"Business or Blood" by Peter Edwards & Antonio Nicaso / Reviewed by M. K. Sealy
Killer Nashville Book of the Day
Purchase "Business or Blood" or read other reviews through Killer Nashville’s affiliate, Amazon.com*
Antonio Nicaso Credit: Mike Woo
Peter Edwards Credit: Barbara Hanson
"Business or Blood" by Peter Edwards & Antonio Nicaso
Reviewed by M. K. Sealy
Open the non-fiction novel “Business or Blood” by the accomplished authors Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso to any page and you will be met not only with intelligent, entertaining, and accurate style, but you will also find the intriguing true story of what the authors call “Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto’s Last War”.
Though this novel focuses on Vito Rizzuto, one of history’s most influential and powerful Canadian Mafia bosses, the story is transcontinental and international, as Rizzuto’s influence in illegitimate and illegal pastimes cross Canadian borders and into the world at large.
In addition to excellent and engaging prose, “Business or Blood” offers readers a chronology that spans 186 years, the timeline providing more than a glance at the life of a single man as it delves into the history of the gang in 1828 and culminates in the death of gang leader Ducarme Joseph in 2014.
Along with the chronology, Edwards and Nicaso include a map of Rizzuto’s turf and an index for the inquisitive researcher. These additions, along with the excellent organization of the novel, create an atmosphere of intrigue making “Business or Blood” impossible to put down.
Successful crime writers, Edwards and Nicaso have teamed up to produce a powerful, bone-chilling account of the North American crime world and Vito Rizzuto’s participation in it. Unlike many nonfiction works that are dry and more of a junkyard for facts, “Business or Blood” reads like a mystery novel with the punch of true crime.
M.K. Sealy earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in literature from a Nashville university. She is a copyeditor for a Nashville-based publication, but also writes poetry, fiction, and is currently attempting a screenplay, all while working to obtain a Master of Education.
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