Time to read

Just like the post says, I’ve assembled a lineup of books to read in 2025, and I intend to get started today. The theme should be apparent, Organized Crime with an emphasis on the prohibition-era time period in America. My fascination with these subjects didn’t arrive by chance, they were cultivated.

My Father was born in 1925. He lived through the great depression, quit school in the seventh grade to get a job, and eventually served in World War 2 and Korea. After the war, he spent his years growing a family of seven and supporting it as a Teamster hauling freight up and down the West Coast. He was a simple man with simple hobbies. He liked Westerns and collected stamps, enjoyed working with wood and his bare hands and he preferred listening to baseball and football games over an AM radio crackling with static, rather than watching it on a nice big television. He would have been 100 years old this year. If he was still around, I think he’d enjoy the content I now love to consume.

So without further ado, I present to you my reading list for 2025 (so far). I’ve included fiction novels from the master himself, Max Allan Collins, along with engrossing and meticulously researched non-fiction by Collins, A. Brad Schwartz, and John J. Binder. There’s a healthy dose of graphic novels penned and illustrated by my favorite duo, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. And in honor of the old man, there’s even a Western thrown in. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I present to you my 2025 reading haul:

Lets go left to right and take it from the top, shall we?

• The Perdition Saga by Max Allan Collins
  • Road To Perdition
  • Road To Purgatory
  • Road To Paradise
• Scarface And The Untouchable: Al Capone, Elliot Ness and The Battle For Chicago by Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz
• Al Capone’s Beer Wars by John J. Binder
• The Chicago Outfit by John J. Binder
• The Reckless Series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
  • Reckless
  • Friend Of The Devil
  • Destroy All Monsters
  • The Ghost In You
  • Follow Me Down
• The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
• Where The Body Was by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
• Scene Of The Crime by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark and Sean Phillips
• The Enfield Gang Massacre by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips

The list will likely grow over the year, and it represents only what I intend to put my grubby little fingers on. I’m also an avid audiobook and podcast enjoyer, so I’ll be posting similar lists for those mediums as well, stay tuned for those if you’re interested. In the meantime, check out the list and let me know what you think!

Terry / PHind A Cure