Scott M. Deitche

Succinct overview of the history of 20th century organized crime in the State of New Jersey, spilling over a bit (for necessary reasons) into New York City and Philadelphia. The author has obviously put a lot of heart and energy into the book, and it reads briskly and well. Some of the ground is pretty familiar, and you almost need a chart to follow some of the gyrations of the crime families of the late 20th century. One advantage here is that the book is fairly up to date, including events as recent as early 2017. One minor flaw with the book is that I noticed a number of rather strange typographical errors sprinkled through the book; the publisher didn't do a terribly thorough job, I think.… (altro)

Eddie Trascher was an anomaly. A crooked gambler who spent most of his time devising new ways to bilk marks and, more dangerously, organized crime figures, he later became a valued law enforcement asset and even taught classes on gambling to investigators. And he somehow remained alive.

Veteran organized crime writer Scott Deitche and investigator Ken Sanz have written a lucid and absorbing story of Trascher’s criminal life, from New Orleans, to Las Vegas, Havana, Los Angeles and the west Coast of Florida, where he ended up, both making book and facilitating law enforcement stings.

Trascher is portrayed as both a highly dishonest gambler and a pragmatic, even gentlemanly figure. Balls is a well-researched and written story of gambling, organized crime, and investigations into both.… (altro)

Well, it wasn't the best Mafia book I've read but it wasn't bad. You of course can't expect as much as you would about the Chicago or New York Mafia but it was very interesting to read about stuff that happens in places I'm familiar with. I think the editor did a little of a rush job on it though, there were a lot of grammitcal erros, and they would have to be pretty obivious for me to notice. You can check out the authors website at target="_top">www.geocities.com/scottyyz.… (altro)