The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer

The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer

Richard 'The Iceman' Kuklinski led a double life beyond anything ever seen on The Sopranos, becoming one of the most notorious professional assassins in American history. Kuklinski was Sammy, the Bull Gravano's partner in the killing of Paul Castellano. John Gotti hired him to kill the neighbour who accidentally ran over his child.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prichard strives to navigate this marathon parade of torture and murder in an authoritative, almost aloof manner. But the clichéd, repetitive and overwrought prose frequently undermines him. Carlo's apparent sympathy toward the Ice Man further subverts Prichard's crime-show host persona. In stomach-turning detail, Prichard brings to life Richard Kuklinsky's extraordinary 40-year career of murder. The gruesome, clinical accounts of countless killings-by every method imaginable-leaves listeners wincing and feeling depleted. Prichard's voice is worn and aged, with a slight nasal quality as if getting over a cold. For the most part, he handles the voluminous narrative without flagging. When rendering Kuklinsky and various Mafia figures and associates, the audio actor employs a similar tough-guy impersonation, which amounts to dropping his voice, bleeding out the emotion and barking swear words. This sometimes leads to confusion over who's speaking. Also included are two not especially revealing jailhouse interviews with the chillingly congenial Kuklinsky.

From Booklist

Richard Kuklinski, the Ice Man of the title, has told his story before in a variety of forums, including books and videos. Here Carlo tells Kuklinski's story more or less straight from the killer's mouth, with little verification or questioning. Given Kuklinski's grandiose claims, such as participation in the unsolved murder of Jimmy Hoffa, this produces a narrative of unrelieved horror. Kuklinski reveled not only in killing but also in the suffering of his victims, and here he emphasizes how he compartmentalized his life so that his family was shielded from the nastiness of his trade. Other than fulsome detail, not much new about Kuklinski is relayed. Carlo's presentation of Kuklinski uninterrupted does, however, make for nice comparative reading with the killer's wife's book, Married to the Iceman (1994). Good as an omnibus resource on Kuklinski, this is a fine entry in the burgeoning field of works tracing the decline of the traditional organized crime families and their once impenetrable structures. Mike Tribby

Product details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins,Australia (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0732284961
• ISBN-13: 978-0732284961
• Package Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces