by Andrew Gross
First published 2018
Morris Rabinowitz watches his family fracture after his father dies, leaving three boys to support their large household on the Lower East Side. At twelve, Morris becomes an apprentice garment cutter while his brother Sol pursues college and accounting. Their youngest brother Harry takes a darker route, joining a neighborhood gang. Morris works his way up the factory ladder until he owns the business and brings Sol aboard as his partner. Harry refuses to leave behind the allure of working for Louis Buchalter, a childhood bully turned mobster who now controls significant criminal operations. When Buchalter decides to target the garment industry unions, the brothers find themselves on opposite sides of a violent conflict. Morris must protect his business and workers while Harry remains loyal to his dangerous boss. The collision between family bonds and competing loyalties drives the brothers toward a confrontation that will test whether blood ties can survive the brutal realities of organized crime in Depression-era Manhattan.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, family-conflict, loyalty
Setting: Lower East Side, Manhattan
Period: Depression Era
371 pages · Hardcover · Minotaur Books
Content warnings: violence