The Circus of Satan is an intense and evocative work of historical crime fiction set in early-20th-century New York City.
It interweaves real historical events and important figures and tells the story of the rise and fall of Irish control of the city and the birth of organized crime in America.
Konvitz was able to perfectly capture the heated and dirty atmosphere of 20th-century New York's Tenderloin District of the Bowery and the power and corruption streaming from Tammany Hall.
This book is an evocative thrill ride that will leave readers out of breath with a lot to think about.
What is The Circus of Satan about?
By the year 1900, the Irish mob is in control of the police departments, mobs, and crime in many American cities. Between 1900 and 1910, political operative James Monaghan rose through the ranks of Tammany Hall in New York, the epicenter of Irish control.
In 1910, midwestern gambler Billy McGuinness arrives in New York City from Chicago. He is haunted by a brutal murder performed at the hands of the Irish mob and determined to go up against and destroy Monaghan and the Irish political and criminal machine.
With him he brings his ties to gangsters Max and Moses Annenberg, Big Jim Colisimo, and Johnny Torrio and midwestern political powers.
McGuinness faces off against Monaghan through real historical events in New York's Bowery ghetto and it's Tenderloin District (nicknamed Satan's Circus), manipulating real-life figures from newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
At the end of the book, McGuinness must grapple with the actions he performed as a means of revenge, as he has inadvertently become a driving force in alcohol smuggling and the rise of the Mafia in America.
The Creation of the Book
In 1975, after the widespread success of his first book, The Sentinel, Jeffrey Konvitz stumbled upon a nonfiction book about the early 20th century decline of the Irish control of America's police, spurred by a 1912 court case in which an Irish police officer was tried for orchestrating the murder of a Jewish gambler.
Fascinated by the book, Against the Evidence, Konvitz began writing a fictional account of the case. Upon completion of 250 pages, however, he found that the story just didn't work and placed it to be forgotten in his closet.
Fast forward 16 years, Konvitz's wife Jill found the manuscript buried in the closet and, after a read-through, felt that the core of the story was really something special. It was just missing something—but what?
Then Konvitz had an epiphany: his fictional story would only work if he interwove the plot with real historical figures and events of the period.
So began Jeffrey Konvitz's dive into historical fiction. He did extensive research into the period, reading over 100 nonfiction books and biographies of every historical figure he incorporated into the story.
It's not an easy task to maintain suspense and surprise while crafting a story around real-life events, but after many years of researching, writing, and reworking, Konvitz was finally able to produce this absolute epic of both thrill and history.
Publishing the Book
Konvitz considers this amazing book, The Circus of Satan, to be his life's work. And considering the impact of his previous work, that's no small statement.
This being the case, he decided to self-publish the book instead of entrusting it to the hands of a big publishing house, which would dampen his control over the final product.
After teaching himself everything about a completely new business (as he continued writing as well as running his law practice!), Konvitz, along with partner Avram Freedberg, started his own publishing company.
With careful monitoring and relentless dedication, they produced the final copy of the book that's available today.
Buy it now!
Circus of Satan is available for purchase today! Follow the links below to get your own copy and delve into the thrilling underbelly of the seedy New York of the early decades of the 20th century!
