The Last Brother

By: Andrew Gross

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From International number one best seller Andrew Gross, The Last Brother is the thrilling historical novel about three brothers and the Mafia in 1930s New York.

United by blood.

1930s New York City. Three brothers grow up poor on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father forces them to find work to support their family. Each brother takes a different path.

Divided by ambition.

Twelve-year-old Morris Rabishevsky apprentices himself to a garment manufacturer with the aim of running the business. Sol, six years older, heads to accounting school but is forced to drop out. Scarred by a family tragedy, Harry falls under the spell of the charismatic Louis Buchalter, who in a few short years becomes the most ruthless mobster in town.

Torn apart by conflict.

Morris convinces Sol to go into business with him, but Harry can’t be lured away from the glamour, power and money of the mob. As their business grows, Buchalter sets his sights on the unions that control the garment maker’s factories, setting up a fatal showdown that could bring them together or shatter their family forever.

©2018 Andrew Gross (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio

Excellent Depiction of Time, Place and People

Both Norma and I read over a hundred books a year. Norma read this during the past month. Her comments during the reading, plus increasing groans as Morris faced a dramatic and extremely uncertain future near the end, plus her admonition, even instruction: “You must read this book”, steered me in the right direction.
I finished it this morning.
If you are one of the millions who have enjoyed BOARDWALK EMPIRE you WILL appreciate this.
Loosely drawn from the story of his maternal grandfather, Fred P. Pomerantz (1901-1986), who established himself in the garment industry and coped with the intervention of mafia and organized crime in 1930s, Andrew Gross has fashioned an exciting and engaging novel.
Against this background, which is depicted with fine detail, but excellent economy, the three Rabishevsky brothers, Morris, Sol and Harry strive to drag themselves from the poverty of a fatherless Jewish family in Lower East Side New York. The story focuses on Morris, who, as his success in the garment trade increases, has to face increasing demands from the mafia, and the penalties for not falling into line. The historical villains are there in spades, often used to bury the dead: Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, Albert Anastasia, Dutch Schultz, Charles Workman, Mendy Weiss and the company they established, Murder Incorporated. Plus the thorn in all their sides, Special Prosecutor, Thomas E Dewey.
I believe THE LAST BROTHER will appeal to any discerning reader, ranging through the crime and thriller genre to the historical novel of early 20th century America. As I have observed before, the blueprint for a novel, in essence, is an engaging character to whom you can relate (either love or hate) is faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem, which he or she, after many vicissitudes, resolves in a satisfying denouement (whether he survives or not). Andrew strikes all the right notes here and for the reasons stated above it is a text book example of excellence in popular literature.
Without giving anything away the climax is one of the most exciting and credible I recall reading in a long time.
Highly recommended. Anyone who did not enjoy this and feel their reading time was not well spent – the fault is theirs. Thank you, Andrew from two diligent readers in the antipodes.
Eric