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THE WESTIES
by
T.J. English

Detailing the rise and fall of a brutal Irish gang that terrorized Hell’s Kitchen during the latter half of the 20th Century, THE WESTIES would be fodder for the airport rack were it not for author English, who proves himself to be a formidable reporter (and storyteller) in this debut book.

The Westies themselves were at best a small-time criminal operation, by and large confined to the streets of Manhattan’s West Side. Their history offers little of the glam and glitz most mob aficionados require to fuel their fandom. But English uses the spare backdrop of the docks, bars and construction yards to close his sights tightly on key players, and there he discovers an affecting story of success gone awry. The betrayals that get traded back and forth between boss Jimmy Coonan and enforcer Mickey Featherstone are reminiscent of the less-literal backstabbing normally found in high-power business narratives, and the comparative simplicity of this criminal organization helps render its politics more comprehensible than they would be in a gang as expansive as, say, the Italian mafia.

Furthering the flavor, English steadfastly refuses to tell the tale in sequence, often dumping readers in the middle of a shocking twist before backtracking to show us its roots. It’s like having cold water continually thrown in our faces—not that anyone would have trouble staying awake with all this violence. (One of The Westies trained as a butcher in prison, and passed his skills onto his fellow gang members upon his release—all of whom found predictably horrifying new uses for them.)

A unique crime book, from an author I can’t wait to revisit. But there are times you’ll wish he wrote about fluffy bunny picnics.