A Bloody Business

ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF PROHIBITION, LEARN WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. In 1919, the National Prohibition Act was passed, making it illegal across America to produce, distribute, or sell liquor. With this act, the U.S. Congress also created organized crime as we know it. Italian, Jewish, and Irish mobs sprang up to supply the suddenly illegal commodity to the millions of people still eager to drink it. Men like Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, Dutch Schultz and Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone in Chicago and Nucky Johnson in Atlantic City, waged a brutal war for power in the streets and on the waterfronts. But if you think you already know this story...think again, since you've never seen it through the eyes of one of the mobsters who lived it. Called "one of the most significant organized crime figures in the United States" by the U.S. District Attorney, Vincent "Jimmy Blue Eyes" Alo was just 15 years old when Prohibition became law. Over the next decade, Alo would work side by side with Lansky and Luciano as they navigated the brutal underworld of bootlegging, thievery and murder. Alo's later career included prison time and the ultimate Mob tribute: being immortalized as "Johnny Ola" in The Godfather, Part II. Introduced to the 91-year-old Alo living in retirement in Florida, Dylan Struzan based this book on more than 50 hours of recorded testimony--stories Alo had never shared, and that he forbid her to publish until "after I'm gone." Alo died, peacefully, two months short of his 97th birthday. And now his stories--bracing and violent, full of intrigue and betrayal, hunger and hubris--can finally be told.

As the U.S. Army shrinks, a private army steps into the breach. A Bloody Business offers an unprecedented look behind the scenes and into the ranks of this mercenary force (numbering as many as 15,000 today) who guard supply convoys, train foreign soldiers, provide security for foreign leaders and dignitaries—and whose workplaces are the most dangerous hot spots on the planet. With its insights into who these men are, what drives them, where they come from, how they prepare, and what they do, this book provides a uniquely close-up and complete picture of the private army behind America’s military muscle. The author interviewed security contractors and their families, high-ranking coalition officials, and was in Iraq, where he witnessed how private soldiers fought ambushes, trained Iraqi forces, escorted high-level officials in dangerous conditions, and saw the contractor side of the Iraq war. Includes action on the supply lines and front lines of this unique conflict, and the stories of the contractors who live it every day.

History meets comedy meets hitman Martin Williams often finds himself in deadly historical events, with a good chance his mark will die without any intervention. But professionals don’t leave things to chance, and Martin is a motivated worker for his paymasters, the Firm. Follow Martin’s lethal career across four decades, three continents, and thousands of cigarettes. Along the way, Martin will find himself on a sinking RMS Titanic, crawling through mud in the middle of the Great War, holding the sold stocks that trigger the Great Depression, embroiled in a home-grown Communist workers’ revolution, and relaxing on a peaceful Pacific atoll the day after Pearl Harbor, to cover half the adventures within. But as time progresses, the world descends into the Cold War, and Martin finds himself increasingly in the crosshairs of equally skilled practitioners for rival organizations. Tiring of espionage, he begins to eye retirement. But will the Firm allow their prized employee to fade into obscurity? Or will they send Martin to join his previous assignments in the ground?

Provides a behind-the-scenes look at America's civilian contractors in Iraq, following the activities of workers for MPRI and Crescent Security, two contracting firms who provide protection for diplomats, move convoys of precious materials, and help rebuild the infrastructure of the wartorn nation.

The pleas of a desperate young woman draw Captain Anthony Hunter and his crew into a race against time through the streets of Edinburgh. As the body count rises, can they catch the killer before they are next?

Ever do a good deed that was as hard as possible? Julep should have left the goblin beside the road. She saves him instead, and finds herself changing bloody bedpans until they're rescued by his goblin henchmen. Meanwhile, Artur's found gold, and not the stuff hidden in the bottom of Julep's cart. When her greedy family kidnaps her, he steals her back and brings her home to stash with his treasures. But will she thrive in the Goblin City? Or will she be a casualty of brutal goblin rivals?

A burning sneer, a snide remark, and a stolen kiss.Three distinct memories among a million others that stain my childhood with Remy Luciano.Sour gummy worms and a nickname.Two more memories and everything I loved to hate started blurring at the edges.A wedding dress made for another.And one whispered confession that has gripped the three of us in its sticky fingers of heartbreak and doubt.You've always been Mine.This book contains themes that some may find triggering. Please read at your own discretion.

"In giving the public the story of his life, William J. Bryan trusts he may be credited with something more than a desire to acquaint the public with himself. It is his purpose to show that in his own case good fortune has had more to do with such success as he may have achieved than any efforts of his own. His second purpose is to show the goodness of the American people, their patriotism, their moral courage, their high ideals, their willingness to sacrifice for their convictions - the virtues that not only make popular government possible but insure its success." -- goodreads.com

Complete four-book Mafia series with a bonus extended epilogue: Mine - Bloody Business Prequel: Arranged Marriage & Love TriangleMy Heart - Book one: Romantic SuspenseMy Life - Book Two: Age Gap & Forbidden LoveMy Girl - Book Three: Age Gap & Love Triangle