Excellent review on Abe Kid Twist Reles - The Fink Who Took Down Murder Inc. ***** The Canary Sang but Couldnt Fly August 12, 2014 By Silver Screen Videos Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase Joe Bruno takes another look at the New York criminal underworld and one of its most fascinating figures in his latest book, Abe Kid Twist Reles - The Fink Who Took Down Murder Inc. As has been the case with each of Brunos books that Ive read, hes taken an interesting subject, conducted exhaustive research, and told his story using some rather colorful slang that may catch readers by surprise. Reles was a New York gangster of the 1930s who was one of the hired guns of Murder Inc., the enforcement arm of the Commission that controlled organized crime in New York at the time. Murder Inc. (as it was called by the press and public) turned what often had been haphazardly organized mob hits into a highly organized business under the leadership of Louis Lepke Buchalter. Reles was a vicious killer who ran his own rackets in Brooklyn but was also on Lepkes payroll. When the police finally caught Reles, he turned states evidence, and his testimony was instrumental in helping to convict Lepke, who became the first mob boss to die in the electric chair. Reles moment of glory was short lived however as he fell, jumped, or almost certainly was thrown to his death out a window in the hotel in which he was being held. Reles notoriety with the public was enhanced a few years later when Peter Falk had perhaps his best film role portraying Reles in a movie that was also called Murder Inc. Bruno takes a comprehensive look at Reles career from his less well known early days seizing control of his piece of turf in Brooklyn to the far better known events surrounding his testimony against Lepke and other mob figures. The book spends a good bit of time discussing the turf war in which Reles and his partners eliminated, one by one, the Shapiro brothers, the mobsters who had controlled the rackets in a section of Brooklyn called Brownsville. The book disproves the notion that mob hits were highly efficient affairs as the Shapiros manage to get away again and again before eventually running out of luck. From there, Bruno gives a good accounting of how Murder Inc. operated and the details of the one killing that wound up getting Lepke convicted. Its a fascinating story, with Lepke on the run for years before finally surrendering to J. Edgar Hoover himself (with Walter Winchell lending a hand). Finally, Reles is again center stage as he testifies and meets his demise. The story of Reles, Buchalter, and Murder Inc. is one of the most interesting in the annals of New York organized crime, and Bruno lays it all out in a straightforward manner thats, for the most part, very easy to follow. Readers should be aware that Brunos books, including this one, do not follow any manual of style Ive ever seen. He uses plenty of slang to describe whats happening, and the net effect is that readers feel they are hearing the story from a relative who lived through it rather than reading a history. That takes some getting used to for those accustomed to more scholarly true crime works. However, in comparison with some of his other books Ive read, Bruno tones down some of the most outlandish rhetoric in Reles, and the remaining language mostly enhances the story rather than distracts the reader. The result is a colorful read thats often as entertaining for how Brunos describing the action as for the action itself. Ive got one other caveat about the book. Although its listed on Amazon as 44 pages, the story of Abe Reles only takes up about half the book. Bruno includes another interesting article about another interesting, but lesser known, gangster turned stool pigeon of the era, Tick Tock Tannenbaum (a truly great mob nickname, as is Reles own Kid Twist nickname), Finally, the last third of the book contains an excerpt from one of Brunos longer books and some other filler material. Although I dont think readers will feel cheated by the way Reles is organized, they should be aware of what they will get. All in all, Reles is another one of Brunos colorful strolls through the back alleys of New York. Some of his sources (which he details at the end of the book) are quite obscure, and its highly doubtful readers would ever find out some of the information Joe reveals on their own. Abe Reles wasnt a very likable guy, but, in Joe Brunos hands, hes been turned into a very likable book. amazon/dp/B00MBNAKWW
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:15:17 +0000
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