Billy Bathgate

Name: Billy Bathgate
Rating: 4.4 (907 reviews)

by E. L. Doctorow

First published 1989

Amazon

4.4(907)

In 1935, fifteen-year-old Billy Behan adopts the name Bathgate and uses nerve, agility and close observation to attract the attention of New York gangster Dutch Schultz. Admitted to Schultz’s organisation as a messenger and apprentice, Billy enters a world of illegal money, political protection and sudden violence far removed from his childhood in the Bronx.

Billy witnesses the gang’s suspicion of lieutenant Bo Weinberg and becomes involved with Weinberg’s companion, the society woman Drew Preston. As federal tax prosecution and rival criminals close around Schultz, Billy must learn when loyalty is merely another form of danger. His education in power becomes a struggle to survive the collapse of the criminal family he has chosen.