Gangland by Chuck Hogan is a 1970’s gangster novel that is inspired by true events. The plot of this story feels really small but then you open up the paranoia of both the gangsters and the thieves, then heads will roll. There’s scenes in both Goodfellas and Casino where a lot of people die because of what they are involved in the scene last 5-10 minutes. This novel is one of those scenes expanded into the tracking, the execution, and the planning. The novel follows Nicky “Two Pins” a man with secrets who runs a legitimate business the bowling alley, but what most other people don’t know until it’s too late is he is the guy that handles the executions, he’s also an FBI informant, and closetly gay. The secrets are what he does and there’s no one better. The climax was very worth while and exciting. The epilogue is long and many years after the climax it answers some of the questions but not all. The opening scene is a little rough and felt cliche, but the ending to that scene starts this easily readable novel going. The pace of Gangland is very fast. This is my forth Chuck Hogan book (I read Strain trilogy that he co-wrote with Guillermo del Toro about a vampire war) and Gangland my first Gangster novel since that is what he’s known for with Prince of Thieves also known as The Town (to match the film title). Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for letting me read the ARC. Gangland is published on August 2 2022.

Plot Summary: Nicky “Two Pins” has just done the biggest double cross killing his mentor for a way to move up and works under Tony Accardo who is the boss of Chicago and a protégé under Al Capone. Nicky has kept it all underwraps from FBI since he is an unwilling informant that blackmails him for being gay during the 1970’s. Everything is going smoothly until thieves steal form a jeweler without permissions and steal an anniversary present from Tony to his wife. The thieves get confronted and are told to return everything and maybe they can work together in the future. The guy that set this up had to return his kid and wife’s Christmas present as Tony vacations in Palm Springs. He decides to break into Tony’s house while he’s on vacation and steal the jewels back, but they were not there, but something of value was the books of payoffs, that same thing that took Al Capone down. Tony wants the people responsible and to send a message to thieves no one steals from Tony! It’s a cat and mouse game to find who is responsible before the thief realizes what he has and figures out the code of the books.

What I Liked: I love a good gangster story and this one starts off okay but gets really great as paranoia hits everyone involved, then double and triple crosses start to happen. I loved all the pop culture references, and just how hard it was to get a star wars toy at Christmas. I really liked the character of Nicky “Two Pins” and felt for his secret gay life and the way he treated others fairly in his business. I like how easily Tony could lie even when backed in the corner and the evidence is looking you him in the face. I like how I could feel the 1970’s throughout the novel. I really liked the climax and how intense and chaotic it got.

What I Disliked: The opening scene was very cliche, I was worried the whole book was going to be this way, but it was not. I wanted to see a little bit more of his struggles with being gay and a gangster. I really wanted to see the drunken fight with his wife where he confessed how prison and his cellmate changed him. The epilogue could have answered what Nicky did after the climax instead of 13 years later a little bit sooner.

Recommendations: If you’re looking for a gangster novel that is brutal and features lots of betrayals then this is it. I recommend this novel for it’s super quick pace and when reading this story I kept asking me what’s going to happen next? It’s not a great book but a very solid story. I rated Gangland by Chuck Hogan 4 out of 5 stars.