Book Review: The Starlight Club by Joe Corso

The Starlight Club

By Joe Corso

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: Sept. 9, 2012

ISBN: 0615690491

Amazon Synopsis:

CAUTION THE NAMES HAVE NOT BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE GUILTY

The Starlight Club was jumping . . .

“They looked like mob guys. They had that arrogance exuded by those who liked to intimidate – those who were the proud purveyors of fear.” Amidst the nightly gaiety was the back room, where business deals were made, hits were ordered, and territories were divided.

Trenchie not being a “rat” is just released from his ten year prison sentence. A new life is waiting – complete with envelopes of money and a steak house to call his own. He finds the woman of his dreams who brings along ex-husband baggage. Hit man Jimmy The Hat finds unexpected fame in the most unlikely of places, yet he always stays true to the 

“boys”, especially Big Red. “Crazy Joey Gallo” and his brothers break away from the Profaci family and go “rogue, on their own now. They split their gang into several small groups and spread them out over the five boroughs.”

My Thoughts:

This was a fascinating tale of Mafia life in New York in the 1960’s. I was particularly intrigued with how much different I viewed the mobsters as I was reading the book and the way I have learned to view the mobsters through the news and historical documents.

Joe Corso did an admirable job of telling the stories of these men and women. He enabled me to see another side of them that wasn’t typically visible to the general population. They could be vicious and cruel, but they were at the same time chivalrous kind. “Red was a strange kind of criminal. He could shoot a guy I the head while eating a salami sandwich but couldn’t drive past a woman stranded in the rain with a flat tire, without stopping to help her. He was a contradiction like with the kid.”

I found many of the members in the mob such as Trenchie, Big Red, Jimmy the Hat and others to be likeable, honourable, loyal, trustworthy people. Strange when I also know that they were murderers and criminals. I was impressed with their undying loyalty to one another. Jimmy demonstrates that kind of loyalty when he says, “I was told not to leave the hospital but you see, I promised to give the bride away tomorrow, and what kind of a guy would I be if I didn’t keep my promise?”

It was very interesting finding out how things worked between mob families and how they made deals with each other and helped each other out, and then could turn around and kill one of their friends because it’s “just business”.

Many parts of this novel are true. Some parts are fictional. The author is the real “Bobby” in the novel. Joe Corso does an excellent job of weaving the parts together to create an interesting, absorbing read. The book flows nicely. I also liked how Corso framed the book at the beginning and end with the storyteller “Bobby” and his daughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would definitely consider reading the other books in this series. I gave this book a rating of 5 stars.

Thank you to the author who gave me a free copy of his book in exchange for my fair and honest review. A free product does not influence my opinion. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

Joe Corso was born in 1935 in Queens, New York City. He attended the Manhattan High School of Aviation Trades and the Academy of Aeronautics. He is retired from the FDNY and is a Korean Veteran. While on the Fire Dept he invented a firefighting apparatus and has been granted two Patents.

Joe has been writing since the age of 75 and has now published quite a number of books. These help to send his children to better schools. Joe loves to travel, and now lives in South Florida.

Joe Corso’s books have won 4 awards. “The Starlight Club” was awarded the Silver Medal in the 2012 eLit book contest in the True Crime Category. He also received an Honorable Mention in the 2013 Readers Favorite Contest.

Contact Joe Corso:

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