A Brotherhood Betrayed
The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc.
Michael Cannell
- The
- riveting
- true
- story
- of
- the
- rise
- and
- fall
- of
- Murder,
- Inc.
- and
- the
- executioner-turned-informant
- whose
- mysterious
- death
- became
- a
- turning
- point
- in
- Mob
- history.In
- the
- fall
- of
- 1941,
- a
- momentous
- trial
- was
- underway
- that
- threatened
- to
- end
- the
- careers
- and
- lives
- of
- New
- York’s
- most
- brutal
- mob
- kingpins.
- The
- lead
- witness,
- Abe
- Reles,
- had
- been
- a
- trusted
- executioner
- for
- Murder,
- Inc.,
- the
- enforcement
- arm
- of
- a
- coast-to-coast
- mob
- network
- known
- as
- the
- Commission.
- But
- the
- man
- responsible
- for
- coolly
- silencing
- hundreds
- of
- informants
- was
- about
- to
- become
- the
- most
- talkative
- snitch
- of
- all.
- In
- exchange
- for
- police
- protection,
- Reles
- was
- prepared
- to
- rat
- out
- his
- murderous
- friends,
- from
- Albert
- Anastasia
- to
- Bugsy
- Siegel—but
- before
- he
- could
- testify,
- his
- shattered
- body
- was
- discovered
- on
- a
- rooftop
- outside
- his
- heavily-guarded
- hotel
- room.
- Was
- it
- a
- botched
- escape,
- or
- punishment
- for
- betraying
- the
- loyalty
- of
- the
- country’s
- most
- powerful
- mobsters?Michael
- Cannell's
- A
- Brotherhood
- Betrayed
- traces
- the
- history
- of
- Murder,
- Inc.
- through
- Reles’
- rise
- from
- street
- punk
- to
- murder
- chieftain
- to
- stool
- pigeon,
- ending
- with
- his
- fateful
- death
- on
- a
- Coney
- Island
- rooftop.
- It
- resurrects
- a
- time
- when
- crime
- became
- organized
- crime:
- a
- world
- of
- money
- and
- power,
- depravity
- and
- corruption,
- street
- corner
- ambushes
- and
- elaborately
- choreographed
- hits
- by
- wise-cracking
- foot
- soldiers
- with
- names
- like
- Buggsy
- Goldstein
- and
- Tick
- Tock
- Tannenbaum.For
- a
- brief
- moment
- before
- World
- War
- II
- erupted,
- America
- fixated
- on
- the
- delicate
- balance
- of
- trust
- and
- betrayal
- on
- the
- Brooklyn
- streets.
- This
- is
- the
- story
- of
- the
- one
- man
- who
- tipped
- the balance.
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