Margins
Gangster Nation book cover
Gangster Nation
A Novel
2017
First Published
4.11
Average Rating
377
Number of Pages

Part of Series

"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.

Avg Rating
4.11
Number of Ratings
801
5 STARS
38%
4 STARS
42%
3 STARS
15%
2 STARS
3%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads

Author

Tod Goldberg
Tod Goldberg
Author · 14 books
Tod Goldberg is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books, including THE LOW DESERT: GANGSTER STORIES, a Southwest Book of the Year, GANGSTERLAND, a finalist for the Hammett Prize, THE HOUSE OF SECRETS, which he co-authored with Brad Meltzer, and LIVING DEAD GIRL, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His short fiction has appeared in a number of anthologies, including PALM SPRINGS NOIR, LAS VEGAS NOIR, THE USUAL SANTAS, and BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE. His nonfiction appears regularly in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and ALTA and has been anthologized widely, including in BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS. He is the co-host of the popular podcast Literary Disco and is a professor of creative writing at UC Riverside, where he founded and directs the Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts. His next book GANGSTERS DON'T DIE will be released in fall 2023.
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