Mile High — Richard Condon

A Prohibition-era bootlegger builds a savage empire in this “whiplash entertainment” by the author of Prizzi's Honor and The Manchurian Candidate (Kirkus Reviews).

Millions of acres of forest separate Edward Courance West from the outside world. In his remote Adirondack retreat, he is tended by servants dressed in black and green, the color of West's empire -- and of money. The son of an Irish powerbroker of the rough-and-tumble Lower East Side, West has been forging his kingdom since the day his father died, leaving him with a small fortune, a few bordellos, and a burning hunger to escape New York and make his mark upon the world -- a mark he will leave in blood.
 
The moment Congress passes Prohibition, West sets about building a one-man monopoly of bootlegging, smuggling, and murder. Clawing ruthlessly to the top in hopes of forgetting his father, West won't stop until he becomes the greatest criminal the world has ever seen.