Iceberg Slim's last published novel is perhaps his greatest. Death Wish, written in Slim's typically hard-hitting and highly compulsive prose, tells the story of Chicago's Mafia and the power struggle that ensues when the greedy Don, Jimmy Collucci, attempts to become the king-pin of Chicago's ''Honored Society''. Not only is this a portrayal of an organisation whose working details Slim knew intimately but we also see Mafia infighting set against a backdrop of the underworld in its entirety.For Jimmy Collucci has had a lifelong hatred pf dedicated Black Warrior, Jesse Taylor, against whom he has regularly competed for turf on the streets of Chicago. And Jessie Taylor has managed to get himself in a position from which he is confident that he can take on Collucci and his ruthless outfit.The result is bloody and riveting. Another masterpiece from the man whose prose redefined post-war American literature and who remains one of the most startlingly original and hard-boiled writers America has produced.
