Losers and Sinners

---

Losers and Sinners is a crime novel written by American novelist Michael B. Proud. Published in 2017, the novel tells the story of a fictional Mafia family (the Provenzanos) and their operation in Las Vegas. The story centers around one of the family's newest soldiers (Tommy Vincenzo).

Summary

The book begins with Tommy Vincenzo wandering the Nevada desert on his way to Las Vegas. Freshly released from jail, he is going to Las Vegas to meet up with semi-retired boss Salvatore Provenzano aka Don Sal. Don Sal's nephew Sammy, who was in jail with Tommy, let Tommy know that the Provenzanos were planning to take by any means ownership of a casino and they could use Tommy's help. Before Don Sal will hire Tommy, he must kill one of Don Sal's capos who has been working as an informant for the FBI. After making bones (id est killing the informant), Don Sal takes on Tommy as a soldato, and puts him on his grandson Terzo's crew. The rest of the novel depicts his work for the family (killing rival gang members, running a brothel, et cetera) while waiting for the family to take on the casino. The book ends with a meeting at Don Sal's Summerlin villa with underbosses from the New York families. Don Sal is requesting help from those families in exchange for any profits from the casino, if they are successful in taking it over. The very last page ends with Don Sal telling Terzo and his crew that they will be heading to New York, hinting to readers that Losers and Sinners might be the first in a series of books.

Main characters

The Provenzano patriarch is semi-retired boss Salvatore Provenzano (always referred to as Don Sal). He left New York years ago, and control of the New York City-based operations to his son Salvatore Provenzano II. Don Sal runs a small outfit in Las Vegas, with only two crews, one of them headed by his caporegime grandson Salvatore "Terzo" Provenzano III. Unlike the way most families operate, Don Sal does not insulate himself from any of the family members in Las Vegas. Don Sal is very personable with all of the members regardless of their importance in the hierarchy, and he is very in control of the family's daily activities.

The primary character is Tommy Vincenzo and the book is told from his perspective. Tommy is a deeply flawed career criminal who just got released from jail after doing a stint for an armed robbery conviction. Looking for work, fellow inmate Sammy, Don Sal's nephew, suggests Tommy should seek out his uncle for a job. Tommy does just that, and the book follows his daily affairs with the family, his struggle to cope with life outside prison, and battling his former vices of cocaine and courtesans.

Other main characters include: Chomo, Military Mike, and Texas Pete, who are other members in Terzo's crew; Giancarlo, who is the capo for the other crew; and Carmen, Tommy's love interest.

Real-life influences

Though fiction, the novel is heavily based upon reality, most notably the Five Families of New York and the history of the Mafia's involvement in Las Vegas. Also. the character of Salvatore Provenzano is a composite of real-life organized crime members like Frank Costello and Vincent Gigante. His name is a combination of Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano.

Losers and Sinners

This article "Losers and Sinners" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Losers and Sinners. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---