The First Family by Mike Dash is a terrific book. Not only is it insightful, its also interesting as well. I'm about halfway through it.

Being that I'm in the beginning stages of research for a book I'm writing. I recently plunked down almost $97 bucks on four books from Amazon, which should be arriving on Monday.

The four books I bought include "Gangs of St. Louis: Men of Respect" by Daniel Waugh. Waugh also wrote a book on the Egan's Rats. I haven't had a chance to read it but much like his other book "Gangs of St. Louis" from what I hear its supposed to be really good.

The second book I bought was "The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia: Corn Sugar and Blood" by Rick Porrello. Since I'm from Detroit, and a good four hour drive from Cleveland I've always been intrigued by the Cleveland faction of the mafia. I recently watched the indie film Kill The Irishman which is about Danny Greene, and is based on another book that Porrello wrote.

The last two books I bought were "The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States" by Humbert S. Nelli. And "Theft of the Nation: The Structure and Operations of Organized Crime in America" by Donald R. Cressey, and James O. Finckenauer. The last two books are supposed to be on par with "The Origin of Organized Crime in America" by David Critchley, as the books are academic style narratives. I've got the Critchley book as well I usually read it when I have a chance to so I can digest everything.