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imyourmausoleum 's review for:
Blood Relation
by Eric Konigsberg
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
The author of this book uncovered some interesting family secrets. One of those secrets, uncovered while he was at boarding school, was that his Uncle Harold was an enforcer for an organized crime syndicate. When the author pressed his family about Uncle Heshy, they just said he was a con and had written him off. He had been in trouble repeatedly throughout his childhood, was illiterate and generally uncouth, and wasn't good to his siblings or parents. The author started digging into the life and crimes of his great uncle, and this book was born from that. His uncle even threatened him, as an article that the author had written about his uncle was dissatisfying.
Harold Konigsberg, aka Kayo, was an enforcer for several organized crime outfits. He did what one would consider freelance work. It is reported that he is responsible for at least twenty murders. He was also a very difficult prisoner. He stole food from other inmates, scarfing it down. He gave the guards trouble at every possible moment. He acted up in the courtroom, even once pooping in his wheelchair to stall court proceedings. He once threatened another inmate with rape, to which the inmate committed suicide rather than deal with that. He served time in something like fifteen correctional facilities, totaling fifty years, for on murder that he was linked to, before being paroled. He moved into an assisted living facility in Florida, where he was terrible to the other residents. He died in 2006, at age 89.
I love a good mobster book, and this one was really interesting. I had never heard of Harold Kayo Konigsberg, so I enjoyed learning about this person. I can imagine he would have been utterly impossible to put up with, and I doubt anyone was sad to see him die. Perhaps his daughters and their families, but certainly not the people who were impacted by his crimes, the inmates and guards he terrorized, or the residents at the assisted living center that he was hateful to. If you are into organized crime, especially the little talked about Jewish gangsters, this is a book for you!
Harold Konigsberg, aka Kayo, was an enforcer for several organized crime outfits. He did what one would consider freelance work. It is reported that he is responsible for at least twenty murders. He was also a very difficult prisoner. He stole food from other inmates, scarfing it down. He gave the guards trouble at every possible moment. He acted up in the courtroom, even once pooping in his wheelchair to stall court proceedings. He once threatened another inmate with rape, to which the inmate committed suicide rather than deal with that. He served time in something like fifteen correctional facilities, totaling fifty years, for on murder that he was linked to, before being paroled. He moved into an assisted living facility in Florida, where he was terrible to the other residents. He died in 2006, at age 89.
I love a good mobster book, and this one was really interesting. I had never heard of Harold Kayo Konigsberg, so I enjoyed learning about this person. I can imagine he would have been utterly impossible to put up with, and I doubt anyone was sad to see him die. Perhaps his daughters and their families, but certainly not the people who were impacted by his crimes, the inmates and guards he terrorized, or the residents at the assisted living center that he was hateful to. If you are into organized crime, especially the little talked about Jewish gangsters, this is a book for you!