The Last Pirate of New York Audiobook By Rich Cohen cover art

The Last Pirate of New York

A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Last Pirate of New York

By: Rich Cohen
Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Rich Cohen
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.75

Buy for $15.75

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Was he New York City’s last pirate...or its first gangster? This is the true story of the bloodthirsty underworld legend who conquered Manhattan, dock by dock - for fans of Gangs of New York and Boardwalk Empire.

“History at its best...I highly recommend this remarkable book.” (Douglas Preston, number one New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God)

Handsome and charismatic, Albert Hicks had long been known in the dive bars and gin joints of the Five Points, the most dangerous neighborhood in maritime Manhattan. For years, he operated out of the public eye, rambling from crime to crime, working on the water in ships, sleeping in the nickel-a-night flops, drinking in barrooms where rat-baiting and bear-baiting were great entertainments.

His criminal career reached its peak in 1860, when he was hired, under an alias, as a hand on an oyster sloop. His plan was to rob the ship and flee, disappearing into the teeming streets of lower Manhattan, as he’d done numerous times before, eventually finding his way back to his nearsighted Irish immigrant wife (who, like him, had been disowned by her family) and their infant son. But the plan went awry - the ship was found listing and unmanned in the foggy straits of Coney Island - and the voyage that was to enrich him instead led to his last desperate flight.

Long fascinated by gangster legends, Rich Cohen tells the story of this notorious underworld figure, from his humble origins to the wild, globe-crossing, bacchanalian crime spree that forged his ruthlessness and his reputation, to his ultimate incarnation as a demon who terrorized lower Manhattan, at a time when pirates anchored off 14th Street.

Advance praise for The Last Pirate of New York:

“A remarkable work of scholarship about old New York, combined with a skillfully told, edge-of-your-seat adventure story - I could not put it down.” (Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia)

“With its wise and erudite storytelling, Rich Cohen’s The Last Pirate of New York takes the reader on an exciting nonfiction narrative journey that transforms a grisly nineteenth-century murder into a shrewd portent of modern life. Totally unique, totally compelling, I enjoyed every page.” (Howard Blum, New York Times best-selling author of Gangland and American Lightning)

©2019 Rich Cohen (P)2019 Random House Audio
Americas Murder True Crime United States New York Transportation Pirate
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
About the Creator and Performer - Rich Cohen

About the Creator and Performer

Rich Cohen is the author of The New York Times bestsellers Tough Jews; Monsters; Sweet and Low; When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead (with Jerry Weintraub); The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones; and The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse. He is a co-creator of the HBO series Vinyl and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Harper’s Magazine, among other publications. Cohen has won the Great Lakes Book Award, the Chicago Public Library’s 21st Century Award, and the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for outstanding coverage of music. His stories have been included in The Best American Essays and The Best American Travel Writing. His latest book, The Last Pirate of New York, is out in paperback in June 2020.
Fascinating Story • Remarkable Historical Account • Excellent Narration • Captivating Criminal Tale • Vivid Portrayal
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Interesting story about Albert Hicks, a vicious 19th-century killer. The narration was a bit like listening to Jack Webb's 'Dragnet' voice-overs, but I suppose I got used to it. The case that Hicks was 'the first gangster' wasn't made, in my opinion. In fact, it seemed to be more a promotional angle than an actual historical reality. That said, the story is well told, thanks to an abundance of contemporary records, newspaper stories, and the criminal's confession.

Not Great, But Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Interesting historical story, but Cohen stretched the source material with too many inferences and not enough facts. His premise was that Hicks was the missing link in a NY criminal genealogy bridging the eras of Captain Kid and Lucky Luciano, but he provided scant evidence beyond his own hardboiled assertions. Those men were leaders and organizers of vast enterprises while Hicks was just a psychopath, more in the vein of a Carl Panzram than a Meyer Lansky. Further, the repeated claims that Hicks in some way epitomized the dark side of America's fundamental nature was overblown and, again, unsupported. An interesting approach would have been viewing Hicks as a virus, a mindless destruction unleashed by the mobility and anonymity of the Industrial Revolution presaging the more famous psychopaths of the post Civil War wild west.

Could have been a long New Yorker article

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was a interesting book on the last real pirate on NYC. Well written book.

Great Book on lost History

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved this book. The history of NYC is fascinating. This was the fastest 7 hours!

Argh, It's a Good Read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book was fascinating from the very beginning. Just when I thought the end was coming, you get two more hours of fascinating story about this larger than life character notice Albert Hicks. Highly recommend!

Incredible book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A somewhat obscure story that really comes to life and paints a great portrait of the times. The narration by Mr. Fliakos is excellent, the narrative leaves you waiting on the next twist and turn.

Facinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

One of the best listenings I have had in a long time. This should be made into a movie. I have spent so much of my youth fishing in many of the NY Bay areas mentioned in the book never realizing that something like that took place there. Amazing details as well.

When is the Movie coming out?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great book. Highly recommended. Thanks for the suggestion Ben Shapiro. If you like crime books, this is for you.

Fantastic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Rich Cohen took a deep dive into original documents to put together a terrific yarn. He ties together modern gangster lore with pirate tales of the 19th century. Was much more fun to listen rather than read, although I really liked reading Tough Jews.
Highly recommend checking this out.

Add this to the historical canon of NYC

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This tale carries lessons deep under the story surface. For you to fathom, dear companion reader.

Chilling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews