Morrow Family Saga, Series 1: 1950s, Book 2: Dreams Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Current Climate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Convicted Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Night Shift: Det. Lt. Nick Storie Mysteries, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAccelerated Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFeminista: A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Carl Weber's Kingpins: Memphis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRedemption Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDouble Blind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hit-and-Run Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhosted: A holiday romance to warm your heart Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAcceptable Losses: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Walk Into The Sun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Jewish Fiction For You
4 3 2 1: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5JEWISH FAIRY TALES and LEGENDS - 27 folk and fairy tales from the Talmud Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Darkest Night: A Novel of Italy and the Second World War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book Thief: A Novel by Markus Zusak | Conversation Starters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orphan #8: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Another Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Sisters: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Oppermanns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Weight Of Ink Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Painted Bird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The School for German Brides: A Novel of World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Last Jew in Prague Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wolf and the Woodsman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Call It Sleep: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chosen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Auschwitz Lullaby: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the Pale: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once We Were Brothers: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yellow Bird Sings: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Time for Tears: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disobedience: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ben-Hur: The Novel That Inspired the Epic Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sacrifice of Tamar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bookish People Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Safekeeping: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Man Who Saw Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Midwife of Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Gangsterland
15 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rabbi David Cohen used to be Chicago Mafia hitman Sal Cupertino. When he is caught up in a drug deal gone wrong and kills several undercover FBI agents, he knows big trouble awaits him. But the Mafia has a plan and, after several surgeries and some rigorous training, he emerges as Rabbi Cohen and becomes the leader of a congregation in Las Vegas. But a rogue FBI agent is after him, determined to avenge the deaths of his three colleagues. And the rabbi misses his family. The book, filled with believable, well-developed characters, offers readers an interesting [if absurd] premise, and spins a dark tale of mayhem and lessons learned.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sort of a Pygmalion-meets-Lillehammer-and-Dexter story in which a Chicago Mafia hitman is forced to go underground, reappearing in Las Vegas as a rabbi. He's not bad at the job, but his past follows him, as does the memory of his beloved wife and child--and an FBI agent he'd believed dead.It's an odd, mostly fun book, with some rather harrowing violence. I would give this 3 1/2 stars if I could. Not quite 4; there's a bit too much explanation, and a couple of strokes of luck and loose and abrupt ends that I didn't feel were completely convincing. But the characters are interesting, and I liked very much that the reader doesn't get to know everyone's secrets, and doesn't need to.