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King of the Hustlers
Small-time hustler "Tone" Nello looks for a big-time score on the mean streets of the Windy City, while a ruthless cast of characters makes plans to do him in
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1989
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About the author
Eugene Izzi
35 books7 followersEugene Izzi was born on March 23, 1953 in Hegewisch, a neighborhood in southwest Chicago.
His first novel, The Take, was published in 1987. He went on to publish 18 books. His thrillers often featured organized crime and street characters he remembered from his childhood.
After the publication of Tribal Secrets, he had a dispute with his publisher, and could not publish any books under his name for three years. During this time he published three novels under the pseudonym Nick Gaitano.
On December 7, 1996 he was found hanging outside his Michigan Avenue office. His death was declared a suicide, but many found his death suspicious.
His first novel, The Take, was published in 1987. He went on to publish 18 books. His thrillers often featured organized crime and street characters he remembered from his childhood.
After the publication of Tribal Secrets, he had a dispute with his publisher, and could not publish any books under his name for three years. During this time he published three novels under the pseudonym Nick Gaitano.
On December 7, 1996 he was found hanging outside his Michigan Avenue office. His death was declared a suicide, but many found his death suspicious.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 30, 2008
Eugene Izzi's greatest work of art was probably, sadly, his own suicide over a decade ago. Izzi's battered body hanging by its neck outside a Chicago office building with a floppy disk in his pocket with a draft of a novel that describes a similar scene, but that instead ends with the man at the end of the noose pulling himself back up to safety and killing his assailants was, frankly, some pretty brilliant performance art.
Unfortunately, neither of the two novels by him that I've read so far comes close to matching that level of miserable profundity.
I will say this, however; King of the Hustlers, Izzi's fifth novel, is a lot better than his first, The Take, which was just terrible. To be honest, King of the Hustlers isn't a significantly better book, but it's enough better to make me open to possibly reading something else he wrote at some point.
The characters are generally flat and uninteresting, and the situations implausible. King of the Hustlers picks up steam as it moves along, however, and the last 100 pages or so were decent. Also, for a book that reads like a second draft by an alcoholic who wrote mostly for money, the plot is reasonably satisfying and ends well.
Unfortunately, neither of the two novels by him that I've read so far comes close to matching that level of miserable profundity.
I will say this, however; King of the Hustlers, Izzi's fifth novel, is a lot better than his first, The Take, which was just terrible. To be honest, King of the Hustlers isn't a significantly better book, but it's enough better to make me open to possibly reading something else he wrote at some point.
The characters are generally flat and uninteresting, and the situations implausible. King of the Hustlers picks up steam as it moves along, however, and the last 100 pages or so were decent. Also, for a book that reads like a second draft by an alcoholic who wrote mostly for money, the plot is reasonably satisfying and ends well.
Displaying 1 of 1 review