Gangsterland

Praise for Gangsterland: "In his plotting, dialogue and empathy for the bad guys, Goldberg aspires to the heights of Elmore Leonard. For those who miss the master, Gangsterland is a high-grade substitute." --New York Times Daily Review "...[a] cleverly spun novel that forced me to abandon my wiseguy moratorium. Goldberg has an amusing flair for contemporary hard-boil, and he knows his crime and crime-fighting procedures." --Las Vegas Weekly "As sharp as a straight razor. But a lot more fun. Count me a huge fan." --Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel "Gangsterland is rich with complex and meaty characters, but its greatest strength is that it never pulls a punch, never holds back, and never apologizes for life's absurdities. If this novel were a person, you could ask it for a bookie." --Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The Fifth Assassin "Tod Goldberg is a one-of-a-kind writer, and this is his best novel to date. Harrowing, funny, wise, and heretical,Gangsterland is everything a thriller should be."--T. Jefferson Parker, author of Full Measure "Let's get this part out of the way: Gangsterland is a thriller, and provides a crackling good read for any fan of the genre. But the truth is, to call this book merely a thriller is inaccurate. It's also a whip-smart comedy, a sublime morality play, and a gleefully blasphemous investigation of what and why we worship. There's something for everyone here. Just make sure you set aside a good chunk of time, because once you start reading you won't want to stop." --Ron Currie, Jr., author of God is Dead "Clearly influenced by the great Elmore Leonard, Goldberg puts his own dry comic spin on the material...Clever plotting, a colorful cast of characters, and priceless situations make this comedic crime novel an instant classic." --Kirkus, Starred Review "Goldberg injects Talmudic wisdom and a hint of Springsteen into the workings of organized crime and FBI investigative techniques and makes it all work splendidly."--Publishers Weekly Starred Review " The Mafia plus the Torah makes for a darkly funny and suspenseful morality tale...[Goldberg] can spin a good yarn." --The Millions "Sal's transformation--and intermittent edification--into Rabbi Cohen is brilliantly rendered, and Goldberg's careening plot, cast of memorably dubious characters, and mordant portrait of Las Vegas make this one of the year's best hard-boiled crime novels."--Booklist, Starred Review "Goldberg's new book is clever bordering on wise, like Get Shorty on antacid." -- David Kipen, Los Angeles Magazine "Gangsterland is Tod Goldberg at the height of his hilarious and incisive and hell-bent powers as a writer of who we are and what we thought we wanted and how we tried to stay alive in America --if we were insanely funny and contemplative hit men. No one does Vegas, the desert, money, and mayhem like Goldberg. I stayed up six nights in a row reading, unable to put this book down because I couldn't wait to see how he'd play each card." --Susan Straight, author of Between Heaven and Here "Infinitely readable, infinitely funny, and infinitely better than anything else you'll read this year!" --Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries and the basis for A&E's hit series Longmire "This ribbing of contemporary Jewish life -- or taste-challenged American affluence in general -- runs through the book, though it's mostly gentle. The book's real bite comes from its exposure of corrupt religious authority, and the story is at its best when it's mocking our unquestioning acceptance of whatever morsels of wisdom our leaders decide to feed us. (For all we know, they could moonlight as hit men. Or writers.)... Gangsterland... is a modern story, written for readers who like their im --Booklist

A wonderfully sprawling thriller of mafia life and aftermath...a both violent and light-hearted gangster adventure at times gruesome as well as funny. Splendid entertainment --Love Reading

This was an absolute hoot from start to finish --Raven Crime Reads

Sal Cupertine is a legendary hit man for the Chicago Mafia, known for his ability to kill anyone, anywhere, without leaving a trace. Until now, that is. His first-ever mistake forces Sal to botch an assassination, killing three undercover FBI agents in the process. He knows this could be his death sentence...so he agrees to a radical idea to save his own skin. A few surgeries and some intensive training later, and Sal Cupertine is gone, disappeared into the identity of Rabbi David Cohen. Leading his congregation in Las Vegas, Rabbi Cohen feels his wicked past slipping away from him. Yet, as it turns out, the Mafia isn't quite done with him yet. And that rogue FBI agent on his trail, seeking vengeance, isn't going to let Sal fade so easily into the desert.