Lord High Executioner

The bloodsoaked saga of the Murder, Inc. legend who helped create the modern American Mafia-one body at a time-featuring shocking eyewitness accounts . . .

Umberto "Albert" Anastasia was born in Italy at the turn of the century. Five decades later, he would be gunned down in a barber shop in New York City. What happened in the years in between-and why every crime family had reason to want him dead-is one of the most brutal and fascinating stories in the history of American organized crime. This in-depth account of the man who became one of the most powerful and homicidal crime bosses of the twentieth century from Mafia insider Frank Dimatteo is the first full-length book to chronicle Anastasia's bloody rise from fresh-off-the-boat immigrant to founder of the notorious killer's club Murder, Inc.-featuring never-before-told accounts from those who feared him most . . .

They called him "The One Man Army." "Mad Hatter." "Lord High Executioner." But Albert Anastasia was a man who defied description. He was Albert the gentleman thief: a polished stick-up artist who would apologize to his victims-and kiss their ladies' hands-as he robbed them at gunpoint. He was Albert the killer: whose merciless assassination of Mafia godfather Vincent Mangano is recounted here in chilling firsthand detail. He was Albert the record breaker: the first man in the history of American justice to be charged with four separate murders-and walk free after each one. But in the end, he was last obstacle in rival Mafia hoodlum Vito Genovese's dream of becoming the boss of bosses-and paid the ultimate price. . . .