Rick Ollerman’s brilliant INTRODUCTION to Stark House’s new Peter Rabe omnibus, War of the Dons/Black Mafia, traces the genre of Mafia novels inspired by Mario Puzo’s classic The Godfather to Don Pendleton’s “The Executioner” men’s action adventure series. America had an insatiable appetite for stories about criminal organizations in the late 1960s and 1970s. Peter Rabe’s War of the Dons (1972) centers around Mafia don Messina’s southern California operation during a shakeup in the hierarchy. The three Guarda brothers, top lieutenants in Messina’s organization, find themselves targets in the new Mafia reorganization.
I enjoyed Black Mafia (1974) in part because Peter Rabe located the key Mafia figure in Buffalo in a neighborhood about 20 minutes from my home! The Mafia wants to extend their operations into the “Black Belt” but aspects of culture, race, and community thwart their efforts. Peter Rabe’s knowledge of gangland life and rituals plays out in both War of the Dons and Black Mafia. Treachery, double-crosses, and sudden violence crackles across the pages of War of the Dons/Black Mafia like the electricity of lightning strikes.
GRADES: War of the Dons: B; Black Mafia: B+
Saw a lot of Peter Rabe’s books back in the early 60’s but I don’t recall ever reading any. I have a few of the Stark House books by other authors but not as many as I would like. The libraries never seem to have them and they are a bit pricey. I’ll have to try one of the Rabe books one of these days.
Steve, Peter Rabe wrote gritty novels about the underside of society. Both WAR OF THE DONS and BLACK MAFIA feature violence and Machiavellian intrigue.
Rabe was a major talent in the Hard-Boiled League, who somehow never got his due. Glad to see fashion catching up with him.
Dan, Stark House has done a great job reprinting Peter Rabe’s work.
You need to fix the italics.
I love the Stark House books and Ollerman’s introductions. That said, this isn’t for me. The only Mafia book I can remember reading was THE GODFATHER. I do like the idea of the Buffalo setting, however. I know native son Lawrence Block has set some books there.
Incidentally, Ollerman was a last minute replacement moderator (for Steve Hamilton, I believe) at Bouchercon, and both Jackie and I were shocked (and not in a good way) at how off target he was at the start. He came across as if he was doing standup, rather than talking about the authors. But he toned it down and was fine after that. I really liked his HARDBOILED, NOIR, and GOLD MEDALS book.
Jeff, Rick Ollerman knows a lot about GOLD MEDAL and writers from the Fifties and Sixties.
Rabe seems to be the most highly regarded of the noir pulpsters Stark House has resurrected that I haven’t yet tried, so maybe I’ll start with this one. Stark House has an astonishing number of his books in their catalog.
Michael, STARK HOUSE has reprinted most Peter Rabe’s work. They also have done a great job bringing back Gil Brewer’s work. Impressive!
Ollerman’s previously mentioned book has four long pieces on Rabe, in which he covers pretty much all of his books, as I remember. Really interesting stuff there.
Jeff, I have those early Peter Rabe books both in the original paperback editions and now the STARK HOUSE editions.
Jeff, that moderator-off-track thing seems to happen a lot these days, doesn’t it?
Rick, I’ll try to stay on-track with my panel at BOUCHERCON #50 next year.
what is your panel about?
Maggie, I’ve been asked to moderate a panel on the changes in book publishing from the 1950s until now.
George – Seems once Joe Valachi testified before Congress in 1963, exposing the inner workings of the mob, the subject took off in fiction and non-fiction. I caught up with a lot of those books years later. A writer who was ahead of the pack is the subject of my FFB today.
Elgin, you’re right about Joe Valachi’s testimony triggering the interest in organized crime. A whole genre grew out of those Congressional hearings.