Today I got to Sitdown with the legend himself Alan Gunner Lindbloom is an American novelist and entrepreneur known for his To Be A King novels and remarkable personal stories. Known to most as “Al” or “Gunner,” he has had quite an amazing life journey. Raised in and around the Detroit Mafia, known to law enforcement simply as the “Detroit Partnership,” Gunner was destined for a life of crime and, ultimately, prison. At only age 15 he was expelled from school indefinitely for being part of a stolen merchandise ring. He then became immersed in a full-time life of crime, and his life would slowly take him further into the world of organized crime, something that came very naturally to him.  At age 15 Gunner started selling marijuana because he says his father didn’t provide enough food for him. This led to the fencing of stolen merchandise he traded marijuana for. At age 17 he was convicted of two hand-to-hand sales of steroids, each sale over $5,000. His grandfather, Peter Paul Tocco, allegedly bribed the judge presiding over the case, and Gunner was given only 6 months in a county jail for the bust.  Around age 19, Gunner was taken under the wing of a well-known Detroit Mafiosi named Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacolone, who was best known for being the number #1 suspect in the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance. Gunner’s grandfather, Peter Paul Tocco, was “goombadi” with Giacalone. In fact, one of Tony’s daughters married one of Peter Paul Tocco’s nephews, solidifying the connection between the two families, a long-standing practice between mafia families in Detroit. They almost exclusively intermarry amongst a small handful of Sicilian families, whose connections date back several generations, to the small town of Terrisini Sicily. In Detroit, Tony Giacolone wasn't just another wise guy. He was the street boss, the face of the local mafia, and the undisputed king of illegal gambling in the city. Gunner’s grandfather, Peter Tocco, was an accomplished sports handicapper and layoff bookie. Roughly the same age as Giacolone, the two had grown up together their entire lives and were related through several marriages. The men were both close personal friends, and it was rumored that Peter Paul Tocco was in fact a middleman between his cousin, Giacoma “Black Jack” Tocco, Boss of the entire Detroit Mafia, and Tony Giacolone, street boss, as well as several other high ranking Detroit Mafiosi. At some point, Peter Tocco would officially go on record and ask Tony Giacolone to put his grandson, “Alanzo,” to work. Tony did. For the next ten years, Gunner quietly lived a double life as a contract enforcer for Tony Giacolone’s crew of bookies and loansharks, as well as engaging in small-time drug and street rackets for his uncle Peter Paul Tocco Jr, his uncle Salvatore Tocco, and at least a dozen other cousins and uncles in the mafia. It seemed Gunner had no real specialty in terms of crime. He did everything from work security and running poker games, to collections and robberies, to beatings and extortions. At age 29, Gunner would be indicted for extortion, bank robbery, armed robbery, kidnapping, weapons violations, and a litany of other capital crimes that carried up to life in prison. He would cop out to 13-50 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections, and serve 13.3 years total.  In prison, Gunner Lindbloom decided he no longer wanted to live a life of crime. During a 17-month stretch in solitary confinement, he discovered that he had a knack for writing. Or at least creating. Shortly after that, he began writing and did not stop writing for the next 13 years, penning nine novels, including his debut TO BE A KING novels, which cracked the top 100 in their genre within weeks.