If you’re going to devote yourself to organized crime — writing about it, anyway — it helps to have grown up in Hell’s Kitchen, as Lorenzo Carcaterra did.
“I was raised surrounded by men who served prison time, my father included, and loved the stories they told about the gangsters they admired, hated and revered,” says Carcaterra, a writer and producer for “Law & Order” and the author of several bestsellers.
His latest is “The Wolf,” which grew out of a long dinner at Mr. Chow’s at which he and his friends decided the military was too hamstrung by law to make a dent in terrorism — whereas a crime boss, like the one in “The Wolf,” could get the job done: “organized crime against disorganized crime.”
Here’s what’s in his library.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
This is my favorite all-time book written by my favorite all-time author. I fell in love with the story as a boy reading the Classics Illustrated comic version, then read and re-read the Bantam Books version in high school and each year after. For my money, the story of Edmond Dantes and his quest for revenge will never be topped.
Terminal City by Linda Fairstein
As great as she was as the chief of the NYPD’s Sex Crimes Unit, that’s how good she is as a novelist. I was born and raised in this city but have learned so much about its history by reading her Alexandra Cooper novels. If you want a little history mixed in with your hard-to-solve crimes, Fairstein should be your first stop.
Blood Brotherhoods by John Dickie
[Dickie] is a professor of Italian studies at University College London and his book tackles the Sicilian Mafia (La Cosa Nostra), the Camorra from Naples and the new kid on the block, ’Nndrangheta. It’s a full-bloodied history that reads like a thriller … [and] a lesson in how evil men can be.
Invisible City by Julia Dahl
This one was chosen by my daughter’s book club, and I admit it — I’m hooked. It’s the first in a series, a terrific story well told involving the murder of a Hasidic woman; a lead character, Rebekah Roberts, any reader will be quick to embrace, and a killer plot that will leave you guessing until the final page. I already can’t wait for her next one.