Book-It '10! Book #63
The Fifty Books Challenge, year two! This was a secondhand find.
Title: The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo
Details: Copyright 2006, St. Martin's Press
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Top Mob Hitman. Devoted Family Man. Doting Father. For thirty years, Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski lead a shocking double life, becoming the most notorious professional assassin in American history while happily hosting neighborhood barbecues in suburban New Jersey.
Richard Kuklinski was Sammy the Bull Gravano's partner in the killing of Paul Castellano at Sparks Steakhouse. John Gotti hired him to torture and kill the neighbor who accidentally ran over his child. For an additional price, Kuklinski would make this victims suffer; he conducted this sadistic business with coldhearted intensity and shocking efficiency, never disappointing his customers. By his own estimate, he killed over two hundred men, taking enormous pride in his variety and ferocity of technique.
This trail of murder lasted over thirty years and took Kuklinski all over America and to the far corners of the earth, including Brazil, Africa, and Europe. Along the way, he married, had three children, and put them through Catholic school. His daughter's medical condition meant regular stays in children's hospitals, where Kuklinski was remembered as an affectionate father, extremely kind to children. Each Christmas found the Kuklinski home festooned in colorful lights; each summer was a succession of block parties.
His family never suspected a thing."
Why I Wanted to Read It: It came highly recommended by my father, a fan of true crime literature.
How I Liked It: It's a riveting book that does indeed read like a particularly gripping novel. Unfortunately, it can at times read like a particularly gripping sloppy novel.
The book feels like it was rushed to print and given the events surrounding its publication (Kuklinski's suspicious death in prison, the day after which the charges against Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, for which Kuklinski was going to be a star witness, were dropped by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, occurred in March 2006; the first edition of The Iceman was published in July of the same year), it probably was. Several descriptive phrases occur over and over again when an editor would have easily found them and suggested replacement. The text, though compelling, is still sloppy; Carlo writes as though Richard is alive, even including a "Today, Richard is still housed in the maximum security prison..." despite the fact the photo leaflet in the center of the book notes, with a picture of the Trenton State Prison, that Kuklinski was incarcerated there until his death. An epilogue (March 13th, 2006) is slapped at the end rather haphazardly, updating of Kuklinski's death and surrounding controversy. Of course, with any work of journalism there are going to be updates, but they can be produced in a much more polished fashion, such as the classic The Stranger Beside Me. Carlo's book feels almost breathless in his excitement to get the book to publishers despite the rough edges around the ending and the scattered missteps throughout.
Still, the book is a worthy read, even if at times (and this can be traced back to the need for an editor to have another look or several) it appears to stretch credibility. Of course, if it wasn't an incredible tale, it wouldn't be worthy of writing about, but to get confirmation on some of Kuklinski's claims (such as news accounts that corroborate his stories) would heighten the drama of the selling point that this is all real. Of course, the author doesn't appear to exercise any degree of skepticism; part of why the book reads like a novel is that it's a tense away from Kuklinski telling the story. To get sources other than his for some of his more colorful exploits (during a drug deal, Kuklinski meets a dealer who proudly shows off his collection of "toys": about a dozen child sex-slaves, male and female, ranging from age from seven to fourteen. Kuklinski returns, shoots the dealer and two associates, and frees the children, giving them instructions to call 911 to get help) seems like it would be easy enough.
The author, in the preface, makes a personal vouch.
“This book is based on over 240 hours of one-on-one interviews with Richard Kuklinski at Trenton State Prison. When and where possibles all the crimes and murders Richards and I discussed were verified with underground Mafia contacts, police sources, documents, crime-scene reports, and photographs. When Richard and I discussed his life and the crimes he committed over a forty-three year period, he never bragged or boasted. Indeed, much of what is contained in this book had to be prodded and encouraged out of him. In my estimation, Richard was always honest and truthful, sincere and forthright in the extreme.
The names of certain individuals connected with this story have been changed.” (pg xi)
So there you have it. The author has will to change names without any kind of modifier (such as "Julie*" "*name has been changed") and we have only his word that he's verified the events "when and where possible". Again, it seems that enough of these events are distinctive enough to verify easily (he ties up a child rapist, rips his testicles off in front of him, and then cuts off his member before slicing his skin all over and then dousing the wounds with salt finally flinging the still-living mark into the ocean to be eaten by sharks) and thus provide sources for which the readers can assert for themselves the truth of Kuklinski's accounts. Also worthy of mention is the fact Kuklinski's perhaps most notorious method of murder, tying up his marks and filming them being eating alive by rats, the preface notes that the videos made were never found by police.
Although in need of a good "Snopes"ing, the book is still incredibly compelling and a worthy read for anyone with an interest in true crime study.
Notable: Throughout the book, Kuklinski is referred to as a serial killer. While he technically fits the description of "a person who commits 'a series of 2 or more murders, committed as separate events' or murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a 'cooling off' period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification" (from Wikipedia, cobbled from the Macmillan Encyclopedia largely), it's hard to put a well-connected mafia contract killer for hire in the same category as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Then again, Charles Manson, a man strongly associated with serial murder, is more accurately a cult-leader of spree-killers.
Title: The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo
Details: Copyright 2006, St. Martin's Press
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Top Mob Hitman. Devoted Family Man. Doting Father. For thirty years, Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski lead a shocking double life, becoming the most notorious professional assassin in American history while happily hosting neighborhood barbecues in suburban New Jersey.
Richard Kuklinski was Sammy the Bull Gravano's partner in the killing of Paul Castellano at Sparks Steakhouse. John Gotti hired him to torture and kill the neighbor who accidentally ran over his child. For an additional price, Kuklinski would make this victims suffer; he conducted this sadistic business with coldhearted intensity and shocking efficiency, never disappointing his customers. By his own estimate, he killed over two hundred men, taking enormous pride in his variety and ferocity of technique.
This trail of murder lasted over thirty years and took Kuklinski all over America and to the far corners of the earth, including Brazil, Africa, and Europe. Along the way, he married, had three children, and put them through Catholic school. His daughter's medical condition meant regular stays in children's hospitals, where Kuklinski was remembered as an affectionate father, extremely kind to children. Each Christmas found the Kuklinski home festooned in colorful lights; each summer was a succession of block parties.
His family never suspected a thing."
Why I Wanted to Read It: It came highly recommended by my father, a fan of true crime literature.
How I Liked It: It's a riveting book that does indeed read like a particularly gripping novel. Unfortunately, it can at times read like a particularly gripping sloppy novel.
The book feels like it was rushed to print and given the events surrounding its publication (Kuklinski's suspicious death in prison, the day after which the charges against Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, for which Kuklinski was going to be a star witness, were dropped by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, occurred in March 2006; the first edition of The Iceman was published in July of the same year), it probably was. Several descriptive phrases occur over and over again when an editor would have easily found them and suggested replacement. The text, though compelling, is still sloppy; Carlo writes as though Richard is alive, even including a "Today, Richard is still housed in the maximum security prison..." despite the fact the photo leaflet in the center of the book notes, with a picture of the Trenton State Prison, that Kuklinski was incarcerated there until his death. An epilogue (March 13th, 2006) is slapped at the end rather haphazardly, updating of Kuklinski's death and surrounding controversy. Of course, with any work of journalism there are going to be updates, but they can be produced in a much more polished fashion, such as the classic The Stranger Beside Me. Carlo's book feels almost breathless in his excitement to get the book to publishers despite the rough edges around the ending and the scattered missteps throughout.
Still, the book is a worthy read, even if at times (and this can be traced back to the need for an editor to have another look or several) it appears to stretch credibility. Of course, if it wasn't an incredible tale, it wouldn't be worthy of writing about, but to get confirmation on some of Kuklinski's claims (such as news accounts that corroborate his stories) would heighten the drama of the selling point that this is all real. Of course, the author doesn't appear to exercise any degree of skepticism; part of why the book reads like a novel is that it's a tense away from Kuklinski telling the story. To get sources other than his for some of his more colorful exploits (during a drug deal, Kuklinski meets a dealer who proudly shows off his collection of "toys": about a dozen child sex-slaves, male and female, ranging from age from seven to fourteen. Kuklinski returns, shoots the dealer and two associates, and frees the children, giving them instructions to call 911 to get help) seems like it would be easy enough.
The author, in the preface, makes a personal vouch.
“This book is based on over 240 hours of one-on-one interviews with Richard Kuklinski at Trenton State Prison. When and where possibles all the crimes and murders Richards and I discussed were verified with underground Mafia contacts, police sources, documents, crime-scene reports, and photographs. When Richard and I discussed his life and the crimes he committed over a forty-three year period, he never bragged or boasted. Indeed, much of what is contained in this book had to be prodded and encouraged out of him. In my estimation, Richard was always honest and truthful, sincere and forthright in the extreme.
The names of certain individuals connected with this story have been changed.” (pg xi)
So there you have it. The author has will to change names without any kind of modifier (such as "Julie*" "*name has been changed") and we have only his word that he's verified the events "when and where possible". Again, it seems that enough of these events are distinctive enough to verify easily (he ties up a child rapist, rips his testicles off in front of him, and then cuts off his member before slicing his skin all over and then dousing the wounds with salt finally flinging the still-living mark into the ocean to be eaten by sharks) and thus provide sources for which the readers can assert for themselves the truth of Kuklinski's accounts. Also worthy of mention is the fact Kuklinski's perhaps most notorious method of murder, tying up his marks and filming them being eating alive by rats, the preface notes that the videos made were never found by police.
Although in need of a good "Snopes"ing, the book is still incredibly compelling and a worthy read for anyone with an interest in true crime study.
Notable: Throughout the book, Kuklinski is referred to as a serial killer. While he technically fits the description of "a person who commits 'a series of 2 or more murders, committed as separate events' or murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a 'cooling off' period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification" (from Wikipedia, cobbled from the Macmillan Encyclopedia largely), it's hard to put a well-connected mafia contract killer for hire in the same category as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Then again, Charles Manson, a man strongly associated with serial murder, is more accurately a cult-leader of spree-killers.