Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski led a double life beyond anything ever seen on The Sopranos, becoming one of the most notorious professional assassins in American history while hosting neighborhood barbecues in suburban New Jersey. Now, after 240 hours of face-to-face interviews with Kuklinski and his wife and daughters, author Philip Carlo tells his extraordinary story.
Kuklinski was Sammy "The Bull" Gravano's partner in the killing of Paul Castellano at Spark's Steakhouse. John Gotti hired him to kill the neighbor who accidentally ran over his child. For an additional price, he would make victims suffer; he conducted this sadistic business with cold-hearted intensity, never disappointing his customers. By his own estimate, he killed over two hundred men, taking enormous pride in his variety and ferocity of technique.
Kuklinski's story, once known, captivated the public and became the subject of three HBO documentaries about which the New York Times raved "Few viewers are ever likely to forget this thoroughly chilling portrait. As for possible movie competition, it would work on the level of The Silence of the Lambs."
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"This was without a doubt the best non-fiction book I've read in a long time, maybe ever. Although at times very chilling, it got me hooked instantly, and was very hard to put down. I can't wait to pick up another Philip Carlo book."
— Alex (5 out of 5 stars)
“The spine-chilling story of Richard Kuklinski…readers will become so engrossed in the details that they’ll forget that this is a true story. Highly recommended for readers of true crime.”
— Library Journal“Carlo effectively tells the life story of the family man who spent thirty years as a professional killer, while hosting barbecues in suburban New Jersey.”
— New York Post" couldn't put it down, but morbidly descriptive in details of what happened "
— Barbara, 2/17/2014" This book gives incredible insight into the mind of a mafia hitman who just may be one of the most prolific serial killers that you may have never heard of. "
— Duck, 2/15/2014" This is an interesting book about a cold hearted assassin and if your into crime stories this is a great book as it gives great insight to both how he felt ,his family's issues and how he behaved. "
— Robertos, 2/10/2014" This book, or audiobook in my case, has been a very interesting read. Richard Kuklinski ranks quite high on my list of people who scare me to death. This man took brutally murdering people to a completely different level. Something that blew my mind multiple times throughout this book was Kuklinski's "morals". The same man who wouldn't think twice about killing someone, was also the same man who would protect children, and to a lesser extent women. Kuklinski's willingness to kill in the name of an abused child will always confuse my thoughts of him. He is undeniably one of the worst individuals in American history, but I found myself feeling horrible for him. This feeling stemmed mainly from the abuse that he suffered as a child. Although this isn't an excuse for what he has done, it isn't hard to tell why he turned out the way he did. My only real complaint with this book was the authors need to re-explain things that had been previously touched on. The constant reminders of how Kuklinski terrorized his family or how he wouldn't kill women or children became frustratingly obnoxious at times. Besides that minor complaint, I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. EDIT: I actually came back and downgraded this book from a 4-star to a 3-star. My reasoning behind this is because of its inaccuracies. After doing a little research I found that a lot of what Kuklinski claimed was absolute Bull***t. I still give it a 3-star, and may eventually change it back to a 4-star, because it was a very interesting and entertaining read. Kuklinski is still a psychopath, but not nearly as "impressive" as he or Philip Carlo claim. "
— Greg, 2/5/2014" A brutal look into the mind of a serial killer like no other. His ability to try to be a "caring" father as well as a mob paid killer is just beyond the pale of humanity. "
— Stan, 2/4/2014" Pure fiction and poorly researched. Pardon me for the shameless plug, but if you want the real story of the Iceman, read my book, The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer. "
— Anthony, 1/21/2014" Amazing... my only words when this book was finished was "WOW". I kind of felt bad for the guy, besides the fact that he killed 200 + people. "
— Jennifer, 12/29/2013" Do not read this book, Richard Kuklinski has been proven to be a liar, he lies about the murders of several made men and mob bosses. Mafia hitman?? Don't make me laugh and Phil Carlo should know better as an author who has written many legitimate mob books. "
— Gary, 12/23/2013" This book has been borrowed by so many people and we all agree CHILLING! "
— Jean, 11/14/2013" There's no way he killed that many people. Still a pretty interesting character. "
— Chris, 11/9/2013" Great story, terribly written. I'm no critic but the writing style was very amateur. Could have been an all time book. "
— Claire, 6/3/2013" Riveting and a page turner, but a very scary bedtime story. "
— Mollyegraham, 5/13/2013" Scary but interesting. It was disturbing. "
— Kristi, 5/11/2013" Extremely disturbing, but interesting at the same time. "
— Ali, 3/18/2013" Good book if you are into this sort of thing. Its a great story about the man, but the author is terribly redundant to the point of wanting to skip parts where he continues to go over the same thing. "
— Dawn, 2/25/2013" Difficult to put down, slightly repetitive though. "
— Kayly, 12/26/2012" Fantastic - brutal, honest revelations of possibly the world's most prolific murderer. Chilling and above all true. "
— Mike, 8/14/2012" The subject of this book, Richard Kuklinski, is fascinating. The book itself, however, is rather repetitive. All in all a very good book because of the subject, but not a great book because of the mediocre writing style. "
— Alexdreid, 7/15/2012" I give this 5 stars but honestly, I couldn't finish it. It scared me pretty good but it was fascinating. I'd love to try and read the rest some day. "
— Wendy, 7/13/2012" Very interesting, although it does get a little bit of the same thing over and over again through the middle. "
— Jan, 4/27/2012" Written in a way that i just had to close it after a couple of chapters - just make up saying and repeat. "
— Neil, 3/4/2012" so interesting.... and such a good read. "
— Mr.meteor, 12/9/2011" Makes for an interesting but horrific read. Impossible to work up any sympathy for this guy. "
— Sixpacknl, 8/11/2011" F*****g ice, a must read book. "
— Hassan, 5/5/2011" I really enjoyed this book. It is amazing to see just how many people had no idea what the Iceman was capable of and how many people he actually killed. I was actually surprised to see how he got caught in the end. "
— Allison, 5/3/2011" Difficult to put down, slightly repetitive though. "
— Kayly, 5/1/2011" This was a good read... The Iceman was a ruthless hit-man with no remorse.... If you read this book be sure to watch the HBO documentary about this guy if you can find it... "
— Corey, 4/9/2011" SCARY!!!! You'll never have road rage again. "
— Audrey, 4/3/2011" Great story, not so great author. Writing was very redundant, but the material pulled him through. "
— Stefanie, 3/28/2011" couldn't put it down, but morbidly descriptive in details of what happened "
— Barbara, 2/18/2011" A fascinating story of a hit man. He was Polish so he could not be an actual Mafia made man. <br/>Brutal! <br/>Family man. <br/>Graphic "
— Judie, 2/3/2011" Informative, sad and like a plot from a movie. Hard to believe that he got away with it for so long. "
— Vanessa, 1/16/2011" Another excellent read about one of the most chilling people out. "
— Matt, 1/16/2011" The writing is a little rough, but I liked it enough to want to finish it (and at 400+ pages, that's saying a lot). "
— Erica, 1/16/2011" The subject of this book, Richard Kuklinski, is fascinating. The book itself, however, is rather repetitive. All in all a very good book because of the subject, but not a great book because of the mediocre writing style. "
— Alexdreid, 1/12/2011" I liked this sort of real life Soprano's tale, but the author jumped around a lot and repeated himself quite a bit, which annoyed me. "
— Tracy, 1/5/2011Philip Carlo (1949–2010) was the bestselling author of Gaspipe, The Butcher, and The Night Stalker, which chronicles the brutal career of serial killer Richard Ramirez. Carlo grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, amidst the world’s highest concentration of Mafia members. When he was sixteen, he was shot in the head in a gang war, and while recuperating, he read voraciously, discovering the magic of books for the first time. His intimate knowledge of Mafia culture—their walk and their talk—helped him become a successful crime writer. He died in 2010 from ALS.
Michael Prichard is a Los Angeles-based actor who has played several thousand characters during his career, over one hundred of them in theater and film. He is primarily heard as an audiobook narrator, having recorded well over five hundred full-length books. His numerous awards and accolades include an Audie Award for Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman and six AudioFile Earphones Awards. He was named a Top Ten Golden Voice by SmartMoney magazine. He holds an MFA in theater from the University of Southern California.