My thoughts

This is book two in the Alex Cohen series, but it can easily be read as a standalone. I haven’t read book one, The Bowery Slugger, and I quickly picked up on the characters’ relationships.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with noir fiction. But I love historical fiction, especially anything that portrays the aftermath of war through a former soldier’s eyes. As East Side Hustler is historical crime noir, I decided to take a chance on reading Alex’s story.

The historical and personal relationships aspects fascinated me more than the actual crime fiction parts. Borstinski has done his research, and the world of 1920s gang-controlled New York City came alive.

There are quite a number of actual historical figures in the book. Al Capone, Monk Eastman, and more than a few other gangster-crime folks from this time era rub shoulders with Alex and his fictional colleagues.

I also learned a bit about how the crime bosses used the conflicts between union workers and factory owners to exploit both sides for monetary gain. Alex can charm and wheedle his way into their lives, appear to be on their side (either one!), and then force their prey into being “protected” by Alex’s crew. He’s a natural at the game, too. Tammany Hall comes into the mix, as does Prohibition. It’s all fascinating stuff.

I also enjoyed watching Alex’s relationship with his old lover, Sarah, blossom into love. But the life Alex leads is brutal and unpredictable. How can a marriage or family survive this crime business? The question lingered in my mind as I read.

Alex changes from a down-and-out beggar to a street thug, then into a savvy, strategically-minded businessman, albeit a criminal one. But along with that transition is another, darker change: he becomes consumed with grabbing power and money. One thing doesn’t change, though. The Great War haunts him. At random moments, he is besieged by memories that are momentarily more vivid than the present circumstances. It’s something many readers can identify with.

At the same time, I wasn’t as interested in the crimes he and his colleagues carry out. There’s a lot about the logistics of running alcohol over the US-Canadian border. Alex and his colleagues constantly deal with the competing gangs that control certain areas of the country and New York City. All the while, he schemes to gain more, more, more. More power. More money.

It’s not the sort of thing that interests me, I’m afraid, and as the story revolves around these things, I grew impatient with it. This is probably a case of a mismatch between book and reader, rather than any particular fault of the book.

Those who like crime noir will enjoy this. There’s lots of violence. The body count is high. Thankfully, Borstinski spares us graphic details of the shootings. This, plus the lack of foul language and overt sexual content make a nice change from many crime novels. It’s one that I appreciate.

I also recommend East Side Hustler to those who are interested in 1920s historical fiction, especially those who want to understand how the competing gangsters controlled major U.S. cities.