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| Final Rating: 3.7/5 |
If you can manage to just go with the constant shuffling dates, locales and storylines- this book can show you a good time and remind you of Law & Order circa 1936. To be honest, I was looking for more of a Goodfellas, The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in America or Road to Perdition type of read but Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) is more of a subdued drama playing both sides of the deck of crime and punishment that really stays true to actual history complete with authentic slang from the eras presented. Told by revolving perspectives each chapter follows one of the main characters and shows how they ended up on either side of the stage of the courtroom that then becomes the novel’s closer and sits the reader down in the thick of the cross-examinations of the trial that changed everything in 20th-century American judicial system and who exactly was considered untouchable when it came to the law of the land.
Although true to the events of the monumental 1936 trial of vice, this book tended to fold on strict storytelling and put down a more nonfiction “state the facts” style of writing toward the end and to be honest that disappointed this reader. I was hoping for more creative accounts of known events and didn’t expect the nonfiction switch with pages of questions and answers from the courtroom and long definitions of different terms. To be fair I can see why this novel did this, to move the story along and aid the unfamiliar in understanding the court procedures and this particular cases' inner-workings but after the arresting first half of this novel; it just became too restrained for me and sadly even Lucky Luciano just faded into the wallpaper by the end. I believe the beginning chapters saved this book’s final impression for me though, they just perfectly matched what I wanted to see when I picked up this novel. Some scenes reminded me of cinematic favorites but mostly I loved the character and side stories of Cokey Flo, her sections stood apart from the rest as she was giving a deposition and her colorful chapters kept me reading. I may not have ended up being the exact target audience for Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo) but I still enjoyed the time spent in this period of history and would recommend this novel to those who are looking for presentations of authentic period sounding fiction or to anyone intrigued by machinations of varying degrees and loves the second half hour of Law & Order episodes.
* I would like to thank Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo)
Title Released: November 3, 2015
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