The Dutchman's Gold

About the Book

$7 million of legendary gangster Dutch Schultz’s horde has been lost for 60 years. Now several groups motivated by revenge, greed, and self-preservation are after the treasure: starving actors, a hulking zydeco fiddler, the Russian and Italian Mafia … and a serial assassin known as The Black Prince.

Review from Kirkus Discoveries

"When secret information emerges about where a mobster’s fortune may be hidden, a lovely heiress and a journeyman actor running a summer theater troupe become the focus of mafia groups, the FBI and criminals-for-hire."

"At times echoing the laugh-out-loud observational and dialogue skills of Jimmy Breslin or DanJenkins, Berg pushes several on-target buttons in this modestly structured thriller. Career New Orleans bad guys Hippo LaZell and Creed Molyneux stumble across a mafia historical archive that gives clues as to where mobster Dutch Schultz hid $7 million. They decide it might as well be theirs. The hunt leads them to a sleepy upstate New York town when Manhattan actor Travis Ford directs productions for the Adirondack Lake Festival, a summer stock outfit headed by the beautiful and wealthy Rene Sharon, who has no idea her recently purchased estate might be where the gangsters are hiding the money. Travis and Rene would seem destined for romance if there weren’t distractions within the company—and from New York mobsters who send hit men to ferret out the treasure. Seductive-but-morals-deficient theater starlet Lyz Greko presents further complications as she will use anyone to further her career and/or lifestyle. Berg does an efficient job developing these characters without reverting to stereotypes, and the situations with dueling mob groups and law enforcement agencies stay consistently funny without falling prey to cheap slapstick. While the plot is fairly thin, the premise is engaging enough to hold it together."

"A worthy first comic thriller from a funny and confident writer."

About the Author

Richard H. Berg is a historian, co-author of the recent “The Times’ History of War”, and an award-winning designer of over 75 historical games, for which he has been placed in that industry’s Hall of Fame. He has also been an actor, director, rock singer, opera singer, composer and librettist (one good review, one accurately bad), criminal defense attorney (where he found his clientele more interesting than his peers), and media communications consultant. He even found time to serve a stint in the Army during the Vietnam War (which he spent in a theater in Germany). He travels frequently, finding time to attend lots of baseball games, shows, and opera. He lives in Westchester, New York, with his wife, Karen, within striking distance of his NYC-based son, Alex. The family cat asked not to be included with this group.