"Murder Inc." was written by a former Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York-Burton Turkus. In the years just preceding WW2, Mr. Turkus successfully prosecuted several members of the national crime organization he terms the Syndicate. Seven went to the electric chair at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. The author believed that the Mafia, as we now know the term, did not then exist. There are both weak and strong points to MI. Weak points include the author's breezy style, with which this reviewer was initially uncomfortable. At the outset, Turkus wrote as if his readers were as knowledgeable of the subject as he. I found it difficult to keep up with the both the story and the cast of characters. These are not the Gottis, Colombos, Gallos or Gambinos of a more current era. These guys are of the 1930s and early 40s and comparatively unknown-especially to non native New Yorkers. They are not even all Italian. We are introduced to Harry Strauss ("Pittsburgh Phil"), Louis Buchalter ("Lepke"), and Abe Reles ("Kid Twist"). I will save the infamous-and embarrassing! - tale of the Kid's demise for those who buy the book. We are introduced to Italian criminals as well: Albert Anastasia (the boss of the waterfront), the notoriously powerful Frank Costello ("The Ambassador") and the cover boy Joey Adonis, who even the author respectfully calls "Mister A". Midway through the text, this reviewer felt a shift! MI got stronger! Perhaps I warmed up to Turkus' style. Perhaps an anonymous editor took charge of the text. Perhaps I became used to the characters-and "characters" they are! I loved the painstaking recounting of various rubouts. These guys planned! I appreciated the savvy courtroom tactics needed to convict the accused mobsters, all defended by top-notch counsel. Turkus explains the delicacy of using information provided by informants, the ever- present danger of a mistrial or reversal of a conviction on appeal. Like a good professor, he drums into his readers the import of CORROBORATION at trial. Sadly, he recounts that not all in government, including his one time boss (the future Mayor O' Dwyer!) shared his zeal to bring these criminals to justice. Significantly, the author goes to lengths to demonstrate that the crimes relived here are decidedly not "victimless". As a suggestion, I might hope that future editions of the reprinted MI carry an epilog explaining what happened to those still standing at the tale's end. I know Mr. Anastasia met his violent demise in 1956-in his favorite barbershop at the old Park Sheraton Hotel on 55th Street and 7th Avenue. Minor point. The end result is a very satisfying story for those who bear down and read it through. Those who claim to like "True Crime" can't go wrong with MI. This is criminality at it truest and rawest!

This is the best book ever written about the mob. Show us how the mob set itself up as a National Company in the 40's and some very interesting things about its board of directors - Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Bugsy, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and the best execution group ever, Murder Inc, formed in Brooklyn by Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, Harry "Pittsburg Phill" Strauss and Bugsy Goldstein This book was wtitten by Mr. Arsenic the guy that sent a lot of them to the eletric chair

One of my the many things that history has given me is the myths and legends of the underworld and the mafia. Murder, Inc. is the answer to the myriad of question history class never answered.

For over 20 years I have been reading about men like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Buggsy Siegel, Frank Costello, Johnny Torio and Albert Anastasia, and until this book I was misinformed about a number of things.

From the early 30's and into the 40's and 50's, follow along and watch the trail of over 1,000 brutal and horrific murders were committed by one the most ruthless groups of individuals ever assembled.

Read along and watch Murder Inc. bring and end to prohibition, and how this same group was taken down as the author, a former Brooklyn DA, sent seven of the men to the chair. This book ranks number 2 in my reviews for 1999!