The Black Hand (book)

The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History is a Non-fiction book written by Irish American author Stephan Talty, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on 25 April 2017.

The Black Hand
AuthorStephan Talty
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-Fiction
PublisherHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date
25 April 2017
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages298 pp.
ISBN978-1-785-03712-2

Plot

Beginning in the summer of 1903, an insidious crime wave filled New York City, and then the entire country, with fear. The children of Italian immigrants were kidnapped, and dozens of innocent victims were gunned down. Bombs tore apart tenement buildings. Judges, senators, Rockefellers, and society matrons were threatened with gruesome deaths. The perpetrators seemed both omnipresent and invisible. Their only calling card: the symbol of a black hand. The crimes whipped up the slavering tabloid press and heated ethnic tensions to the boiling point. Standing between the American public and the Black Hand’s lawlessness was Joseph Petrosino – dubbed the "Italian Sherlock Holmes" he was a famously dogged and ingenious detective, and a master of disguise. As the crimes grew ever more bizarre and the Black Hand's activities spread far beyond New York’s borders, Petrosino and the all-Italian police squad he assembled raced to capture members of the secret criminal society before the country’s anti-immigrant tremors exploded into catastrophe. Petrosino's quest to root out the source of the Black Hand's power would take him all the way to Sicily—but at a terrible cost.[1]

Characters
  • Joseph Petrosino – A New York City police officer who is a pioneer in the fight against organized crime.

Reception

Since the book was released, it was received acclaimed by critics.[2] Author Mark Adams said: "The Black Hand is nonfiction noir at its best: a real-life Godfather prequel that pits an unforgettable Italian-American hero against the seemingly unstoppable menace that would become the New York mafia".[3] Kirkus Reviews said it was: "A thrilling tale of the "Italian Sherlock Holmes"".[4]

Film adaptation

In 2017, Paramount Pictures announced that it had acquired the movie rights to Talty book.[5] Leonardo DiCaprio will be attached to star as Petrosino.[6]

gollark: No particular reason, like other things? I don't think we're at a point where every detail of movies is ruthlessly microoptimized for audience appeal yet.
gollark: Your evidence for that intent is just the weak thing of "apparently-satanic stuff appears in movies sometimes".
gollark: Which you can't demonstrate, yes.
gollark: I mean, apart from styropyro secretly (not very) worshipping demons and all.
gollark: If you apply that standard of evidence I wonder what *other* stuff you can "prove"!

References
  1. "The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History | Stephan Talty". stephantalty.com. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  2. "When an Italian-American detective thwarted the Black Hand". June 11, 2017.
  3. "The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History". April 25, 2017.
  4. "KIRKUS REVIEW". February 7, 2017.
  5. Busch, Anita (31 January 2017). "Paramount Acquires 'The Black Hand' For Leonardo DiCaprio To Star For The Gotham Group And Appian Way". deadline.com.
  6. "Leonardo DiCaprio to star in film about the precursor to the American Mafia". independent.co.uk.
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