The Last Brother

Home > Mystery > The Last Brother > Page 32
The Last Brother Page 32

by Andrew Gross


  People commonly ask, how does a book begin? In this case, I was literally having a beer with fellow thriller writers David Morrell and Daniel Palmer and for whatever reason I was talking about some family stories, especially the one of my grandfather in his delivery truck guarding his shipment of coats with a loaded shotgun, which I’d thought of including in a book. When I finished, David looked at me with a gleam in his eye and said, “What a great scene! You have to write it.” And for the first time it got me thinking of my grandfather’s life as something other than the subject of family lore. So thanks for the push, man. Without it, I’m not sure I ever would have made the move to do this.

  In the writing of this book, several books were instrumental to getting the full flavor of life on the Lower East Side, the early garment center years, the Jewish Mob, and the plight of the Jews in America in the early 1900s:

  The Rest of Us, Steven Birmingham. Syracuse University Press, 1984.

  How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis. Dover Press, New York, 1971. (Originally published by Charles Scribner and Sons.)

  Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, David Von Drehle. Grove, New York, 2003.

  Tough Jews: Father, Sons and Gangster Dreams, Rich Cohen. Vintage, New York, 1999.

  The Family, A Journey into the Heart of the Twentieth Century, David Laskin. Penguin, New York, 2013.

  Fourth Street East, Jerome Weidman. Pinnacle Books, New York, 1971.

  Satan’s Circus, Mike Dash. Broadway Books, New York, 2008.

  Ready-Made Miracle: The Story of American-Made Fashion for the Million, Jessica Daves. Putnam, New York, 1967.

  Jewish Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. William Morrow, New York, 1991.

  Billy Bathgate, E. L. Doctorow. Random House, New York, 1989.

  Legs, William Kennedy. Penguin, New York, 1983.

  I’d also like to thank my team at Minotaur/St. Martin’s. My editor, Kelley Ragland, for rounding a lot of rough edges that I dropped in her lap into shape; Andrew Martin (for his title epiphany), Hector DeJean, Jen Enderlin, and Maggie Callan. And Simon Lipskar and Celia Taylor Mobley from Writers House. Your enduring support makes my task far easier and occasionally lets me even shine.

  —AG

  THE

  LAST

  BROTHER

  Before writing his own bestselling thrillers, Andrew Gross co-authored five novels with James Patterson. His first novel, The Blue Zone, was an instant international bestseller. He currently lives in New York with his wife, Lynn, and their three children.

  ALSO BY ANDREW GROSS

  The Spy (also published as The Saboteur)

  The One Man

  One Mile Under

  Everything to Lose

  No Way Back

  15 Seconds

  Eyes Wide Open

  Reckless

  Don’t Look Twice

  The Dark Tide

  The Blue Zone

  Novels by Andrew Gross and James Patterson

  Judge & Jury

  Lifeguard

  3rd Degree

  The Jester

  2nd Chance

  First published 2018 by Minotaur Books

  First published in the UK 2018 by Macmillan

  This electronic edition published 2018 by Macmillan

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan

  20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-1-5098-7840-6

  Copyright © Andrew Gross 2018

  Design and Art Direction by Neil Lang

  Cover Images © Shutterstock

  Published in the USA as Button Man

  The right of Andrew Gross to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.

 

 

 


‹ Prev