The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip Carlo
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  137 reviews
Sales Rank: 120431
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 0312349289
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1523092
EAN: 9780312349288
ASIN: 0312349289
Publication Date: June 27, 2006
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Product Description
There were times at home when Richard would have one of his outbursts and break things and then lock himself in his office. Merrick would ask him to please calm down, to “please relax, Daddy.” During these episodes, Richard would explain in a matter-of-fact way, “You know if . . . if I kill Mommy, if something happens and she dies, I’ll have to kill you all . . . I can’t leave any witnesses.”
“Yes, Daddy. I know, Daddy,” she said.
As strange and horrible a thing as this was to tell a child, Richard was trying to let Merrick know in advance—out of consideration—what might happen. He wanted her to understand that he was doing such a thing out of . . . love. Only out of love.
He loved Barbara too much.
He loved the children too much.
That was the problem. The only way he could deal with their loss, if he inadvertently killed Barbara, was to kill them. That was how Richard had dealt with all his problems since he was a child.
“But you, Merrick . . . You’ll be the hardest to kill. You understand that?”
“Yes. Daddy,” she said, and she did understand this. She knew she was his favorite, and she coveted that.
---from The Ice Man
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| Customer Reviews: Read 132 more reviews...
 Wickedly Good July 6, 2008
This book was an intense read. It's definitely filled with everything you might expect from reading the Amazon description. The one flaw is its lack of credibility, but I guess if a killer is as good as this, he wouldn't leave a trail of evidence to prove his stories are true later on.
 Had to put it down to exhale, many times July 4, 2008
It's completely believable. (did someone say it isn't totally believable?) It was the first experience I'd had reading any first-hand telling by someone as he in his teens kills his worst bully. His cold disposing of that body and getting away with it. Horrific. But what was meaner than his own father? The ice-man was hit, bashed for reasons that weren't clear to him at the moments his father came down on him. Out of the blue. Bad enough, child battery, when daddy states his reasoning. The iceman even believes that this daddy beat over and over his older brother until that child died. Hello? Mom? where was Mom? Right there! The beatings and other humane neglects formed warm pulsating heart into permafrost in he who became Ice. Ok. Life tells us there are no sufficient provocations for violence. but there are things done to soft and cuddly humans while they are dependent and trusting of the big humans who are in charge of such tenderness that screw their wee minds and there you go. What the Iceman did to his victims is unreadable. You lay (throw?) the book down and gasp and take days to recover and reluctantly give it your time yet again. A horrific read or did I say that? Yet Mr Bruno, you did good. Why did you not have to stop over and over to vomit as you related what are facts of such vile magnitude I'll never figure. maybe you did. Utterly unforgettable, and I tentatively thank you for reporting/writing it.
 crime novel kind of fun to read June 15, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
i am no book reviewer but at first i thought this is one crazy dude.several times i stopped to try to find out how many people wererolled up into this one guy.the photos and discription of him didn't seem to jibe with the dates.it'sfun to read but itt can't all be fact.
Big Rich! June 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great book about one of the most notoriously unknown killers of all time!
Richard Kuklinski was a very interesting man to say the least, his family life, his secret life of murder and his long list of petty crimes and schemes!
When you finish "The Ice Man", you'll feel as if you know the guy. The book starts off talking about Richard's horrible childhood and how/when he committed his first murder and takes you through his early days of crime and his association with the Mafia!
"Big Rich" as he was known to his friends killed over 100 men, possibly as many as 200. He killed using almost every means possible. Kuklinski claims to have killed the infamous Jimmy Hoffa and ruthless mobster Roy DeMeo. He not only killed for money, he killed without a reason. Strangers, punks, thugs and the homeless all felt the wrath of the Ice Man, but never women or children according to Richard.
Many people, including Richard Kuklinski believe he was poisoned while in prison, which ulitmately led to his death. Richard was going to testify against Sammy (the Bull) Gravano, he died in prison days before!
You can buy the dvd's here at Amazon of Richard's HBO interviews, they can also be found on Youtube! The interviews are excellent, they give a real life perspective of Big Rich!
Great read, very interesting stuff, truly a natural born killer!
Spectacular!! June 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a reprint of the review I wrote for my book review website Letters On Pages (www.lettersonpages.com)
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Horrifying.
That is really the only good way to describe The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo. The book itself isn't horrifying...in fact it is fantastically written. What is horrifying is Richard Kuklinski and the things the did during his lifetime.
You see...Richard Kuklinski was a Mafia hitman. He killed people for money. He also killed people because they upset him in some manner, like flipping him the bird while driving. The middle finger was a particularly terrible affront to Kuklinski...one that would likely earn you the death penalty. But those killings aren't where he made his mark on the world. Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski is known as one of the most dangerous mob related people ever. I say mob related because he was Polish, and you can't officially join the Mafia unless you are Italian. You can still work as a hired killer though apparently.
Kuklinski was a giant (literally at 6'5" 280lbs) psychopathic, sociopathic, anti-social, paranoid person. He had the classic serial killer upbringing: hyper-abusive parents, picked on by local bullies, enjoyed torturing animals...etc. His home life was so abusive that his father actually killed Richard's brother by beating him. So obviously there was no love in his house, or anywhere throughout his childhood. This, combined with his genetic disposition for violence and personality flaws, turned him into one of the most prolific killers ever. Kuklinski killed over 200 people during his life, most of them mob/organized crime related. His lack of conscience and inability to feel remorse meant that he was a perfect killer. He could "go see somebody", torture (if that's what the client wanted), kill, and dispose of the body with no second thoughts.
In fact, he had a family and loved them dearly. Actually, I don't know that he had the capacity to love. But he cared for them quite a bit. His home life was like Jekyll & Hyde though: sometimes he would be the most caring, thoughtful person around. Other times he would go on a rampage, destroying furniture and beating his wife. He never harmed his children, however. In fact, he would kill people for abusing children. He was a regular vigilante.
This book is amazingly interesting and I couldn't put it down. To read the stories that this man told were shocking. Carlo does a pretty good job of not being too explicit though. There are a few stories that are especially bad...but otherwise it's OK.
I (like a lot of other people) am interested in serial killers and why they do what they do. For some reason they are really interesting to people. I'm sure there are plenty of psyche people who could explain why. Kuklinski is one of the ultimate serial killers, and therefore, garners a lot of attention. That he did all of this while leading a relatively normal family life only futhers the intrigue.
Three HBO documentaries of Kuklinski were filed while he was in prison. I have seen one of them and it's pretty riveting stuff. It's actually frightening to watch him cavalierly describe taking another man's life. Sometimes he gets mad and glares at the interviewer...which is a haunting view for that person I'm sure.
I very highly recommend this book to anyone interested in True Crime, serial killers, or the Mafia. Be prepared though.
Rating: 5 out of 5
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