This vivid journalistic expose was the basis for the Universal Pictures’ release, American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
     No one ever paid much attention to Frank Lucas, the quiet limo driver of one of the Black mobsters in New York.
     But when his boss meets an unexpected death, Frank takes the chance to fill the vacuum in the underground power structure to build his own empire and realize his own version of the American Dream.
     Thanks to his innate leadership qualities and a ruthless operational ethic, he takes control of the drug traffic in the Big Apple flooding the streets with higher quality/lower priced heroin smuggled from the East in the coffins of dead soldiers from Vietnam.
     In the 1970s, Frank Lucas was the king of the Harlem drug trade, bringing in over a million dollars a day. He lived a glamorous life, hobnobbing with athletes, musicians, and politicians, but Lucas was a ruthless gangster.
     In American Gangster, Mark Jacobson’s captivating account of the life of Frank Lucas joins other tales of New York City from the past thirty years.
     The collection features a number of Jacobson’s most famous essays, as well as previously unpublished works and more recent articles. Together, they create a vibrant, many-layered portrait of the most fascinating city in the world, by one of the most acclaimed journalists of our time.

     Writer and journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for his explorations of the seamy side of urban life, both here and abroad, and for his offbeat and witty take on popular culture.
     He is a Contributing Editor at New York Magazine and Rolling Stone.
Also a frequent contributor to The Village Voice, National Geographic, Natural History Magazine, Men’s Journal, Esquire and other publications.
     Jacobson’s articles have been adapted into the classic TV series, “Taxi” and the feature film American Ganster.
     Jacobson was awarded the 2001 Humanitas Prize.

     Actor, author, songwriter, and playwright.
     He and his wife, Jahnna Beecham, have written more than 100 books for teens and young readers under the name Jahnna N. Malcolm, including the best-selling series The Jewel Kingdom. Their musicals, Chaps! and They Came from Way out There (with Michael J. Hume), have played in theaters across the United States.
     Hillgartner’s audiobook credits include works by Dean Koontz, Nelson Algren, and William F. Buckley Jr.