From Publishers Weekly
Reminiscent of James Ellroy's
L.A. Confidential, Atkins's fictionalized account of the unsolved murder of real-life Tampa crime boss Charlie Wall in 1955 admirably recreates a time and a place, but too much detail makes the narrative less compelling than it could have been. Wall, a famous bootlegger whose nickname gives the book its title, is an old man when he's murdered, and the plot turns on the quest to find the killer, taking detective Ed Dodge and a local reporter on a journey from Tampa's Latin Quarter to prerevolutionary Havana (Castro makes an appearance). Atkins (
Dirty South), who unearthed the story in connection with a reporting assignment for the
Tampa Tribune, puts his extensive research to good dramatic use. But the book gets muddled by an immense cast of characters and derailed by the author's penchant for an overly lyrical style (the Latin Quarter "was all a symphony of Latin jazz and sinners and bright-eyed boys who shined your shoes for ten cents"). Still, blurbs from Carl Hiaasen and other top names, plus crossover from true-crime fans, should help ensure healthy sales.
(May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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From AudioFile
In Tampa in 1955, a time of Cuban neighborhoods and cigar factories, Sicilian and Cuban gangsters competed to control the city's illicit activities. One of the most colorful characters was Charlie Wall, a crime boss and political operative. His assassination by a pair of thugs is the starting point of this novel, closely based on fact. William Dufris gives some figures slight vocal characterizations, which help identify characters in passages of extended dialogue. At the close of the book there are fascinating interviews with the author, the first reporter on the murder scene, a sheriff's officer at the time, and the police interview with the prime suspect, "Scarface" Johnny Rivera. These added features are a true bonus. R.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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édition.
