Mile High

Mile High follows three generations of the West family through the dangerous world of New York City crime and politics. The saga begins with Irish immigrant Paddy West, who rises from poverty to become a powerful Tammany Hall boss in the early 1900s through cunning and violence. The central narrative focuses on Eddie West, who inherits his father's empire and develops a scheme to profit from Prohibition in the United States. His calculated plan transforms him into one of the world's wealthiest men, though at significant moral cost. The story culminates in 1958, shifting focus to Eddie's son Walter, an architect who stands apart from the family's criminal enterprises. Walter's marriage creates a final confrontation with his father Eddie, whose power and wealth have twisted him into something monstrous. Through its sprawling narrative, Mile High examines how ambition and corruption flow through generations, while exploring the dark intersection of American capitalism, organized crime, and political manipulation during the Prohibition era.

Reviews for Mile High are limited, with only 100 ratings on Goodreads and a handful on Amazon. Readers highlight Condon's dark humor and satire of American capitalism, politics and organized crime. Multiple reviews note the book's themes remain relevant decades later. Several praise the complex, interweaving plot structure that connects historical events. Common criticisms include the dense writing style requiring concentration to follow, rapid perspective shifts between characters, and a plot that some find convoluted. A few readers note it's not as engaging as Condon's more famous works like The Manchurian Candidate. Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (100 ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (12 ratings) Notable reader quotes: "A sprawling epic of American greed and corruption" - Goodreads reviewer "Complex but rewarding if you stick with it" - Amazon reviewer "The writing style takes work but the payoff is worth it" - LibraryThing review

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🔷 The book draws parallels to real-life political machines like Tammany Hall, which dominated New York City politics from the 1850s to the 1930s and was notorious for its Irish-American leadership. 🔷 Richard Condon also wrote "The Manchurian Candidate" (1959), which became a classic political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra and was later remade with Denzel Washington. 🔷 During Prohibition (1920-1933), New York City had an estimated 32,000 speakeasies - about twice the number of legal bars before the ban on alcohol. 🔷 The author's extensive research included studying actual crime family dynasties of New York, where criminal empires often passed through three or more generations. 🔷 The novel's timeline coincides with the largest wave of Irish immigration to New York City, when over 650,000 Irish immigrants arrived between 1845 and 1851 due to the Great Famine.