Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest Joseph P. O'Donnell, author of the Gallagher Trilogy of Mystery Thrillers: Fatal Gamble, Deadly Codes, Pulse of My heart, and his most recent book, Living on the Fringe of the Mob, as told by E. Steven Sachs.

Good day Joe and thanks for taking part in our interview.

Norm: Living on the Fringe of the Mob is based on your interviews over one year with E. Steven Sachs. How did you decide you were ready to write the book?

Joe: Actually, I never had any aspirations to write a memoir. Steve approached me one day as I was going out to play golf at our Club.

I really didn't know him and was quite taken aback when he said, "I've been looking for you.  Aren't you the guy who wrote a book and they made a movie out of it?"  

"Yes, but why are you looking for me?" I asked.

"I want you to write my life story."

I laughed.  "But I'm a fiction writer.  I make stuff up.  Your life story is true.  I've never written a memoir."

"No," he said. "When you hear my life story, you will want to write it."

About a week later, I met Steve for breakfast and asked him, "Tell me in thirty seconds why I would want to spend a year or so writing your story."

He didn't hesitate.  "I was born in Brooklyn.  My childhood friends were the Colombos, the Bonannos, and Gambinos.   

I was friends with those guys for most of my life and through them, I was introduced to and became close to some of the major Mob leaders in New York.  

I never did anything illegal, but on many occasions I did "favors" for these men and gathered information they needed for their investments."

After breakfast I went home and wrote Chapter One.

Norm: What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

Joe: My goal was to inform the reader about the compelling story of a man who was on the "outside" but was invited to be "inside" the circle of friends of some of the most well known and notorious members of the New York Mob.

Through Steve Sachs' own words in telling his story, I believe I accomplished this goal.  

Norm: How did you come up with the title Living on the Fringe of the Mob?

Joe: As I mentioned, Steve remained on the outside of the Mob, never crossing the line of committing a crime.  He was always considered a loyal friend--someone who could be trusted, but always steadfast in conducting his business in a legitimate manner.   The Mob respected him and welcomed his friendship.

Norm: How forthcoming was Steve during these interviews, and where did they take place?

Joe: The interviews took place at various meeting rooms at our Club--always in private, just the two of us.  I also provided a hand-held tape recorder so Steve could record thoughts that came to mind when he was alone. 

In all of our conversations, he was completely forthcoming about the details of his experiences.  

Norm: Were you ever skeptical of the stories he recounted to you and how did you go about checking their authenticity?

Joe: Yes,when I completed the first draft of the manuscript, I told Steve that his stories were compelling and riveting in many respects.  However, there would be readers who doubted their authenticity.  I told him I needed someone who could verify that these events actually took place.

Several weeks later he picked me up and drove us to a restaurant in Miami.  There he introduced me to a man whose name I still don't know but on whom a character in the book is based. 

We had a long and fascinating conversation during which he confirmed that everything in the book was true and that, in fact, he had witnessed most of it. 

Norm: Did you write Steve's story to express something you believe or was it just for entertainment?  As a follow up, did you learn anything from writing the book and what was it?

Joe: From Day One, I felt that Steve's life story was a different slant on books about the Mafia. He had to "tiptoe" through one precarious situation to another, always being mindful of the need to avoid danger and, in particular, being drawn into those that were illegal. 

The fact that Steve was able to do so is a testament to his strength of character and resolve to remain independent and legitimate in all of his business dealings.   

Norm: Was there anything you found particularly challenging writing the book? How did you deal with it?

Joe: The challenge was maintaining the integrity of Steve's personal character and moral compass throughout the book.   It would have been easy for a reader to visualize Steve as a guy who got into too many fights and hung out with the wrong crowd. 

But he happens to be a person who is generous, kind, highly successful in business, a true family man and above all, intensely loyal to his friends.

His association with the Mob is, in some ways, a contradiction.  However, as I continued to interview him, it became evident that those people and entities (e.g. his father, the government, etc.) that he once respected as a young person had let him down. 

In contrast, his friends in the Mob were loyal and respected his desire to remain independent. 

Norm: Were you familiar with any of the characters that Steve spoke to you about?

Joe: Not really. All of them were new to me until I interviewed Steve.  I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania so I often heard about Russell Buffalino, the reported Mafia "Godfather" that lived in Pittston, PA, a short distance away.

The Mario Puzo novel and Oscar-winning movie of the same name are considered to be based on his life. But, I had never heard of the real-life characters Steve described in his life story.

Norm: Do you hear from your readers concerning the book? What kinds of things do they say?  

Joe: The response of readers to the book has been phenomenal ... overwhelmingly positive.  The audiobook version will be released as an Amazon Exclusive very soon. I am sure that audiences that enjoy Mob stories will enjoy listening to it.

Norm: I believe this is your first writing a memoir. Did you enjoy the process?  How was it different from your typical format writing mystery thrillers?

Joe: Yes, this was my first attempt at memoir.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process, although it had much different demands than writing my mystery thrillers.

As stated above, with fiction, the writer has the flexibility to "make it all up" while, at the same time, maintaining realism and creating an "edge of your seat" nail-biting story.  

In this memoir, I had to stay focused on the facts and real events that occurred while simultaneously trying to capture the true emotions of Steve Sachs, the main character, as he navigated through his own set of hair-raising experiences.

It was most rewarding to see him read a passage in the manuscript and then look at me and say, "How did you know that's exactly how I felt?"

I have recently completed a new manuscript: another memoir and riveting, true story of a Jewish man who escaped from Communist-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1964 when he was sixteen years old while two armed guards chased him. 

The title is Run for My Life.  I hope to publish this book in the coming months.

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and Living on the Fringe of the Mob?

Joe: For the past year I have been working with a screenwriter to format the book into a nine-episode miniseries.  We are now in the process of submitting our materials to networks and producers that specialize in this genre.  Stay tuned.....

Norm: As this interview comes to an end, if you could invite three mystery thriller authors (dead or alive) to your dinner table, who would they be and why?

Joe: That's an easy question for me:

1. Harlan Coben:  master of the first line that grabs you and won't let go.  I have read fourteen of his books.  Never disappointed.

2. Elmore Leonard:  a most gifted writer, especially in the genre of crime thrillers.  But, interestingly, one of my favorites is a western story, Hombre, that became a film of the same name starring Paul Newman and an all-star cast.

3. Agatha Christie:  'nuff said!  The Queen and Master of crime mysteries.  And speaking of first lines, who can forget one of the All-Time Best written by her in The Moving Finger:  "I have often recalled the morning when the first of the anonymous letters came."   

   After reading that line, you have to read more!

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

Follow Here To Read Norm's Review of Living on the Fringe of the Mob