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THE MOB'S MAN by James D. Horan

THE MOB'S MAN

By

Pub Date: June 2nd, 1959
Publisher: Crown

James Horan is the author of several books -- on the Civil War, the West, World War II and The D.A.'s Man which this book most closely resembles. In general this is an expose of New York's numbers racket, the corruption of police and parole officials which encourages it and the judicial indulgence of the gambling fraternity which frustrates prosecution. In particular this is the story of a criminal, a man who spent most of his adult years in prisons, whose youth was one of petty crime and who still insists that he is on the other side of the law. When his friend was murdered by the syndicate, ""Andy"" who was the ""Mob's Man"" in Harlem became an informer and told his story to Horan at the Journal American. Police Commissioner Kennedy whom Horan later contacted set up an elaborate system of detection to penetrate the heart of the racket which resulted in the apprehension of eleven gangsters and the confiscation of the ""banks"". Eventually the eleven received only suspended sentences permitting them to set up business once again. However, as a result of the investigation the extensive breakdown of law enforcement in West Harlem was revealed and ""more than a score"" of police officers were placed on departmental trial. Although written in an unnecessarily melodramatic form this book does much to demonstrate the vast inter-locking of gambling, narcotics traffic, industrial and labor racketeering.