Saturday, July 21, 2007

Positive review from Blogcritics

Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia earned very favorable notice from Blogcritics.org reviewer Scott M. Deitche.

"...This is one of the more foundational organized crime books ever written...," Deitche wrote in a review published yesterday. "Thomas Hunt brings the story alive through his rich attention to details. You can practically smell the fetid air of the New Orleans waterfront."

"...Rich familial history [is] intertwined with the background history," Deitche noted. "I think in teaming with Martha Macheca Sheldon, Hunt made a smart move. Anecdotal family stories bring a dimension to the Macheca saga that you rarely get from a general Mafia book. Not wanting to lavish too much praise on the authors, but it's always exciting to find a new way to approach a subject..."

The review concluded, "Deep Water is a worthy addition to the organized crime canon and the greater body of books on Civil War-era America."

The full text of the review is available online at: Blogcritics.org.

The review already has been picked up and republished on Boston.com (the Boston Globe's website) and Cleveland.com (the Cleveland Plain Dealer's website).

Scott M. Deitche is an authority on organized crime. He is the author of two books on the Tampa, Florida, crime family: The Silent Don and Cigar City Mafia.