Patrick Downey

Legs Diamond: Gangster Patrick Downey

With a knack for beating the rap and surviving the bullets of his enemies, Jack "Legs" Diamond was the quintessential Prohibition era gangster. Both cunning and daring, Jack rose to the top of the criminal elite but because of his stubbornness, treachery and poor decision making he lost it all; his friends, his money and finally his life.

Legs Diamond is the most comprehensive biography yet written on New York's most famous gangster. The book covers Legs' youth in Philadelphia, his ascension through the New York City underworld and his inevitable demise in a cheap boarding house. Along the way, the many myths and untruths that have been written about Diamond over the years are corrected.

Detailed in the book are:
- Full accounts of all four attempts on his life.
- The war between Diamond and his one time protégé Dutch Schultz,
- The almost assassination of Legs' brother Eddie.
- The famous Hotsy-Totsy murder case.
- Diamond's ill-fated trip to Europe to purchase drugs.
- His bid to monopolize bootlegging in New York's Greene County.
- The death of his brother Eddie.
- New information on Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and his possible partnership with Diamond.
- Jack's final night.
- The origin of the nick name Legs.
- His relationship with Ziegfeld showgirl Kiki Roberts.
 And much more.