Nick Lanzetta. Born Brooklyn, N.Y. 1933. Occupation: Mafia soldier. Specialty: murder. Expert with pistol, rifle, machine gun. Has been known to use an icepick, a length of piano wire, or his bare hands. Arrested 17 times, twice for first degree homicide. No convictions since juvenile convictions for auto theft. A graduate of the old South Brooklyn gang called The Rangers, Lanzetta was admitted to membership in the Mafia under the sponsorship of Joseph Daniello, caporegime in the notorious DiSalvo Family. Since then, according to FBI reports, he has committed at least 40 murders, earning a reputation as the most feared killer on the east coast. Now 37, he thinks it's time he moved up in the Organization. Peter J. McCurtin was born in Ireland on 15 October 1929, and immigrated to America when he was in his early twenties. Records also confirm that, in 1958, McCurtin co-edited the short-lived (one issue) New York Review with William Atkins. By the early 1960s, he was co-owner of a bookstore in Ogunquit, Maine, and often spent his summers there.McCurtin's first book, Mafioso (1970) was nominated for the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award, and filmed in 1973 as The Boss, with Henry Silva. More books in the same vein quickly followed, including Cosa Nostra (1971), Omerta (1972), The Syndicate (1972) and Escape From Devil's Island (1972). 1970 also saw the publication of his first "Carmody" western, Hangtown.Peter McCurtin died in New York on 27 January 1997. His westerns in particular are distinguished by unusual plots with neatly resolved conclusions, well-drawn secondary characters, regular bursts of action and tight, smooth writing. If you haven't already checked him out, you have quite a treat in store.McCurtin also wrote under the name of Jack Slade and Gene Curry. Gathered together from the Mystery Writers of America award winning author, PETER MCCURTIN, hard-boiled tales of the Mafia. If you liked "The Godfather" then you're gonna love The Mafia Chronicles. Hard-boiled stories of gangsters, corruption, blackmail, murder and gambling - there all here.
