Original Gangster

The Real Life Story of One of America's Most Notorious Drug Lords

By: Frank Lucas, Aliya S. King

Narrated by: Cary Hite

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In his own words, real life American Gangster Frank Lucas recounts his life as the former heroin dealer and organized crime boss who ran Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Determined to break the Italian mafia’s monopoly over drug smuggling in New York, Frank cut out middlemen and began smuggling heroin into the United States directly from his source in Vietnam using the coffins of dead American soldiers. Making $1 million per day from his "Blue Magic", the purest heroin on the street, Frank Lucas became one of the most powerful crime lords of his time, while rubbing shoulders with the elite in entertainment, politics, and crime. This powerful memoir reveals what really happened to the man whose rise and fall was dramatized in the 2007 feature film American Gangster, exposing a startling look at the world of organized crime.

Frank Lucas is a former heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in Harlem during the 1960s and 1970s whose career was the focus of the 2007 film American Gangster.

Aliya S. King was co-author of the New York Times best-seller Keep the Faith. She has held editorial positions with Billboard and The Source. Her articles have appeared in such magazines as Essence, Ms., Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Uptown, CMJ: New Music Monthly, Teen People, Black Enterprise, and many others. She is currently a senior writer for Giant magazine and a contributing editor for Upscale magazine.

©2010 Frank Lucas with Aliya S. King (P)2010 Blackstone Publishing and Urban Audiobooks LLC.

Critic reviews

“From a sharecropper’s shack in North Carolina to the top of Harlem’s drug trade, Lucas recounts his eventful life in vivid detail. After witnessing his cousin’s murder by the Klan in 1936, Lucas began stealing food for his family at age six, graduated to assault and robbery, and made his way to Harlem in 1944 at age 14….With journalist King’s aid, Lucas is a straightforward yet compelling narrator, never making excuses for his life of crime, though he has come to regret it.” ( Publishers Weekly)

A must Read!!

This book is great, Frank Lucas does all the narrating and you can hear and feel the passion in his voice. If you liked the movie you will love the book.

American Gangster

A fascinating narrative from one of America's misguided children. Frank and candid, very honest. Interesting.

Loved the story

I absolutely loved it! Now I want to watch the movie again. Cary Hite great job as usual

Frank Lucas in his own words

If you could sum up Original Gangster in three words, what would they be?

A mixture of truth and fantasy. Many of the things told here might be a wee bit embellished as has been pointed out by various journalists but even his embellishment is enjoyable. He's a great story teller.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Original Gangster?

The parts referencing Bumpy, who has always been shrouded in a veil of mystery. This is probably the best and most clear picture ever presentation of what his power over Harlem was.

Which scene was your favorite?

Frank at the pool hall when he meets Bumpy, it's the real start to this story. I grew up in this area and heard the stories but never from people who were actually there and yet in this part of the book there is a ton of truth, even in the way the mood was set while the narrator delivered his performance.

Amazing

I love true crime and gangster history but am so used to hearing it from a prosecutor or investigative journalist. This is the most nuanced and real book I’ve read as far as crime books go. It is real, and historic, and emotional. It shows the reality of how quickly someone’s life can change, it’s rooted in black
History and is a story that many can relate too, it also displays some dark truths about policing in America, specifically policing of black neighborhoods. I think it’s an iconic read, and I took a lot from this book,as per usual the movie didn’t do it justice.

Much better than the movie.

I really like every book that Cary Hite reads. It's something about his voice that makes for a good listening experience. I enjoyed this book and the details that are given in it.

Fun read.. definitely worth the time.

After listening to this just makes me enjoy the American Gangster film even more.. great story , narrator and very interesting characters.. enjoy!

Great story and narration

Great story and narration, highly recommend downloading and listening to this book. Wish Frank dived deeper on a few topics, but understand why he could not, even all these years later.

Give it a listen, you won’t be disappointed!

Good Listen

Very engaging and read well by the narrator. Excellent portrayal of characters and it was very easy for the story to come alive. The validity of some facts in the story, however, are highly debated.

An interesting life

A candid look into HIS view of his life and how he lived it on his own terms. I appreciated the fact that at some point in his life, he realized that his wealth came at a “human price”.