The Westies: Inside New York's Irish Mob

A true story of Irish gangsters operating in Manhattan during the mid-1970s. Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone, two longtime friends, take control of New York's Irish mob in Hell's Kitchen. Coonan, a charismatic sociopath, leads the organization while Featherstone, a Vietnam veteran haunted by his experiences, serves as enforcer. Together they establish brutality as their defining characteristic, disposing of bodies through extreme violence. Their reign transforms Hell's Kitchen into a neighborhood marked by frequent deaths. When Featherstone is imprisoned for a murder he claims he did not commit, he believes Coonan has betrayed him. In response, Featherstone breaks the underworld's code of silence by testifying against his gang in court. The book examines survival within organized crime, where murder is routine. Library Journal describes it as "a harrowing account of big city crime."