A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind The Rise And Fall Of Murder Inc.

The death of mobster Abe Reles has always remained a mystery and this book provides all of the possible scenarios as to what took place. You will not find the final answer in this book or anywhere else but author Michael Cannell provides fascinating possibilities as to what took place.

Abe Reles has been called “The Canary Could Sing But He Couldn’t Fly”. His testifying in court to save his own skin led others who he considered to be close friends to the electric chair in Sing Sing Prison. Mobsters are not at all loyal to one another. It becomes a matter of, “I’d better kill him before he kills me.” Anyone who is a witness that could send someone to the death house becomes a threat to another’s survival and it will most likely be your best friend who is sent to do the dastardly dark deed. They will be unable to refuse the order because their own family will become victims instead.

Crooked politicians, crooked cops, mobsters, and Walter Winchell they are all here for your reading enjoyment. I wouldn’t want to become a mobster because they end up either in prison or an early grave but they do tend to be fascinating to read about. The book contains eight pages of photos. Get comfortable and come on back to New York City when Murder Inc. was in full flower and then wilted when Abe Reles became the canary who started to sing to save his own skin.

Reads like a fiction novel but its all true! I never read books like this but this one was friggin awesome! The story centers on the early days and the creation of the modern Italian mafia and Murder Inc. Murder Inc was comprised of ruthless hit men that the mob bosses would essentially rely on to do their dirty work. But is also served as a protective layer that helped insulate top mobsters from the actual crime itself. Essentially these hitmen were on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They would be paid a salary plus a certain dollar amount for each hit. I never knew this but many of these gangsters were not even Italian…they were Jewish. The book focuses on one particularly dangerous individual of that period. Scary stuff but its not only true, its historically accurate down to the smallest detail (like street addresses, receipts in someones pockets, family and friends of main characters, time of day and on and on…). I would love to see this book adapted into a Netflix series or a movie. If you enjoyed Narcos or Boardwalk Empire youd know what I mean. Except this would be 1000 times better because its not only got the drama and mystery but its also just so painstakingly detailed! Fascinating!

The author of this book did a massive amount of research and included lots of little-known details never revealed before in the saga of Brooklyn’s Murder, Incorporated professional contract hitmen organization.

Although I know at least one story that I believe nobody else alive knows about Harry Strauss that was not included, this book is accurate.

I know. Although this all happened before I was born, I heard the stories growing up.

I’m well into my 70s now, and my Uncle Manny, as our family knew him, known to the world as Emanuel “Mendy” Weiss, was deeply involved, although he was not with Murder, Inc. but, like Charlie Workman, on the staff of racketeer Louis Buchalter who operated out of Manhatten and not Brooklyn.

My father worked for Ben Siegel as well. My Uncle died in Sing Sing, but my Dad lived on into retirement.

If you want to know about The Combination, read this book. It is the best I’ve ever read on the subject.

My hat is off to the author for an accurate piece of non-fiction writing.

Having worked in a studio in Little Italy, observing the daily walks or the local mobsters of the Gotti gang, it was really fun reading about Murder Inc, the legendary hit men for the 1930s syndicates. A Brotherhood Betrayed is the third book Ive read from Michael Cannell, and the most intriguing. Couldnt put it down. Even got the Audible version so I could listen while driving to my different activities. Needless to say, the book went by very quickly for me.

I was always into Organized Crime stories. This one is another in a long line of stories. Would have been nice if most of it would have been better explained such as… what really happened to Reles.

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