This is a well written and researched book that definitely deserves a read from crime and Mafia aficionados alike.

This book is a fascinating story of one Frank Costello. Who began back during the Volstead Act with Luciano, Lansky and some of the others? This was before the five families. Here you get to see hie rise to power especially after Luciano is deported to Italy. He survives an assignation attempt by one Chin Gigante who later would still become a crime boss even after botching this attempt. Costello uses his smarts to overcome people and problems. Problems being people wanting to testify against the family regardless of where they may be staying.
You also get a look at how he uses his political and other government officials. I found this to be a very good book and full of a lot of information. He even goes into things when he was to have been retired. More to this story and book than many others that I have read and one that gives you the sense of a true gangster in all he accomplished and overcame. Especially when others ended up in prison. Very much worth the read.

I love The Godfather and it is my all-time favorite movie. As a result I will read pretty much anything written about the Mafia, particularly during the 'glory days' so to speak. I realize how dangerous that can be, romanticizing such brutality. You can tell me about while I sit here playing The Godfather: Black Hand Edition on my Wii.

But in all seriousness, this is an excellent, well-researched biography of arguably the most important man to ever run the show. He got his start during Prohibition, making a fortune on that and various illegal gambling operations. For all that he made though, it was never really the money that was the end game. What Costello wanted more than anything else was to be accepted a legitimate business man who was a contributing member of society. He almost made it, but was never quite legit enough. Unfortunately, it was never to be, both because of his bootlegging days and those he kept company with later in life. Those ties to illegal activities in his earlier years would come back to haunt him, as it was all dredged up time and again when he was called to testify at various hearings.

One of the key takeaways from Costello's life was the way he operated. He moved in circles that included some very unsavory people who did some very unsavory things. Yet Costello was called the 'Prime Minister' for a reason. He recognized that violence and wars between the families was bad for business. It is no secret that muscle was often called in to take care of a multitude of jobs. But Costello does not appear to have been an advocate for violence. Even so, he was still the head of one of the Five Families. Death and destruction was part of the life and as a result, Costello could never be considered legitimate.

This is a story first and foremost about Costello's life on the wrong side of the law. There is very little in the way of his personal life, so if that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a well-researched book on the life and crimes of Frank Costello, then this is exactly what you need. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and could not put it down. Highly recommended.

Immerse yourself in the world of New York mafia kingpin, Frank Costello, labeled a Top Hoodlum by FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover.

Prohibition was a marvelous time for organized crime in 1920s New York City. Bringing in liquor from Canada, Frank and all his cronies became millionaires supplying the addictions of both rich and poor. After it ends, Frank puts his money into legitimate businesses and works to negotiate truces between mob families as far away as Chicago.

The names within Top Hoodlum are familiar to anyone who has ever watched a Hollywood mafia production such as the Godfather or Boardwalk Empire. Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky are all here. The famous restaurant assignation scene in the Godfather was real and meticulous detailed here. Readers who like mafia movies will be engrossed by the well-researched Top Hoodlum. 3 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, Citadel, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This is a good book about notorious mob guy Frank Costello, who got a big start in New York back in the days when bootlegging was a way that kept many hustling to make a buck from the Volstead Act that banned booze. He made a fortune from it and worked his way up to other things later on, and also branched out to legitimate business to try to avoid many of the legal problems that dogged other mafia guys. But his involvement with politicos and gambling, and hanging with other mob guys and nightlife got him in hot water eventually. He is supposedly the mob patriarch that the character Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando is based on in the Godfather movies. It is claimed that real mobsters started using lines from the movie after it came out and was popular, another example of real life imitating art. My thanks for the advance digital copy provided by NetGalley, author Anthony M. DeStefano, and the publisher for my unbiased review.

Citadel Publishing
June 26, 2018.

A well written biography of a mafia kingpin that I did not know much about beforehand.
This was an interesting book about at an era that although has had much written about, it still revealed new information to this reviewer.