The Money, the Mob and Wall Street is the story of Wade Simon, a standout basketball player from UNLV, who, after graduating from college, goes to work on Wall Street and eventually becomes the CEO of a Wall Street brokerage firm. There he is introduced to the world of fast-talking scam artists and white-collar criminals.
The story takes you into the canyons of lower Manhattan and the backroom financial chop shops, where you will meet members of organized crime and their associates. You will see firsthand how the mob owns or controls brokerage firms on Wall Street through front men. You will meet Angelo Santino—an old-world Mafia don, who, after retiring from a life of street crime, became attracted to the easy money of Wall Street—and his partner, Albert Kline—a Wall Street executive whose only goal in life was to make money, without regard for the people he had to cheat to accomplish that.
The author has taken a serious subject and added his own sense of humor.
Scottie Roberts is a high-profile criminal defense attorney who represents some of the country’s well-known mafiosi. One of his clients, Sammy Costello, asks him to help negotiate a deal to buy a mega entertainment conglomerate. Sammy wants him in on the deal because Scottie’s boyhood friend Joey Torino is a priest who works at the Vatican Bank and he feels he can help finance the deal.
Things become complicated when Anthony Longo, another boyhood friend of Scottie’s, turns up seeking revenge for his father’s murder, claiming that Scottie was involved.
The story takes you from the streets of Chicago to the glitter of Hollywood and then behind the scenes in Las Vegas. You will see firsthand how Vatican City, a sovereign state, controls its finances through the Vatican Bank, which has been dogged for decades by scandals involving the illegal transfer of funds and money laundering.
You will meet people like Soraya Dubi, a millionaire California real estate person who becomes Scottie’s partner; Alice, Scottie’s secretary who, unbeknownst to him, leads two separate lives; and Maurice Gross, the owner of Entertainment World.
Negotiating is part of everyday life, but in business, it’s absolutely critical to success. Scottie is not only a top defense attorney, he is also an expert in negotiating a deal. Emotion, luck, and magic have no place in a successful negotiation. It takes an iron gut, street smarts, and unblinking discipline to make a good deal; and Scottie has them all.
It is no surprise that family members paint idyllic pictures of their mobster ancestors. Every mobster was also a father, brother, uncle, or grandfather, and at least, theoretically, his villainy didn’t spill over into those roles.
And so Maria grew up being part of the family. When she was eighteen years old, she married Angelo Longo, who was a member of one of the Chicago crime families. A year later, she had a daughter, Gina. Maria and Angelo instilled in their daughter the importance of Italian family life. They taught her never to judge what the family did. “We do what we need to do to survive,” Gina’s father told her.
And so Gina never questioned the family tradition. She heard all kinds of stories that made her wonder, but she simply accepted her life in the family. However, in 1976, when she was eighteen, she violated the family tradition.
She wondered if she could ever redeem herself with the family. But just as important, if the time came, would she want to?
“Harry Brooks has done it again. He is able to develop colorful fictional characters, while at the same time never losing his sense of humor”
– Sam McKeel, former Chairman and Publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News, and former President, CEO, & Publisher of The Chicago Sun-Times
“Brooks has the uncanny ability to weave his Philadelphia experiences of real people, places, and events into an exciting tale of fiction”
– Judge Lisle B. Tinkler, Retired
Nothing Beats Luck takes the reader on a journey from the financial district of New York to the corrupt, mafia-infested city of Chicago and then finally to Las Vegas. You will meet all types of colorful characters, some who totally believe in luck, and then some like BJ, who has made a fortune on both Wall Street and in sports betting, who does not believe in luck. Nothing Beats Luck is a story about people and their hopes and dreams as much as it is about Las Vegas and organized crime.
At the age of ninety-three, Harry Brooks does it again with his novel, The Man From Cuba. Brooks’ attention to detail will make you think you are reading today’s headlines instead of a book of fiction. His knowledge of the worlds of politics and organized crime are deftly woven together in a book that intrigues and captivates the reader until the last page. Like in his prior books, Brooks creates characters with depth and personality in such a way that you are able to actually picture them in your mind.
As a former news anchor and political observer I can appreciate Brooks’ approach to storytelling. The Man From Cuba is a wonderful page turner of a novel.
—Marc Howard, retired Philadelphia news anchor
Although the term “All In” is usually used when a poker player bets all of his chips, the author has very cleverly applied the term to the actions of PJ Gould, in his quest for revenge.
All In is a fast moving novel that takes the reader on an exciting journey from the Middle East, through the cocaine jungle of Columbia South America, then to Las Vegas and ends up in New York in the boardroom of one of the largest companies in the United States. It is the story of PJ Gould, the adopted son of a middle class Jewish family from Philadelphia.
When he learns he has a twin brother, Walter, who has been raised by the Lippincott’s, one of the country’s richest families in America, he realizes but for the ‘luck of the draw’, their situations could have been reversed.
Although Walter Lippincott invites his twin brother to join him in the family business, PJ chooses instead to visit Israel after graduating from college. It is there he discovers his Judaism, and enlists in the Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite and most celebrated commando unit. The Sayeret Matkal is comparable to the US military’s Delta Force and is responsible for some of Israel’s high profile security missions. They also conduct highly sensitive assassinations, sabotage, and psychological warfare projects. PJ became an expert in all of these. He earned the reputation of ‘the best in the business’, and after leaving the Sayeret Matkal, he was recruited by the CIA.
After fifteen years of performing political assassinations, he finally reached a point when he no longer wished to continue in the ‘killing business’. That was when he retired and moved to Las Vegas, where he became a high stakes poker player. He played the game of poker the same way he lived his life. When he attempted to do something, he was ‘all in’. He never did anything halfhearted. In poker, all in means you could be betting all of your money on the turn of a card. When he played this way, sometimes he won with the best hand. Other times he would win by bluffing the other players.
After his twin brother and girlfriend are murdered gangland style, PJ vows revenge. Then when the Las Vegas police department warns him not to get involved, he explains to them that he intends to go…All In. There is no way they can prevent him from taking revenge. In life like in poker, sometime, you have to go…all in.
The story takes the reader on a roller coaster ride from Las Vegas to New York, and from there to Chicago and back. You will meet Anita, his brother’s widow, Joey Sconsi a would be wise guy, and Joseph Cantelli, an old world Mafia Don. You will be introduced to Tozzi, the hit man, and Sid Mastro, the unlucky ex-con who finds himself in the middle of an ill-conceived murder plot.
The characters will jump off the page and keep you wondering what will happen next. All In is a must read.
A Family Secret is a fast moving novel that takes the reader from the streets of South Philly to the backroom gambling joints of Atlantic City in the early forties to the most Mafia-infested, politically corrupt city in the world – Las Vegas. It is the story of two half brothers who each follow different career paths. One becomes a successful Las Vegas casino owner, while the other ends up in the Mafia.
The author’s use of sharp “street” dialogue makes the characters as real as a “royal flush.” A Family Secret is a gritty sometime humorous story that keeps the reader wondering what will happen next.
You will meet all kinds of interesting characters in the book. People like Fat Lenny, Little Pussey and Eddie “the hat” Weisberg, who is more like somebody’s old grandfather than a “Jewish Gangster.” The main character, Goldy, is the essence of every young man’s dream. Handsome, rich and as cool as a winter night. And Bobby Cippolini, Goldy’s half brother, a careless, cocky young Italian who answers only to the face he sees in the mirror.
Everybody does business is the story about two men attempting to obtain an NFL franchise. The story takes you from the boardrooms in New York, to Hollywood and then behind the scenes in Las Vegas. Some men do it for the money, others for recognition, and some simply because that is the way the game of life is played.
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