A superb book of historical non-fiction. . .by a writer at the top of his game.” — The Globe and Mail
“The book is branched with characters from a John Huston epic: piano-playing wharf rats; Mafia reprobates. . . . Yet the book rests with its two principals, who, in the end, come to represent the yin and yang of Southern Ontario, and, perhaps, Canada.” — Toronto Star
“Who knew that southern Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe was also a nefarious hotbed of illegal bootlegging, drug peddling, gambling, extortion, roadside slayings, and bullet-riddled bodies sent to sleep with the fishes of the Welland Canal? . . . Entertaining. . . . The subject matter is well suited to Cole.” — Quill & Quire
“Trevor Cole takes readers on a fascinating journey through the Italian Canadian underworld of the early twentieth century. The research is impeccable and the dramatic pace never falters in this intriguing tale of immigrants turning to crime and running rings around the authorities.” — Charlotte Gray, award-winning author of The Promise of Canada and The Massey Murder
Calling on his immense gifts as a novelist, Trevor Cole tells the true story of Rocco and Bessie Perri, the “King and Queen of Bootlegging” in Hamilton. . . An illuminating, disturbing, and well-paced read.” — Rosemary Sullivan, award-winning author of Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva
“Trevor Cole is a veteran journalist with a novelist’s eye. He deftly lifts mobster Rocco Perri from the lake bottom or grave or whereever he ended up and brings him back to life on the page.” — Peter Edwards, author of Hard Road: Bernie Guindon and the Reign of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club and co-author of Business or Blood: Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto's Last War
“Trevor Cole is a masterful stylist and The Whisky King a tall Canadian crime tale taht just happens to be true. Popular history at its outsized, plot-driven best.” — Charles Foran, award-winning author of Mordecai: The Life and Times
The book is branched with characters from a John Huston epic: piano-playing wharf rats; Mafia reprobates. . . . Yet the book rests with its two principals, who, in the end, come to represent the yin and yang of Southern Ontario, and, perhaps, Canada.
Calling on his immense gifts as a novelist, Trevor Cole tells the true story of Rocco and Bessie Perri, the “King and Queen of Bootlegging” in Hamilton. . . An illuminating, disturbing, and well-paced read.
Who knew that southern Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe was also a nefarious hotbed of illegal bootlegging, drug peddling, gambling, extortion, roadside slayings, and bullet-riddled bodies sent to sleep with the fishes of the Welland Canal? . . . Entertaining. . . . The subject matter is well suited to Cole.