Luciano's Luck

Carter is a former agent with ground knowledge in the hills of Sicily, where the Allied landing forces will need the cooperation of resistance fighters to avoid heavy losses to the occupying German forces. Carter has to recruit Luciano, a convict with Mafia ties, and Maria who has fled the mother country to escape the abuses of the underworld, represented by her grandfather, the key figure needed to coalesce the resistance fighters with the Allied cause. After I read a couple of mentions of Higgins in books on writing, I pulled this off the library shelf. Higgins knows how to get right into the action of a story and move the plot to adventure. He skillfully sets all the elements in place to give a dramatic story with action and conflict. The characters are a step above cardboard cut-outs, serving to propel events, and scenes are quick-cut, keeping the reading at a brisk pace. In all, it's a quick read that isn't entirely predictable.

A delightful change of pace as far as the main hero (Luciano) is concerned. Higgins does the WWII background well no matter what the story. (or plot) He manages to stick to his facts from other novel about the "Mafia Connection" and German forces. Though some of these facts are repetitive he manages to keep his readers on the edge with this change of pace (and hero).

Having read this book almost 12 years ago, I must say that it was a good book if I can still remember it. The story might seem a little far fetched to beleive, but it is an interesting one. Higgins has written an exciting story filled with adventure and suspense that keeps the readers attention. Its also not the long of a book to rea so that is also an advantage to the reader. In all, it is a well written novel

Luciano's Luck is a wonderfully written novel about the US government's desperate attempt to persuade the Mafia to assist them during World War II. Don Antonio Luca, the "Boss of All Bosses" of the Mafia in Sicily has the power to drive all Nazi forces out of Italy and Sicily, but he has an extreme dislike for Americans and is reluctant to help them in any way. Only two people have the slightest chance of persuading him: his only granddaughter who ran away from him years ago, and Lucky Luciano, the most feared gangster in America.