They called it Satan's Circus-a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the tu...
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reviews
Nov 24, 2011
Tony
rated it: 
I got this for my eReader because the story of police corruption and the sentencing of a New York police officer to death row seemed interesting, but I had read some iffy reviews. Thankfully, it was really engrossing and interesting. Dash doesn't so much write a story with one plot point after another, but instead puts the pieces into place like dominoes and lets you watch it all unfold. Nobody is a saint and the devils in the story are more gray than dark.
The main story is about Cha More...
The main story is about Cha More...
Nov 18, 2011
Thomas
rated it:
In February, 1894, Charley Becker put on the uniform of a New York City police officer. Twenty one years later, the state of New York executed him for murder. In 1894 the NYC police department was completely corrupt. The department was designed to make it impossible for a police officer to live on his salary, forcing him to accept bribes. Officers who gave trouble to their superiors were sent to outlying parts of the city where access to bribes from gamblers, pimps, and prostitutes was hard to f
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Sep 14, 2010
Jim
rated it:
Satan’s Circus had a cover and title that caught my eye in Border’s. They made me think about The Devil in the White City, which is a favorite book of mine. The book is also set around the same time that The Devil in the White City is set.
The book is specifically about the New York City Police Officer Charley Becker’s rise, fall and eventual execution. However, it also does a great job of drawing a picture of a corrupt city and corrupt police department. It’s a dark story about an ar More...
The book is specifically about the New York City Police Officer Charley Becker’s rise, fall and eventual execution. However, it also does a great job of drawing a picture of a corrupt city and corrupt police department. It’s a dark story about an ar More...
Jan 17, 2010
Jack
rated it: 
This feels like the work of a good writer who was in too much of a hurry. The historical context he provides on city culture in general, and police culture specifically, in turn of the century New York is quite interesting and relevant to Dash's subject matter; the strongest part of the book is Dash's knack for conveying the integral role of corruption in every level of New York City's basic functioning. But these discussions do not feel fully integrated with the basic story Dash is telling, s
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Oct 05, 2011
Judy
rated it:
As I said earlier, there is just too much information in this book. Not that it isn't interesting, there's just too much of it. The title included something about the Trial of The Century but I read up to about page 127 and as far as I could tell, the trial of the century wasn't covered. (I'm assuming it wasn't the OJ Simpson trial)
The book centers around a police officer named Charles Becker, but everyone from ward bosses, to police commissioners to the mayor of New York City is desc More...
The book centers around a police officer named Charles Becker, but everyone from ward bosses, to police commissioners to the mayor of New York City is desc More...
Jan 24, 2011
Tom
rated it: 
This was fun. With characters like Bald Jack, Dago Frank, Gyp the Blood, Whitey Lewis and Lefty Louie how could it not be? You can't make this stuff up. One of my first thoughts was about Tammany Hall selling jobs, what's the big deal? Families have been purchasing military ranks for sons for centuries. Then the corruption just got bigger and bigger with amassed fortunes in the millions. Some interesting trivia revealed in the book, 1) the role of the New York World in the building of the
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Oct 10, 2010
Jill
rated it: 
This book started out with a bang. An in-depth look at NYC where politics were venal, Tammany Hall ran the city, and the police were totally corrupt. The main character, Becker, around whom the "trial of the century" revolved is a police officer who was noted for his graft and is subsequently accused of the murder of a small time gangster who is about to blow the whistle on him. He does not become the center of the story until the middle of the book when the trial begins. That is when
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Jun 13, 2011
Dayna
rated it:
I did like a lot of the detail in this book, especially some of the more "lay of the land" type descriptions of how gambling and prostitution were viewed at the turn of the century, but at times I just felt like it took a really long time to get through certain parts of the trial and retrial pieces. I just never really looked forward to reading this or got lost in it, but when I did find the time to read it, I felt like I was learning something about history and I liked the detail on t
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Jul 30, 2011
I liked this book a lot. I see that some of the reviewers state that this is a "historical novel" which is not the case. Odd that they would mention that, and more than once. This is an interesting account of police corruption in the late 1800s and early part of the 1900s. there were also some great recommendations of further reading that I look forward to picking up. Mr. Dash did some extensive research and came across as knowing his subject very well and made it quite interesting. Go
Aug 08, 2011
Tim
rated it:
A fascinating look at early Police Departments in the U.S., the inner-workings of 19th century politics in New York city, the rise and fall of Tammany hall, told through the story of Charlie Becker, the only police officer in U.S. history to be executed for a crime (He was convicted, but did he do it? You'll have to read). A very entertaining read for those interested in America at the turn of the last century, and in interesting murder mystery to boot.
Jun 14, 2009
Audacia
rated it:
I am a real enthusiast of books about NYC history, and though I usually read stuff about criminals and outsiders instead of stuff about police, politicians, and insiders - this book is about the only policeman in US history to be executed for murder. Suffice to say, there's plenty about the life of crime in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The first half of the book is really really great - the characters are colorful, the interactions fascinating, and I felt drawn into the actio More...
The first half of the book is really really great - the characters are colorful, the interactions fascinating, and I felt drawn into the actio More...
Jul 02, 2011
Tom
rated it:
Great story of vice and corruption in early 19th Century NYC as told through the single, somewhat tragic tale of police officer Charley Becker, the one man that paid with his life for the same sort of graft and vengeance he was awash in
Jun 08, 2009
Amberlynne
rated it:
I really enjoyed this but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who is looking for a "Law and Order"-type narrative. The murder doesn't happen until almost half-way through the book (and the "order" is anything but). However, I think the back story is necessary to understand the crime and the subsequent trials. I wish I'd have read this before my trip to NYC, as the history of the city was the most interesting part of the book.
Oct 08, 2010
David
rated it:
Sort of a typical recreationist type book about the "most corrupt cop in New York City history" who held sway in the 1890s and first decade of the twentieth century. Pretty standard crooked cop stuff.
Jul 26, 2009
Terry
rated it:
As a history lover, I enjoyed much of this book. However, it went into excruciating detail and I found myself skimming through it.
Dec 27, 2008
Larry
rated it:
A fascinating and surprisingly heartbreaking story, if however, awkwardly constructed in the telling here. This would make an absolutely killer movie if it was done right...
Aug 01, 2011
Taigiseadh
rated it:
Well-researched and jam-packed with interesting stories and facts about old New York. Highly recommended!
Jul 13, 2011
James
rated it:
I find I'm skipping forward over the personal histories. Mike Dash does encapsulate a moody and humorous nineteenth century New York. Quite impressive historical research.
Jan 16, 2011
Al
rated it:
Interesting but two thirds of the way in, it became so slow and mIred in detail that I no longer cared.
Aug 03, 2009
Karen
rated it: 
Non fiction about NYC in 1919 and corruption in government and police. SLOW reading.......didn't grab my attention like I thought it would.
Jun 04, 2008
Emily
rated it:
I don't often put books down, especially books in this genre, which I describe as "historical true-crime", but I had to give up on this one. Over 100 pages in, and I was still waiting for the murder promised in the title. I want books like this to grip me from the very beginning, but there was a laborious amount of prose laying the groundwork for what was probably an extremely fascinating story.
May 28, 2009
Brandi
rated it:
Don't bother. I hardly ever let myself not finish a book, but I'm OK with skimming the last third of this one. Characters were introduced with no explanation as to why they were there. It is obviously carefully researched, but the story gets lost in the research. I generally love books about NYC during this time period, but this one is taking a trip to Half-Price Books.
Nov 13, 2009
The book isn't poorly written or anything, the subject matter just wasn't holding my interest. I guess I'm in more of an infectious diseases mood.
Jan 09, 2008
Andrea
rated it:
This book started out so promising and then sort of got lost in the details. There seemed to be real problems sticking to a time period...A new person would enter the story and there would be pages of backtracking or general NYC history before the narrative would continue. Made it a rather tough read.
Jan 07, 2010
David
rated it:
It took me a long time to finish this book. It isn't the kind of book I'd recommend to anyone to read for enjoyment, but it does provide a very in depth feeling of New York City vice in the early 1900s. So for research purposes, I'd give it a four and a half. For reading pleasure, probably a one.
Mar 15, 2008
Jessica
rated it:
An exhaustively researched account of the thoroughly corrupt nature of NYC policing and politics at the turn of the century. Dash treats the true-crime aspect with a deft hand, presenting the evidence as known and leaving it largely to the reader to analyze its meaning.
May 24, 2007
Samantha
rated it:
Thi isn't my kind of book and the author spends so much time trying to put the story into context that the tory itself gets a little lost. It's very well written and researched though, and as far as studies of police corruption go, this is fascinating.
Oct 18, 2010
Tealen
rated it:
Unabridged is putting it mildly. I am pretty sure that the author never met a fact he didn't want to share. The story was interesting, however, I got bogged down in all of the extra details. He goes over the history of EVERY part of New York.
