Gangster by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Fawcett, $8). This 2001 novel is even better than The Godfather. A story of growing up gangster in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, it’s told like a punch to the gut—in visceral, dramatic terms that pack a wallop all their own. Vividly real to its tiniest NYC detail, and equally authentic in its explorations of the human soul.
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