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Sign up todayOriginal Gangster
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Learn moreIn 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 a million dollars 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 filmAmerican Gangster, exposing a startling look at the world of organized crime.
Frank Lucas’ organized crime career was the focus of the 2007 film American Gangster.
Cary Hite is an experienced actor and audiobook narrator who has had the pleasure of working with a number of publishing houses. An Earphones Award-winner, he currently resides in New York City.
Reviews
“From a sharecropper’s shack in North Carolinato the top of Harlem’s drug trade, Lucas recounts his eventful life in vivid detail…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.”
“[A] spellbinding memoir by one of Harlem’s most famous heroin smugglers…[Lucas] expresses remorse for the lives that were ruined by the product he sold, but the overall tone is a fond remembrance of a life lived in the fast lane…With the connection to American Gangster, this should be a hit with movie buffs as well as true-crime fans.”
“His may not be a novel story, but with King’s help, [Lucas] tells it bluntly and with integrity. He doesn’t try to exonerate himself but seems to recount his deeds with ruthful honesty. Great gangsta stuff.”
“Lucas spins a yarn that gives a new view of black history that’s good enough to be paired with an outdoor porch, a few lazy hours and a cold beer on a warm Saturday night.”
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