Gangster Nation
A Novel
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Sal Cupertine is back—and better than ever. I love this guy." —Lee Child
"Gangster Nation is a razor. It will slice you open and reveal your insides. And like the best of Tod Goldberg's work, it'll show you everything you are at your core." —Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The President's Shadow
It's been two years since the events of Gangsterland, when legendary Chicago hitman Sal Cupertine disappeared into the guise of Vegas Rabbi David Cohen. It’s September of 2001 and for David, everything is coming up gold: Temple membership is on the rise, the new private school is raking it in, and the mortuary and cemetery—where Cohen has been laundering bodies for the mob—is minting cash. But Sal wants out. He’s got money stashed in safe–deposit boxes all over the city. He’s looking at places to escape to, Mexico or maybe Argentina. He only needs to make it through the High Holidays, and he’ll have enough money to slip away, grab his wife and kid, and start fresh.
Across the country, former FBI agent Matthew Drew is now running security for an Indian Casino outside of Milwaukee, spending his off–time stalking members of The Family, looking for vengeance for the murder of his former partner. So when Sal’s cousin stumbles into the casino one night, Matthew takes the law into his own hands—again—touching off a series of events that will have Rabbi Cohen running for his life, trapped in Las Vegas, with the law, society, and the post–9/11 world closing in around him.
Gangster Nation is a thrilling follow–up to Gangsterland, an unexpected, page–turning examination of the seedy foundations of American life. With the wit and gritty glamor that defines his writing, Goldberg traces how the things we most value in our lives—home, health, even our spiritual lives—have been built on the enterprises of criminals.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Offbeat doesn't begin to describe Goldberg's impressive sequel to 2014's Gangsterland. Mafia leader Sal Cupertine escaped arrest by hiding in the back of a refrigerated meat truck after murdering three undercover FBI agents and an informant in Chicago. Now, he's successfully reinvented himself as Rabbi David Cohen in Las Vegas, where he's found that not being Jewish "had ceased, over time, to be a problem." He has successfully faked his way into the job, officiating over life cycle events and dispensing nuggets of wisdom. Goldberg's sections on Cupertine/Cohen's relationship with his wealthy flock, which includes a man who hires Donny Osmond to sign autographs at his daughter's wedding, provide a satirical look at the superficial aspects of affluent American life. The threat that the gangster's past will catch up with him comes in the form of FBI agent Matthew Drew, who's bent on avenging his late colleagues. Fans of clever mixes of dark humor and violent crime by authors such as Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen will be pleased. Author tour.)
