For decades, the story of Youngstown, Ohio, was a story of violence. Organized crime, murder and political corruption were forces in the lives of residents, and shaped the citys reputation to the larger world: Youngstown became Murdertown, USA. In vivid bursts of fiction and memoir, The Silk Stocking Bandits tracks the rise and fall of the mafia underworld as it weaves through the Mahoning Valley community and brushes up against the life of the author, Thomas J. Lentini, bringing the reader along from gambling heists to botched contract killings to Havana vacations, and from thrilling suspense to tragedy.

About the Author:

Thomas J. Lentini is from the Mahoning Valley, one of seven children raised by Italian immigrants. He has written several stories about growing up and living on a farm during The Great Depression. In 1938 his father died and the family farm was lost - he embarked on a long full life, spent in the Air Force, serving in Korea and as a General Motors supervisor, among family and friends and the occasional mobster acquaintance. He has traveled throughout Australia and Italy in search of his parents' relatives. He is a graduate of LongRidge Writers Group in West Redding, Connecticut.