ON THE HOUSE: The Bizarre Killing of Michael Malloy
By Simon Read
Berkley Publishing Group (NYP)

This "only in New York" story might have flowed from the imagination of Damon Runyun, O’Henry, or perhaps Jimmy Breslin. But the case of Michael Malloy proves that fact really is stranger than fiction.

In the bleak Depression winter of 1933, Malloy, a paralytic drunk who stumbled through life in a whiskey-induced haze, would prove to be a marvel of near-indestructibility. Obliviously thwarting multiple attempts on his life, Malloy — as reported in The New York Herald Tribune — survived "several rounds of wood alcohol, a dose of poisoned oysters, tainted sardines mixed with minced tin, an automobile assault and exposure to freezing weather." After Malloy finally succumbed and the bizarre case made the headlines, the late drunk became the toast of New York, a symbol of Depression-era resilience much like Seabiscuit.

Behind the brazen attempts on Malloy’s shabby existence was a gang dubbed the Murder Trust. The name, born in tabloid ink, implied slick precision and deadly skill, which was hardly the case. At the gang’s core was an inebriated bartender, a psychotic cabbie, a crooked undertaker, a green grocer and a speakeasy owner named Tony Marino. Malloy was a regular at Marino’s establishment in the Bronx. Here Marino and his crew hatched a plan to take out multiple life insurance policies on Malloy, then kill him for the cash. Malloy’s bizarre murder, Bronx District Attorney Samuel J. Foley would declare, represented "the most grotesque chain of events in New York criminal history."

Written in a lively narrative style, the book highlights each bungled attempt to kill Malloy and the growing desperation of those trying to murder him. Culminating in Malloy’s ultimate demise, the book relies on original court records, the statements and testimony of those involved, and press reports to bring this darkly comedic tale to the written page.

The author, Simon Read, has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor on several California papers, including The Oakland Tribune. He is a frequent contributor to The San Francisco Chronicle Review of Books. He graduated from California State University, Northridge, with a B.A. in journalism. He currently works as an editor on the news desk of The Tri-Valley Herald.

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