Kyle Mccaskill
Where prison walls forge kings, and freedom is the deadliest cage.In the frozen hell of Clinton Correctional, 1936, two criminal masterminds rewrite the rules of power. Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano, the deposed Mafia kingpin, and Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson, Harlem’s feared enforcer, are bitter rivals thrown into the same concrete tomb. Forced into a blood-forged alliance, they build a sprawling prison empire from smuggled cigarettes and whispered threats-a kingdom where guards take orders and ice hides corpses. But as their influence spreads beyond the walls, they draw the wrath of sadistic inmates, corrupt wardens, and the ghosts of past betrayals.By 1942, World War II rages, and America needs a devil’s bargain. Luciano is offered a path to freedom: use his underworld web to protect Allied ships and invade Sicily. With Bumpy’s Harlem network as his weapon, they plunge into a deadly game of espionage and sabotage. But every victory stains their souls-and when the guns fall silent, promises shatter like glass. Luciano faces exile across the ocean; Bumpy walks free into a Harlem gutted by heroin and greed.The war is won. Their battle has just begun.Scarred and hunted, Bumpy fights to reclaim his streets from a new generation of killers. In Naples, Luciano claws his way back to power, trafficking solace in powder form. As federal task forces close in and old vendettas ignite, these kings of the underworld must choose: cling to their thrones, or burn empires to protect what’s left of their souls.Spanning the brutal prison blocks of Dannemora to the heroin-soaked alleys of Harlem and the sun-bleached ruins of Sicily, The Iron Crowns Trilogy is a George R.R. Martin-esque epic of organized crime’s golden age. With multi-POV grit, labyrinthine political intrigue, and visceral prose, it asks:What does a king become when his crown is made of ice?Perfect for fans of:The Godfather’s operatic tragedyPeaky Blinders’ razor-blade styleBoardwalk Empire’s historical ruthlessnessThe brutal alliances of A Song of Ice and Fire
