Don Stradley

Slaughter in the Streets

Don Stradley

“[A] gritty, true-crime narrative…with hard-edged prose and a total absence of cheap moralizing…[A] stark and gripping account.”— Kirkus Reviews "The historical fact that the city of Boston has seen more than its share of this breed – boxers who became intertwined with the criminal underworld – is the literary gold that author Don Stradley mines so beautifully in this book. There are moments of triumph in the ring, and some failures; Stradley is right to focus as much on the boxing careers (often misbegotten) of these men as well as their criminal associations and habits."—T.J. English, from the Foreword From the pages of Slaughter in the Streets: When Boston Became Boxing’s Murder Capital … Frankie spent the final seconds of his life the way James Cagney might’ve in an old Warner Bros crime drama: – he stumbled down the hallway and into the office of an attorney who had leased space in the building. A female stenographer who had been at her desk filling out Christmas cards looked on in horror; the sound of guns a moment earlier had shattered the holiday mood, and now she was confronted by the sight of Frankie in the doorway, blood gushing from his wounds. Without saying a word, he walked in and sat in a chair. Then he pitched forward, dead. In Slaughter in the Streets , Don Stradley masterfully unfolds the story of how Boston became «boxing's murder capital.» From the early days of Boston's Mafia, to the era of Whitey Bulger, Stradley tells the fascinating stories of men who were drawn to the dual shady worlds of boxing and the mob. Boston was once a thriving boxing city. And it was also host to an ever-expanding underworld. From the early days of Boston's Mafia, to the era of Whitey Bulger, many of the city’s boxers found themselves drawn to the criminal life. Most of them ended up dead. Slaughter in the Streets tells the violent and often tragic story of these misguided young men who thought their toughness in the ring could protect them from the most cold-blooded killers in the country. Slaughter in the Streets: When Boston Became Boxing's Murder Capital is the third in the Hamilcar Noir series. Hamilcar Noir is «Hard-Hitting True Crime» that blends boxing and true crime, featuring riveting stories captured in high-quality prose, with cover art inspired by classic pulp novels.

Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero

Don Stradley

“Stradley [has]…a clipped, hard-hitting narrative style that makes no excuses and offers no apologies. Boxing fans interested in this…tragic figure should be captivated. A gritty, absorbing account of a boxer who couldn’t defeat his own inner demons.”— Kirkus Reviews From the pages of Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero … "There’s no telling what went on during the next few hours, or where his paranoia took him, but in that room something terrible happened. At 5:30 a.m. Valero appeared in the lobby. As calmly as one might order something from room service, he told the staff that he had just killed his wife." Within the dark pages of Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero , author Don Stradley uncovers the gritty details of the undefeated (27-0, 27 KO), troubled, boxer Edwin Valero. Edwin Valero’s life was like a rocket shot into a wall. With a perfect knockout record in twenty-seven fights, the demonic Venezuelan boxer, known as “El Inca” and “El Dinamita,” seemed destined for a clash with all-time great Manny Pacquiao. But the Fates had other ideas. Fueled by cocaine and booze and paranoia, Valero blazed into a mania that derailed his career in the ring and resulted in the brutal death of his young wife Jennifer–and soon afterward, his own. In chilling detail, Don Stradley captures one of the darkest and most sensational boxing stories in recent memory, which, until now, has never been fully told. Filled with firsthand accounts from the men who trained Valero and the reporters who covered him, as well as insights from psychologists and forensic experts, Berserk is a hell-ride of a book. Berserk is the first in the Hamilcar Noir series, from Hamilcar Publications. Hamilcar Noir is «Hard-Hitting True Crime» that blends boxing and true crime, featuring riveting stories captured in high-quality prose, with cover art inspired by classic pulp novels.