Tod Goldberg

GANGSTERLAND, by Tod Goldberg, is the story of a mafia hitman, Sal Cupertine, who murdered 3 federal agents in Chicago and is abruptly relocated to Las Vegas and after several facial surgeries and months of Jewish education, becomes a Rabbi named David Cohen. Quickly Sal/David becomes entangled in the Mafia in Las Vegas and his past is starting to catch up with him. Can Sal/David balance his new responsibilities while also fending off his dangerous past?
What a delight to read. Sal/David, in show more spite of being a cold-blooded killer, is such a likable soul that the reader is pulling for him, even when his is committed horrible acts. Goldberg does an excellent job of not just creating the mafia underbelly of Chicago and Las Vegas, but the contrast is so clear and distinct that it adds character and depth the Sal/David's slow grasp of his upended life. All of the supporting cast, particularly the senior Rabbi in Las Vegas, are all wonderfully complex and I would read a story focused on many of them. Sal/David's past is felt slowly creeping in as the story progresses and the ending of the book is exciting, rewarding and fun.
GANGSTERLAND was a blast to read and I look forward to reading more books by Tod Goldberg. It's a mafia story, but it's also soo much more; it's the story of a man figuring out who he really is, about your past never really leaves you and how religion. or really just something to believe in, can guide you and make you a better person.
I received this book as aprt of the Goodreads Giveaway program. show less

Hitman messes up and kills 3 FBI agents and a confidential informant, so he gets sent to Las Vegas to become a Rabbi. No, I didn't make that up. If you can get past the absolute implausibility of its premise, Goldberg writes well and there are some good scenes--and even some insights into Judaism. I want to not like the book because of how ridiculous it is, but the character of the hitman/rabbi is just too interesting. So after finishing this one, I immediately downloaded the sequel.

Johnny show more Heller does a superb job reading the audiobook. show less

This a a great collection of (mostly) Coachella Valley-based short stories. Several are connected to others, tied together with the same characters or the same crime organization. Most take place at least partly in the Coachella Valley, where it isv ery hot. Coachella Valley blinding sunshine hot. Salton Sea stinky hot. And while these are solid crime stories, they also explore grief and regret, aging and moving on, remembering different times in the same place. Several of them are quite show more heartbreaking.

All of these stories are good. My favorites were Goon Number Four, and the various stories involving Tania.
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Thanks to NetGalley and Counterpoint Press for providing me with an egalley of this book. show less

There are several things that I like about this book. First, the story is great and thrilling to read. Second, the main characters Hazel is a strong competent woman with an interesting past and third, this seems like it will be the first book in a new series and that makes me really happy. Of, course, there are several more things I like about this book, but I really wanted to point out just those three things since a good thriller, with a strong main character and the promise of sequels is show more perhaps something that will appeal not just to me, but to others.

I have only read one book by Brad Meltzer before I read this book and that was The President's Shadow. But, I liked that book very much and getting an opportunity to rad this book made my day. The story sounded intriguing and I loved the cover. I like the twists and turns of the story and I liked that I couldn't figure it all out and the last part of the book was marvelous. Hazel is a wonderful character, and reading about her trying to figure out her past and at the same time figure out what the death of her father has with the death of a man with an object stuffed into his chest was fascinating.

The House of Secrets was a great read, it was well-written and thrilling to read and hopefully, will it be the first book in a series (with many books)!

I want to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! show less