A review by leah__reads
Gangland by Chuck Hogan
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Gangland mixes the true story of various mobsters, including Accardo, with a fictional story of Nicky Pins. This is not a crazy action packed book with constant shoot outs or dramatic encounters but feels more like The Sopranos. It's a book that focuses on the relationships between characters and the need to keep up appearances of honesty, loyalty, and power. It feels like a complicated story without being hard to follow which made it a really enjoyable read.
Nicky is such an interesting character to read about because despite being a bad guy he's not a 'bad' guy...well that's not entirely true. He's a likeable less bad bad guy and while knowing it's wrong to root for a mobster I still did. That's what made this book work for me. None of the main players in this story are innocent, they are all deceitful and willing to put their interest above the lives of others. And creating a character that despite that you want the best for is really impressive.
Nicky is such an interesting character to read about because despite being a bad guy he's not a 'bad' guy...well that's not entirely true. He's a likeable less bad bad guy and while knowing it's wrong to root for a mobster I still did. That's what made this book work for me. None of the main players in this story are innocent, they are all deceitful and willing to put their interest above the lives of others. And creating a character that despite that you want the best for is really impressive.