September 2001: two years since legendary Chicago hitman Sal Cupertine disappeared into the guise of Las Vegas Rabbi David Cohen. For David, everything is coming up gold: temple membership is on the rise, the new school is raking it in, and the mortuary and cemetery, where he launders bodies for the mob, is minting cash. But Sal wants out. He's got money stashed all over the city. If he makes it through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, he'll have enough to slip away, grab his wife and kid and start afresh.
Across the country, former FBI agent Matthew Drew is now running security for a casino outside of Milwaukee, spending his time off stalking members of The Family, looking to avenge his former partner's murder. So when Sal's cousin stumbles into the casino, Matthew takes the law into his own hands, starting a chain of events that will have Rabbi Cohen running for his life, trapped in Las Vegas, with the law, society, and the post-9/11 world closing in on him.
Gangster Nation is a page-turning examination of the seedy foundations of American life. With the wit and gritty glamour that defines his writing, Goldberg traces how the things we value most in our lives - home, health, even our spirituality - have been built on the enterprises of criminals.
It's been two years since legendary Chicago hitman Sal Cupertine disappeared into the guise of Las Vegas Rabbi David Cohen. It's September 2001 and for David, everything is coming up gold: temple membership is on the rise, the new private school is raking it in, and the mortuary and cemetery, where Cohen has been laundering bodies for the mob, is minting cash. But Sal wants out. He's got money stashed in safe-deposit boxes all over the city. He's looking at places to escape to, Mexico or maybe Argentina. He only needs to make it through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and he'll have enough money to slip away, grab his wife and kid and start fresh.
Across the country, former FBI agent Matthew Drew is now running security for a casino outside of Milwaukee, spending his off-time stalking members of The Family, looking for vengeance for the murder of his former partner. So when Sal's cousin stumbles into the casino one night, Matthew takes the law into his own hands, starting a chain of events that will have Rabbi Cohen running for his life, trapped in Las Vegas, with the law, society, and the post-9/11 world closing in on him.
Gangster Nation is a page-turning examination of the seedy foundations of American life. With the wit and gritty glamour that defines his writing, Goldberg traces how the things we value most in our lives - home, health, even our spiritual lives - have been built on the enterprises of criminals.
'Gangster Nation punches even harder than the excellent Gangsterland did: against the backdrop of 9/11, everybody's roughed-up and bleeding, and nobody's hiding it well' - Bill Beverly, author of the award winning novel Dodgers
'Sal Cupertine is back -and better than ever. I love this guy' - Lee Child
