The Gangster (An Isaac Bell Adventure)

by Clive Cussler

2017

Status

Available

Publication

G.P. Putnam's Sons (2017), 448 pages

Description

"It is 1906, and in New York City, the Italian crime group known as the Black Hand is on a spree: kidnapping, extortion, arson. Detective Isaac Bell of the Van Dorn Agency is hired to form a special 'Black Hand Squad,' but the gangsters appear to be everywhere--so much so that Bell begins to wonder if there are imitators, criminals using the name for the terror effect. And then the murders begin, each one of a man more powerful than the last, and as Bell discovers, to his dismay, the ultimate target may be the most powerful man of all"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member Barbaralois

Very good adventure that takes place in the past on w/chase scenes on land/train and ice many twists and turns makes for a great read

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LibraryThing member jamespurcell

An OK read if nothing better is available. Slavishly formulaic with shopworn characters.

LibraryThing member joannemonck

The Issac Bell novels that Clive Cussler has invented are a fast ride from start to finish. This one is about the black hand in NYC at the turn of the century, the super-rich and an assassination plot to kill Teddy Roosevelt. Although the story has its many twists and turns I was not crazy about

the number of characters. In the beginning I needed a score card to keep up but in the end he brought the main characters together for a slam bang ending.

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LibraryThing member dswaddell

What begins as a simple case of investigating an extortion group of immigrant Italians involved in building the viaduct to New York soon turns into an investigation into counterfitting, murder, and potential Presidential assassination. A really well put together read.

LibraryThing member JohnFair

Unlike his contemporary novels, this book, part of the Van Dorn/Isaac Bell adventures, is exciting and full of adventure set in an interesting time during America's history. In a country built on waves of immigration American is not unfamiliar with the tensions caused by those waves. In this book,

the Irish immigrants are fully integrated members of society, even working their way into the police to provide the familiar image of the friendly Irish cop on the beat. New York politics was being run by the kind and wise, er, utterly corrupt hand of the Democratic Machine that held Tammany Hall in a vice-like grip. The Italians were flooding off the ships from Europe desperate for a better life but still under the control of the Patrones that ran their lives be they shopkeepers or navvies on the great Catskills Aqueduct. The Black Hand, a criminal organisation that had decided to branch out into all the possible areas of crimes and extortion going decided to gouge out it's own power base stirs up the tensions to make its mark on the city and it's up to Isaac Bell and his colleagues of the Van Dorn Investigation Agency to untangle the crooks' actions before the highest figure in the land falls foul of the criminal gang.

This is a much better written book than quite a lot of Cussler's joint books and I would suspect many hours of research have gone into the background of these novels

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LibraryThing member davevanl

Entertaining but not up to Cussler standards. Seemed ghost-written.

LibraryThing member BrianEWilliams

Isaac Bell takes on an Italian gangster and an American plutocrat in this story. The gangster is Antonio Branco and he is behind the Black Hand Society which is an extortion and protection gang in NYC. The plutocrat is Culp, a blue blooded American in NYC who wants to kill Theodore Roosevelt.

There’s plenty of thrills and chills but Isaac manages to thwart the bad guys.

This book, like the others, is a fun read that you need not take too seriously. Great entertainment, plus you can learn about US history, in this case the NYC water supply.

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LibraryThing member JeffV

The Gangster is #9 in the Issac Bell series and takes place in 1906 New York. The Italians and the Irish are having a culture war, neither are well regarded by the general population. Italians in particular are underestimated, fostering an environment conducive to the rise of Sicilian organized

crime.

A new aquaduct is being built, and the corruption is thick. Teddy Roosevelt succeed the assassinated William McKinley but seems not to have learned from the demise of his precessor. He's popular with the masses, but the powerful wealthy find him an impediment to their interests.

While Bell continues to come off as super-human, the story is steeped in period history and flavor. Very entertaining ride.

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LibraryThing member lbswiener

The Gangster is a well researched adventure book. It takes place in the early 1900s. The book is about the rise of the Black Hand Mafia story and the gangs of New York including Tammany Hall and the illegal actions of the police department. It is a good adventure.

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