King of the Godfathers
“Big Joey” Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family
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King of the Godfathers
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Narrated by:
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Danny Campbell
About this listen
The Last of the Old-World Mob Bosses - and the Ultimate Betrayal
For more than 20 years, Joseph "Big Joey" Massino ran what was called the largest criminal network in the US, employing over 250 made men and untold numbers of associates. The Bonanno family was responsible for over 30 murders, even killing a dozen of its own members to enforce discipline and settle scores. He would be brought down by Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale, the underboss who was not only Massino's closest and most trusted friend but also his brother-in-law. In the end, facing the death penalty and the prospect of leaving his family penniless, Massino started talking to the FBI - the first Mafia Godfather to break the sacred code of omerta, and the end of a centuries-old tradition.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony DeStefano, who interviewed Massino's family and friends as well as law enforcement officials and confidential sources, King of the Godfathers is the story of the brutal mob war that made Massino head of the Bonanno family and the most powerful gangster in America.
©2006, 2008 Anthony M. DeStefano (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story5 out of 5 stars 164
In Race Against Time, Mitchell takes listeners on the twisting, pulse-racing road that led to the reopening of four of the most infamous killings from the days of the Civil Rights Movement, decades after the fact. His work played a central role in bringing killers to justice for the assassination of Medgar Evers, the firebombing of Vernon Dahmer, the 16th Street Church bombing in Birmingham, and the Mississippi Burning case. Mitchell reveals how he unearthed secret documents and found long-lost suspects and witnesses, building up evidence strong enough to take on the Klan.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely horrible reading
- By Grace O'Malley on 03-14-20
By: Jerry Mitchell
-
Where the Bodies Were Buried
- Whitey Bulger and the World That Made Him
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 274
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 242
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 238
New York Times best-selling author T. J. English, the acclaimed master chronicler of the Irish Mob in America, offers a front row seat at the trial of one of the most notorious gangsters of all - Whitey Bulger - and pulls back the veil to expose a breathtaking history of corruption and malfeasance.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The post-trial story of the Bulger legacy
- By Hugh F on 09-28-15
By: T. J. English
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The Kosher Capones
- A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters
- By: Joe Kraus
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 116
The Kosher Capones tells the fascinating story of Chicago’s Jewish gangsters from Prohibition into the 1980s. Author Joe Kraus traces these gangsters through the lives, criminal careers, and conflicts of Benjamin “Zukie the Bookie” Zuckerman, last of the independent West Side Jewish bosses, and Lenny Patrick, eventual head of the Syndicate’s “Jewish wing.”
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2 out of 5 stars
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Kind of scattered
- By joey carbo on 10-04-21
By: Joe Kraus
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The Corporation
- An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 491
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 438
By the mid 1980s, the criminal underworld in the United States had become an ethnic polyglot; one of the most powerful illicit organizations was none other than the Cuban mob. Known on both sides of the law as "the Corporation", the Cuban mob's power stemmed from a criminal culture embedded in south Florida's exile community - those who had been chased from the island by Castro's revolution and planned to overthrow the Marxist dictator and reclaim their nation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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uncle joey approved
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-18
By: T. J. English
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Crime Beat
- A Decade of Covering Cops and Killers
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Len Cariou, Nancy McKeon, Carl Franklin
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 178
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 135
Before he became a novelist, Michael Connelly was a crime reporter, covering the detectives who worked the homicide beat in Florida and Los Angeles. In vivid, hard-hitting articles, Connelly leads the reader past the yellow police tape as he follows the investigators, the victims, their families and friends, and, of course, the killers, to tell the real stories of murder and its aftermath.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointment
- By Traci on 11-07-11
By: Michael Connelly
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The Bourbon King
- The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius
- By: Bob Batchelor
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
October 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Volstead Act, which put the enforcement teeth into Prohibition. But the law didn't stop George Remus from cornering the boozy, illegal liquor marketplace and amassing a fortune that eclipsed $200 million (the equivalent of $4.75 billion today). As eminent documentarian Ken Burns proclaimed, "Remus was to bootlegging what Rockefeller was to oil." Author Bob Batchelor has unearthed a treasure trove of untapped historical archives to cover the life, times, and crimes of the man who ran the largest bootlegging operation in America.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing
- By Amazon Customer on 06-02-20
By: Bob Batchelor
-
The Mob and the City
- The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York
- By: C. Alexander Hortis
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 523
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 459
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 456
Forget what you think you know about the Mafia. After reading this book, even life-long mob aficionados will have a new perspective on organized crime. Informative, authoritative, and eye-opening, this is the first full-length book devoted exclusively to uncovering the hidden history of how the Mafia came to dominate organized crime in New York City during the 1930s through 1950s.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Hard one to rate....
- By Jeffery D. Giuliani on 09-24-20
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The Bluegrass Conspiracy
- An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs, and Murder
- By: Sally Denton
- Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 496
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 453
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 453
When Kentucky blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985 - carrying thousands in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine - the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the US government. The story of Thornton and “The Company” he served, and the lone heroic fight of State Policeman Ralph Ross against an international web of corruption, is one of the most portentous tales of the 20th century.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good story if you're from the area
- By Jackie Disponette on 08-29-19
By: Sally Denton
-
The Tangled Web
- The Life and Death of Richard Cain—Chicago Cop and Mafia Hitman
- By: Michael Cain
- Narrated by: Clinton Wade
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 180
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 180
The Tangled Web tells the dramatic story of detective Richard Cain's criminal career as revealed by his half-brother, Michael. Cain led a double-life—one as a well-known cop who led raids that landed on the front pages, and the other as a "made man" in one of Chicago's most notorious mob families.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Reviews
- By G. D. Hoppe on 11-19-20
By: Michael Cain
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A Brotherhood Betrayed
- The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc.
- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Gary Galone
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
In the fall of 1941, a momentous trial was set to begin that threatened to end the careers and lives of New York’s most brutal mob kingpins. The lead witness, Abe Reles, had been a trusted executioner for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of a coast-to-coast mob network known as the Syndicate. But the man responsible for coolly silencing hundreds of informants was about to become the most talkative snitch of all. In exchange for police protection, Reles was prepared to rat out his murderous friends, from Albert Anastasia to Bugsy Siegel....
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4 out of 5 stars
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History from the bottom up
- By Mark on 12-12-21
By: Michael Cannell
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The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
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The Quiet Don
- The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 172
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 172
Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Important But Edited By Lawyers?
- By Ted on 04-03-14
By: Matt Birkbeck
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Gangsters of Harlem
- The Gritty Underworld of New York City's Most Famous Neighborhood
- By: Ron Chepesiuk
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
Author Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem.
African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In the late 1800s, Harlem became a highly fashionable neighborhood.
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3 out of 5 stars
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weak --reader is terrible!
- By Meyer Rosenbloom on 10-18-13
By: Ron Chepesiuk
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Gotti's Rules
- The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 334
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 286
The notorious Gotti family is the stuff of mob legend. The "Dapper Don", John Gotti Sr., and his son John A. "Junior" Gotti ran New York's powerful Gambino crime family and were well known for their flamboyant style and brutal ways, an image perpetuated in popular Mafia mythology. John Alite, a mob hit man, associate, and close friend of the Gottis, has a very different story to tell.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Garbage read
- By Ray on 09-02-15
By: George Anastasia
-
Our Little Secret
- The True Story of a Teenage Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town
- By: Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie
- Narrated by: Aven Shore
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
For 20 years Daniel Paquette's murder in New Hampshire went unsolved. It remained a secret between two high school friends until Eric Windhurst's arrest in 2005. What was revealed was a crime born of adolescent passion between Eric and Daniel's stepdaughter, Melanie - redefining the meaning of loyalty, justice, and revenge.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
A
- By Diana Hart 33 on 04-28-21
By: Kevin Flynn, and others
-
Mafia Summit
- J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob
- By: Gil Reavill
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 291
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 247
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 246
In a small village in New York, mob bosses from all over the country - Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Cuba boss Santo Trafficante, Jr., and Paul Castellano - were nabbed by Sergeant Edgar D. Croswell as they gathered to sort out a bloody war of succession. For years FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had adamantly denied the existence of the Mafia, but Robert Kennedy immediately recognized the shattering importance of the Apalachin summit....
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Something I Didn't Know
- By Kevin on 03-29-13
By: Gil Reavill
-
Operation Family Secrets
- How a Mobster's Son and the FBI Brought Down Chicago's Murderous Crime Family
- By: Frank Calabrese Jr., Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman, and others
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
The Calabrese family of Chicago is a close-knit, middle-class, multi-generational Italian-Irish-American clan. They operate family businesses. They work day and night striving for the American Dream. All three sons forge a bond with their controlling father, Frank Sr., and their soft-spoken favorite uncle, Nick. As a boy, the oldest son, Frank Jr., realizes that his father and uncle are also "made" members of another close-knit family: the outfit.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Riveting Listen!
- By ahippieadventure on 02-06-13
By: Frank Calabrese Jr., and others
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The Deadly Don
- Vito Genovese, Mafia Boss
- By: Anthony M. DeStefano
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano presents the rise and fall of Vito Genovese in this first comprehensive biography of the legendary mafioso - from his childhood in Naples, Italy, and the beginnings of his bullet-ridden criminal career on lower Manhattan's mean streets, through his self-exile in the mid-1930s back to his homeland where he ran a black market operation under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and his return to New York where Genovese made a fortune as the head of an illegal narcotics empire.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Borderline fiction
- By Luke Murphy on 07-31-21
-
The Sixth Family
- The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto
- By: Lee Lamothe, Adrian Humphreys
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
On May 5, 1981, three rebellious members of New York's Bonanno crime family were gunned down in a Brooklyn social club. One of the gunmen was Vito Rizzuto, a man who would rise to the top of the underworld in Canada and then expand his reign across continents to become a global superboss. The Sixth Family, now revised and updated, reveals the hidden history of the rise of the Rizzuto clan, the alliances it forged around the world, and the bloody events that led to charges against Vito Rizzuto in the United States and Italy for racketeering and corruption.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The most boring book I ever read
- By D. G. on 01-15-20
By: Lee Lamothe, and others
-
Sonny
- The Last of the Old Time Mafia Bosses, John "Sonny" Franzese
- By: S.J. Peddie
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
John "Sonny" Franzese reportedly committed his first murder at the age of fourteen. As a "made man" for the Colombo crime family, he operated out of his Long Island home specializing in racketeering, fraud, and other illicit deeds he would deny to his dying day. His career in organized crime spanned over eight decades - and he was sentenced to fifty years in prison for robbery. This is the true story of an old-school Mafioso as it's never been told. Newsday reporter S. J. Peddie interviewed Franzese in prison and uncovered a lifetime of shocking secrets from the legend himself.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Absolute BS
- By Brianicole on 04-20-22
By: S.J. Peddie
-
The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
-
Blood and Honor
- Inside the Scarfo Mob - The Mafia's Most Violent Family
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Here is the critically acclaimed inside story, now in an expanded edition, about the rise and fall of Philadelphia's notorious Scarfo organization. Blunt and unsparing, it is a firsthand account of murder, money, and corruption told by wiseguy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi, whose testimony put Nicky Scarfo and many of his associates behind bars for the rest of their lives. In this updated edition of Blood and Honor, author George Anastasia picks up the story where he left off, filling us in on the fates of all the characters - major and minor - in recent years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
So So
- By The Timahawk on 05-05-21
By: George Anastasia
-
A Man of Honor
- The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno
- By: Joseph Bonanno
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 499
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 434
Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Joseph Bonanno found his future amid the whiskey-running, riotous streets of Prohibition America in 1924, when he illegally entered the United States to pursue his dreams. By the age of only 26, Bonanno became a don. He eventually took over the New York underworld, igniting the "Castellammarese War", one of the bloodiest Family battles ever to hit New York City.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must read
- By E. Orlando on 05-03-17
By: Joseph Bonanno
-
The Deadly Don
- Vito Genovese, Mafia Boss
- By: Anthony M. DeStefano
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano presents the rise and fall of Vito Genovese in this first comprehensive biography of the legendary mafioso - from his childhood in Naples, Italy, and the beginnings of his bullet-ridden criminal career on lower Manhattan's mean streets, through his self-exile in the mid-1930s back to his homeland where he ran a black market operation under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and his return to New York where Genovese made a fortune as the head of an illegal narcotics empire.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Borderline fiction
- By Luke Murphy on 07-31-21
-
The Sixth Family
- The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto
- By: Lee Lamothe, Adrian Humphreys
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
On May 5, 1981, three rebellious members of New York's Bonanno crime family were gunned down in a Brooklyn social club. One of the gunmen was Vito Rizzuto, a man who would rise to the top of the underworld in Canada and then expand his reign across continents to become a global superboss. The Sixth Family, now revised and updated, reveals the hidden history of the rise of the Rizzuto clan, the alliances it forged around the world, and the bloody events that led to charges against Vito Rizzuto in the United States and Italy for racketeering and corruption.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The most boring book I ever read
- By D. G. on 01-15-20
By: Lee Lamothe, and others
-
Sonny
- The Last of the Old Time Mafia Bosses, John "Sonny" Franzese
- By: S.J. Peddie
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
John "Sonny" Franzese reportedly committed his first murder at the age of fourteen. As a "made man" for the Colombo crime family, he operated out of his Long Island home specializing in racketeering, fraud, and other illicit deeds he would deny to his dying day. His career in organized crime spanned over eight decades - and he was sentenced to fifty years in prison for robbery. This is the true story of an old-school Mafioso as it's never been told. Newsday reporter S. J. Peddie interviewed Franzese in prison and uncovered a lifetime of shocking secrets from the legend himself.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Absolute BS
- By Brianicole on 04-20-22
By: S.J. Peddie
-
The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
-
Blood and Honor
- Inside the Scarfo Mob - The Mafia's Most Violent Family
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Here is the critically acclaimed inside story, now in an expanded edition, about the rise and fall of Philadelphia's notorious Scarfo organization. Blunt and unsparing, it is a firsthand account of murder, money, and corruption told by wiseguy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi, whose testimony put Nicky Scarfo and many of his associates behind bars for the rest of their lives. In this updated edition of Blood and Honor, author George Anastasia picks up the story where he left off, filling us in on the fates of all the characters - major and minor - in recent years.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
So So
- By The Timahawk on 05-05-21
By: George Anastasia
-
A Man of Honor
- The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno
- By: Joseph Bonanno
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 499
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 434
Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Joseph Bonanno found his future amid the whiskey-running, riotous streets of Prohibition America in 1924, when he illegally entered the United States to pursue his dreams. By the age of only 26, Bonanno became a don. He eventually took over the New York underworld, igniting the "Castellammarese War", one of the bloodiest Family battles ever to hit New York City.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must read
- By E. Orlando on 05-03-17
By: Joseph Bonanno
-
Double Cross
- The Explosive Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America
- By: Sam Giancana, Chuck Giancana, Tim Newark - foreword, and others
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 563
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 494
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 490
One of the most feared Chicago mobsters, Sam Giancana, clawed his way to the top of the Mafia hierarchy by starting as a hit man for Al Capone. He was known as one of the best vehicle escape artists, a tenacious business man, and a ruthless killer. He partied with major stars such as Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe and did business with agents ranging from the CIA to the Vatican to the shah of Iran. When politician Joe Kennedy gave Giancana the chance to use mob muscle to get his son John elected, Giancana jumped at the task.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Kennedy Assassination Solved
- By Darlene A. Geloso on 05-30-20
By: Sam Giancana, and others
-
The Sinatra Club
- My Life Inside the New York Mafia
- By: Sal Polisi, Steve Dougherty
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 443
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 391
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 390
The Mob was the biggest, richest business in America...until it was destroyed from within by drugs, greed, and the decline of its traditional crime family values. And by guys like Sal Polisi. As a member of New York's feared Colombo Family, Polisi ran the Sinatra Club, an illegal after-hours gambling den that was a magic kingdom of crime and a hangout for up-and-coming mobsters. But the nonstop thrills of Polisi's criminal glory days abruptly ended.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The gangster with a heart of gold...
- By Rodney on 03-03-18
By: Sal Polisi, and others
-
Gaspipe
- Confessions of a Mafia Boss
- By: Philip Carlo
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 509
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, the boss of New York's Lucchese crime family, was a Mafia superstar, responsible for more than 50 murders. Currently serving 13 life sentences at a federal prison in Colorado, Casso has given journalist and New York Times best-selling author Philip Carlo the most intimate, personal look into the world of La Cosa Nostra ever seen.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
The author fails the objectivity test
- By William on 11-29-08
By: Philip Carlo
-
Gotti's Boys
- The Mafia Crew That Killed for John Gotti
- By: Anthony M. DeStefano
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 212
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 180
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 180
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano takes you inside John Gotti's inner circle to reveal the dark hearts and violent deeds of the most remorseless and cold-blooded characters in organized crime. Men so vicious even the other mafia families were terrified of them. Meet Gotti's Boys....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Book
- By Arthur F. on 09-20-19
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The Quiet Don
- The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 195
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 172
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Story4 out of 5 stars 172
Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Important But Edited By Lawyers?
- By Ted on 04-03-14
By: Matt Birkbeck
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Top Hoodlum
- Frank Costello, Prime Minister of the Mafia
- By: Anthony M. DeStefano
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
Using newly released FBI files, eyewitness accounts, and family mementos, Top Hoodlum takes you inside the Mafia that Frank Costello helped build from the ground up, from small-time bootlegging and gambling to a nationwide racketeering empire. Sometimes shocking, sometimes amusing, and always riveting, these are the stories that have inspired American crime classics like The Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas, and The Sopranos. This is the man who made the Mafia such a powerful force in our nation's history. This is Top Hoodlum.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book!
- By Arthur F. on 07-13-18
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Chin
- The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante
- By: Larry McShane
- Narrated by: Paul Costanzo
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 263
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 221
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 218
Vincent "Chin" Gigante. He started out as a professional boxer - until he found his true calling as a ruthless contract killer. His doting mother's pet name for the boy evolved into his famous alias, "Chin", a nickname that struck fear throughout organized crime as he routinely ordered the murders of mobsters who violated the Mafia code. Vincent Gigante was hand-picked by Vito Genovese to run the Genovese Family when Vito was sent to prison. Chin raked in more than $100 million for the Genovese Family, all while evading federal investigators.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not as good as others
- By KM528 on 02-05-17
By: Larry McShane
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Cosa Nostra
- A History of the Sicilian Mafia
- By: John Dickie
- Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
Hailed in Italy as the best book ever written about the mafia in any language, Cosa Nostra is a fascinating, violent, and darkly comic account that takes us deep into the inner sanctum of this secret society. John Dickie uses startling new research to reveal the inner workings of this secret society with a murderous record. He explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges, and introduces us to the real-life characters that inspired the American imagination for generations, making the mafia an international, larger than life cultural phenomenon.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Lots of detail
- By B. Anderson on 11-18-24
By: John Dickie
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The Westies
- Inside New York's Irish Mob
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 813
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 702
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 702
It's men like Jimmy Coonan and Mickey Featherstone who gave Hell's Kitchen its name. In the mid-1970s, these two longtime friends take the reins of New York's Irish mob, using brute force to give it hitherto unthinkable power. Jimmy, a charismatic sociopath, is the leader. Mickey, whose memories of Vietnam torture him daily, is his enforcer. Together they make brutality their trademark, butchering bodies or hurling them out the window.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book
- By Julio on 06-28-18
By: T. J. English
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The Last Godfather
- The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino
- By: Simon Crittle
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Story4 out of 5 stars 99
As head of the Bonanno clan, Joey Massino was the last don, and ran his world with an iron hand - until he got hit with a murder rap, and turned on his own people. Here, for the first time, is his shocking true story - a glimpse inside the world of organized crime that we may never see again.
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1 out of 5 stars
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the 6th family
- By chris torkelson on 05-16-20
By: Simon Crittle
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Gangland New York
- The Places and Faces of Mob History
- By: Anthony M. DeStefano
- Narrated by: Gary Galone
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4 out of 5 stars 55
From the Bowery Boys and the Five Points Gang through the rise of the Jewish "Kosher Nostra" and the ascendance of the Italian Mafia, mobsters have played a major role in the city's history, lurking just around the corner or inside that nondescript building. Bill "the Butcher" Poole, Paul Kelly, Monk Eastman, "Lucky" Luciano, Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, Mickey Spillane, John Gotti - each held sway over New York neighborhoods that nurtured them and gave them power.
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5 out of 5 stars
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nicely detailed
- By Belinda Barnes on 09-04-15
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Boston Mob
- The Rise and Fall of the New England Mob and Its Most Notorious Killer
- By: Marc Songini
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
The New England Mafia was a hugely powerful organization that survived by using violence to ruthlessly crush anyone that threatened it, or its lucrative gambling, loansharking, bootlegging, and other enterprises. From information based on newly declassified documents and the use of underworld sources, Boston Mob spans the gutters and alleyways of East Boston, Providence, and Charlestown to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C., and Boston's Beacon Hill. Its players include governors and mayors, and the Mafia Commission of New York City.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining
- By joeyg1963 on 12-07-19
By: Marc Songini
What listeners say about King of the Godfathers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lennox Rodney
- 02-11-24
Crime doesn’t pay
Very interesting lives that these guys lived, under the gun. It’s like you’re doomed from the start when you get involved in these kinds of enterprises.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Eugene Favor
- 01-16-23
King of the Godfathers
I really liked this book about Joe Massino and the Bonannos, how can a mafia boss turn rat that’s crazy.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- G. Douglas Eddy
- 11-09-24
Very good
A very detailed account. Required close attention. Not a story but an expose worth hearing. A+
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tim
- 04-11-22
a great book
a great book about an interesting mobster. his story from the 70's through the ealy 2000's that touches on some very interesting events including the donny brasco case that spawned the jonny depp movie. the narrator did a very good job making it a good listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-26-22
Good Start, Bad Finish
It started out interesting but got really slow when the part about the trail started.
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