IGX

Philip Carlo puts together a fine narrative of the life and times of Richard Kuklinksi, the celebrated "Iceman".

This book details the life of Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski. His childhood of surreal abuse at the hands of his father, which included the murder of his older brother, Florian, is narrated by Richard himself. The Kuklinskis spawned two murderers; Richard and his brother Joseph.

There are some points of controversy in the book, such as a dispute about who actually murdered Roy DeMeo. There is no description of Richard's peculiar facial expressions, the "Great White look" either.

On the other hand Carlo tries hard to show empathy for Richard. He shows Richard's compassion for young children, mentioning that he murdered in order to protect two groups of children from sexual abuse.

Over and over again we are shown Richard's peculiar moral code; it is okay to murder people, to feed them alive to rats or sharks or to torture them in horrible ways. His wife and children were his property to do with as he wished. Richard at his first murder trial only apologized to his family for causing them pain and embarrassment.

On the other hand Richard refused to cheat on his wife, refused to kill or injure innocent women and children and sometimes went out of his way to avoid trouble while on a job. Carlo stresses over and over again that Richard considered murder "a solution to every problem" he encountered yet Richard never harmed his three children physically.

Complete with a collection of photos from Richard's family, the book continues through to Richard's untimely death about the time that Sammy Gravano was being indicted for the murder of New York Police Detective Peter Calabro. We are left questioning whether or not Richard died of natural causes or through a convenient medical misadventure which spared the government embarrassment at putting Gravano into the Witness Protection Program.

Carlo also sketches the character of serial killer Robert Pronge, a US Army Special Forces veteran who, like Richard Kuklinski, specialized in free lance contracts to enforce underworld justice in New Jersey. As far as I know no biography of this strange serial killer exists, a man who operated a "Mr. Softee" truck as part of his surveillance routine.

This is a nice quick read, 402 pages.

Gene

Some cable network, maybe A&E, did a series of interviews with Kuklinski...fascinating. He was human & not-human. And would kill at the drop of a hat. He killed one guy for pissing in an alley...this apparently Kuklinski thought this showed bad manners.

In his early twenties, Kuklinski's brother was sent to prison for murder. Otherwise, he might also have had a long "career." The brothers are housed in the same prison.

johno wrote:Some cable network, maybe A&E, did a series of interviews with Kuklinski...fascinating. He was human & not-human. And would kill at the drop of a hat. He killed one guy for pissing in an alley...this apparently Kuklinski thought this showed bad manners.

In his early twenties, Kuklinski's brother was sent to prison for murder. Otherwise, he might also have had a long "career." The brothers are housed in the same prison.

I saw this as well. Dude was 'rationally crazy.' Kuklinski also killed 'Mr.Softy' as well, IIRC.

During an interview with Kuklinski, a reporter asked him about one of his victims that he knocked off in a nightclub. Kuklinski, when asked how he killed the man in a crowded nightclub, responded with something along the lines of 'I shot him up with a syringe full of stuff, inducing a heart attack." When the reporter asked "what was in the syringe?" Kuklinski stoically stated "In that guy's case, a heart attack."

Guy is crazy. Book sounds interesting.

There is nothing crazy about getting paid.

Fat Cat wrote:There is nothing crazy about getting paid.

Yeah, but you can only make commissary once a week. Red Baron Pizza and Moon Pies aren't all that expensive, anyway.