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Andrea Giovino breaks the Mafia’s code of silence and describes the life of a woman born and bred into the Family, and her inspirational escape. Her defiant struggle to break free of her family’s criminal legacy is by turns horrifying and heartbreaking.

As a child in Brooklyn, Giovino watched her brother become a hit man and helped her mother host card games for local mafiosos. As a sexy, street-smart woman, she earned a seat at nightclub tables next to John Gotti, and took an emotional and bloody ride through organized crime that no HBO series could match. At home, she fought to keep her children safe—keeping the guns out of reach, washing bloodstains out of her husband’s clothes—and maintain the household’s front as a model of American domesticity.

Murders, a DEA setup, and FBI wiretaps finally brought Giovino to the brink of prison. Defiantly, she chose to retain her identity, facing down threats against her life and courageously separating herself and her children from the world of organized crime. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I have such mixed emotions on this story
This book left me confused.It's really difficult to identify with Andrea. In spite of the fact that she's able to look back on her life within a community of crime and admit to her mistakes, there's a certain edge to her that teeters between likeable and detestable.That said, the book is good.It seems to be a genuine account of her life and struggles.For those interested in non-fiction accounts of mob life, this is an incredibly interesting read.In spite of any feelings I had about Andrea's choices, I continued to root for her throughout the book. It must have taken a lot of guts (which the author is in no short supply of), not to mention personal suffering to get this out on paper. My only real critique is that I would love to know how she spent the last ten years of her life away from organized crime. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Rather cliched for a writer of Prather's skills
This book disappointed me, and I'm surprised it garnered the strong reviews from other readers.Essentially, this story follows the rise and fall of a pimp, Tony Romero, as he tries to scale the pinnacles of the mob scene in 1950's San Francisco.

Unfortunately, Tony is an unappealing character to the reader and the people surrounding him are not any more appealing.In fact, Prather has drawn his characters with scarcely anything more than the minimum detail.I felt that if I started to look around the view he gave of any character, I would just find a cardboard cut out.

Well, sometimes that sort of fault can be disguised with a ripping plot line, or incredible amounts of local color.Sadly, The Peddler has neither.The San Fransisco he draws is monochromatic and the plots moves along almost reluctantly, at if it had to be poked and prodded.

There is better Prather to be found.Let's hope Hard Case Crime can get their hands on that.

Pulp fiction masterpiece.
Tony Romero is a punk.But as punks go he's an exceedingly ambitious one.In fact he's not all that different from the ill-fated Rocco of "Little Caesar" fame.Except this is 1950s San Francisco and Tony has his sights set on rising to the top of the city's highly lucrative prostitution racket.Hence the title "The Peddler" as in flesh peddler.

This very intriguing example of pulp fiction is notable for its exceptionally smooth narrative flow.Written in the third person using an almost conversational style of narration, "The Peddler" is a fast and compelling page turner of a novel featuring a title character who's both mesmerizing and full of contradictions.

As Tony ruthlessly orchestrates his meteoric ascent and then undergoes the inevitable fall from grace, the reader is deftly and quite willingly drawn in to the sordid netherworld of prostitutes, procurers, gangsters and corrupt cops.

Fans of pulp fiction owe a vote of thanks to Hard Case Crime for reprinting this thoroughly entertaining paperback.Highly recommended.

A Great Look at Frisco in the early '50's
This novel never stops moving, and there can't be many readers out there who managed to put it down for long.Additionally, it is quite a picture of life in Baghdad by the Bay circa 1950.This is not the North Beach, beatniks, black beret 1950's.This is the rough and tough independent town when the SFPD met LA mobsters at the airport and told 'em to go home.Apparently the little place was wild and wide open back then.Old timers - or those who just wish they were there - will remember many of the restaurants, hotels, and other local sites found in this book.

But don't buy this one just because it provides such a window on that long-lost time.This story stands on its own - it's a heck of a tale.

a look at the past --
Growing up in the 50s and 60s I practically inhaled the books of Richard S. Prather, Donald Hamilton, Erle Stanley Gardner, Stephen Marlowe, Leslie Charteris, Brett Halliday, Ed McBain and others of that ilk, whose names escape me now. I have to admit, however, that re-reading these `giants of the past' in the here-and-now is ever so much more fun! I understand them now! There were so many subtle undercurrents that went right over my head in my younger years. This was rather forcibly brought home to me by about page 25 or so of this new edition, recently published by Hard Case Crime.

It's also neat to see the original cover artists on many of these new books. In fact, I saw the cover of The Peddler by Robert McGinnis from across the room and recognized it immediately as a `Shell Scott' book, and made a bee-line for it. Of course, it wasn't really a Shell Scott book, but it WAS by his creator. Oh, happy day! I was not disappointed by this book, either. It not only tells a story, with wonderful writing, but has a moral to it, as well. The bad guys always got their come-uppance--which is just as it should be.

The Peddler was originally published in 1952--a simpler time in many ways. Some of the surroundings may have changed in the 50+ years since then, but people haven't. They're still good and bad, greedy and giving, open and closed. Tony Romero is a youngish punk who wants to be a bigger punk. He'll ruthlessly climb over anyone who gets in his path on his way to achieving his goals. Makes no difference if it's his long-time girl friend Maria or one of the guys who gave him a boost up the ladder in the first place. Self-confidence can be a good thing, as long as you don't really believe everything your mind creates.

Spend a few dollars and a few hours with one of these `classics'. You won't regret it.

Hard Case Crime
I am working my way through the Hard Case Crime series which I have found almost with out fail to be excellent.The Peddler is in the same class as others I have read with the spare, tough dialogue and even tougher characters.The twists and turns along the way keep the story moving swiftly while the story never seems cliched or over the top.Another winner for Hard Case Crime. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

The Birth of Italian Organized Crime
This book is an overview of the history of organized crime in the Italian community and gives the reader a good overview of the development of and the major players in the Mafia.While in parts it can seem like an endless list of names and crimes it does a good job of tracking the different illegal enterprises.As it turns out organized crime was not as organized as hollywood and the press would have you believe and there was qhite a bit of regional variation in what ventures were undertaken and how free the mob was to do what it pleased.Not surprisingly in most places where the Italian American community was not the dominant white ethnic group it had to work with crooked politicians, police and even other ethnic games especially the Irish and Jews. Overall this is a good overview of the Mob and for the most part does a good job of giving an account of the Mob lifestyle without glorifying it.

Good Italian Mob History Book
I had to read this for a college class I took called The History of Urban Crime..This is a good book to get the general overview about the Italian Mafia...Black Hand gang was kind of a form of terrorism back then...."He is a friend of ours"...Hhehehehe....I like cover picture also...There are better, more thorough mob history books out there..But this would be a good one to start with ... Read more

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The term “global organized crime” is often used to refer to worldwide illegitimate activities of criminal groups and networks and is associated with the so-called “globalization process”. Although it can not be denied that due to economic, technological, political and cultural developments, borders have disappeared or changed, markets have extended, mobility and communication facilities have improved, it would be a major fallacy to study organized crime and its containment solely from a global perspective. The central premise of this book is that we need more in-depth, empirically funded, knowledge on organized crime in specific situational contexts, rather than trying to predict how organized crime might develop throughout the world.

The fifteen contributions in the book deal with various aspects of organized crime (drugs, diamonds, human trafficking, eco-crime, conflict resolution, underground banking, crime facilitators) in various parts of the world (Sicily, Sinai, the US, Quebec, Amsterdam, Antwerp, tropical rain forests in Africa and Asia and so on). Distinguished scholars pay attention to historical and contemporary manifestations of organized crime, the symbiotic relationship between legitimate and illegitimate activities, and innovative, dual strategies that have been developed to contain and prevent these serious forms of crime. They explore different theoretical arguments from the perspective of their own disciplines, which include sociology, criminology, political science and anthropology.

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When the newly elected president John F. Kennedy appointed his younger brother attorney general, there was a firestorm of criticism. Not only was the nepotism blatant, but Robert Kennedy had never tried a case in court and was considered ruthless, highly politicized and intemperate. Nevertheless, he went on to become one of the most active and effective attorneys general in American history. This book examines his four-year tenure and the concerted war on crime he launched during that time. Written by one of the bright young lawyers he recruited to work as part of the special rackets prosecution team, Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes is an insider’s view of one of the Kennedy administration’s most exciting and largely untold stories. In this account of the historic battle between law breakers and law enforcers, Goldfarb shows that these cases had a profound impact on public consciousness that the mob’s leaders, even if they did not directly cause the murder of John F. Kennedy, might well have been tried and convicted of conspiring to do so, since they had both the means and motive, took steps toward that end, and left an abundance of incriminating evidence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Insightful History!
Ron Goldfarb's "Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes" is an insightful analysis of the RFK led Attorney General office investigation of the mob.Part memoir and part history, you feel like you are part of the action when you read this interesting book.

Disappointing
Overall, too much emphasis on Goldfarb, and not enough on Kennedy.The description of his work in Newport is somewhat dull.However, his thoughts at the end about the JFK assassination connection with organized crime are interesting. ... Read more

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"Today's hearing might sound like an episode of The Sopranos, but it is not HBO.It is real.We are going to hear the true stories about people getting bilked out of their hard-earned money by the Mob.I know from my own experience as a special agent in the FBI that the Mob will go wherever a dollar is being made.Today that is Wall Street.So it is really not surprising that organized crime is trying to suck some of the life out of the blossoming securities markets.The M-O-B has gone back to school and gotten an MBA.The wiseguys are getting smart.They used to play ponies.Now they are playing the markets and investors for everything they are worth. When I was in the FBI investigating the organized crime in Boston, the Mob was in shipping, racketeering, garbage, loan sharking and good old-fashioned shakedowns.Now they are moving from the old economy to the new, but using the same old tactics of intimidation, extortion and manipulation."--- Congressman Michael G. Oxley ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (77)

Great Book, couldn't put it down. Unbelievably Brutal and Graphic in it's depiction.
Great Book, couldn't put it down. Unbelievably Brutal and Graphic in it's depiction. The title and a brief read caught my eye in the store. I couldn't put the book down. I know try to not buy things from Italy. And it's ALL TRUE. Or so the Author claims. UNBELIEVABLE.

Powerful, devastating
Admittedly, it's hard to add anything new to the heaps of praise this book has already received.But I feel that every voice raised, every bravo spoken, every gesture of support extended, will somehow help Roberto Saviano as he sits in what has become the cage of his life.

Saviano is a hero, and this devastating book is a cri de coeur.

Although he doesn't stint in describing the savagery of the Camorra, and the book is filled with specific details -- names, dates, places, numbers -- Saviano's writing is at times florid, poetic, even metaphysical.I love this style and think it renders his exposé all the more powerful, but I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea.Some readers will prefer a more nitty-gritty, "just the facts, ma'am" brand of storytelling.

Regardless, you cannot come away from this book and look at Italy, or indeed the rest of the world, in quite the same way again.The acknowledgment of that transformative power seems to me the highest praise one can give.

One of the best books I've ever read
Saviano has opened up the southern Italian organized crime system for all of us to see.He should be considered a national hero to all Italians and I understand that he is.I could not put this book down once I started reading it and thankfully it has been translated into English in a beautiful way.I found that I had to frequently remind myself that this is a non-fiction book because the vastness and depth of the horrors that Saviano describes are unreal.My favorite line in this book:"I know and I can prove it."I completely recommend that you read this book: "Gomorrah" by Roberto Saviano. It will blow your mind, I promise you.

Saviano has just last week released a second book.I look forward to finding it in English language soon.

Rage Spilled on Paper
This book is very disconnected.The prose is all over the place in describing the Camorra crime syndicate around Naples. But it is very powerful.It seems that Saviano wrote it in rage and he had all of it bottled up inside of him and he just let go on the printed page.You may want to get yourself a little familiarized with the roots of Camorra before you dive into the book.But once you dive in, you get sucked into an abyss of an underground world that has its tentacles reaching the legitimate business world touching millions of lives, not only in Italy but also in all of Europe.I definitely recommend it but only after reading a little background on the Camorra.

Chilling and hard to put down
There are times that Robert Saviano's debut can be a bit slow at times with his knack for details, but what else could you expect from an investigative journalist? The majority of the book is gritty and gripping. Completely discounting the glamorized image created in beloved films such as Godfather and Goodfellas,Saviano aims to show the world the truly reprehensible nature of the Mafia in Southern Italy. Beyond the sickeningly gruesome methods of torture and assassination towards anyone and everyone who dares declare dissent, as a reader, you will be astounded as to just how extensive the Camorra's power is in the economic realm of not only Southern Italy, but all of Europe. The Camorra control the counterfeit industry, the cement and building industry in Italy, and the toxic waste management industry. The Camorra is relentless in its pursuits-- anyone who gets in the way of their livelihoods is mowed over and made unrecognizable. Do not expect any emotional or sentimental passages from Saviano either; this book is his ultimate revenge. He gets straight to the point. You sense that he is bitter to the point that he is numb-- you read descriptions of kids killed violently, but you imagine Saviano has seen this all too often. What makes this book leave such an indelible mark is that all the accounts and stories are true. Saviano had the courage to publish a book that tells it as it is. Excellent read, but be warned, you'll be left with some startling and disturbing knowledge afterwards. ... Read more

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Transnational crime is an increasing national security threat to the United States and to individual citizens around the world. Criminal groups both in the U.S. and abroad operate crime cartels that span national boundaries, but in ways that affect all Americans, and wreak havoc on law enforcement organizations as well as businesses and other entities, such as the stock market. More often than not, transnational crime takes the form of organized crime, and in its many forms is responsible for over-priced goods, unsafe products, environmental hazards, corruption of public officials, the exploitation of women and children, tax evasion, theft and piracy, identity theft, fraud, drug trafficking, and black market trading in armaments and weapons of mass destruction, among other scandals and forms of misconduct. Because perpetrators often act in collusion with legitimate organizations and other powerful elites, who either cooperate knowingly or unknowingly or are coerced through violence, dealing with the problem is especially difficult. Here, Liddick describes the many groups responsible for transnational crimes, and the nature and scale of their various enterprises. The result is a powerful testament to the globalization of criminal organizations and their danger to American society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Global Underworld: A Good Primer
The Global Underworld serves as a good introduction to the problem of transnational crime as it relates to the U.S.It lacks depth, however - it glosses over many topics, and relies primarily on secondary sources.If you are not a sociologist of deviance/criminologist, are not a U.S. citizen or resident, or are an undergraduate student, you'll probably find this book helpful.The book is easy enough to read, but not particularly exciting - it's an OK way to get your feet wet, but that's about it.

The Global Underworld : Transnational Crime and the United States
very informative and also claryfing ... Read more

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Ruthless, cruel and irresistibly cool, the Mafia has always captured the darker side of the imagination. But just what is the Mafia, how does it operate, and what can be done to combat it? In this dramatic and informative book, James Finckenauer debunks the Mafia mystique and explores the sinister reality lurking beneath the romanticised surface.Demonstrating that organized crime is a multi-faceted and complex phenomenon, he argues that it destabilises society on a global scale, perpetuating untold economic, physical, psychological, and societal damage through its control of criminal markets, violence and corruption. Providing vital insight into a hidden world, and exploring the hype surrounding the topic, Mafia and Organized Crime: A Beginner's Guide is indispensable for anyone intrigued by, or concerned about, this widely misunderstood phenomenon. ... Read more

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When sexy and street-smart Andrea Giovino married a mob drug runner, hers became the task of keeping her children safe—keeping the guns out of reach, washing bloodstains out of her husband’s clothes—and maintaining the household’s front as a model of domesticity in her quietly luxurious Staten Island neighborhood of doctors and lawyers.

A murder, a DEA set-up, and FBI wiretaps finally brought Giovino, her husband, and her brother to the brink of prison. Defiantly, Giovino chose to retain her identity, facing down threats against her life and courageously divorcing herself from organized crime.

Now a model working parent, Giovino has penned Divorced from the Mob as an inspirational tale for all women, a perspective of mob life largely unexplored by film and literature, and a headline-grabbing exposé of organized crime told in a voice readers will never forget. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Don't waste your money on feeling sorry for Andrea!
From the first to the last page Andrea Giovini expects us to feel sorry for her as she excuses her life of crime.So she grew up poor in Brooklyn, as if she was the only one!She never worked at a proper job as it was easier to go for big tips in illegal gambling clubs and take up with men who flashed a large wad of cash.From her account of showing off in front of John Gotti by beating up a couple of call girls, one has the impression that she would have gone running to him had he so much as crooked his little finger, and considered that she had moved up in the world.After living on illegal earnings, loan sharking and putting up money for drug deals, of which she was well aware, she then cooperated with the DEA to save her own skin, claiming that she had to consider her children.Well she sure didn't consider them when she was rolling in ill-gotten blood money.

It is completely beyond this woman's comprehension that the way in which she earned her money was destroying so many lives and so many families, whether it was gambling or drugs.She shrugs it off with the attitude: "If they wanted to take drugs, so what!Not my problem".She even recounts her family getting together in the kitchen to plan the murder of someone who was getting to be a problem.Their code was kill or be killed. She now claims to be a working mother, although she never says what she does, and the children must be adults by now.

The fact that this woman avoided jail time, despite her conspiracy and full awareness of the crimes, with hands steeped in blood to the elbows, is all the more frightening when you wonder who else is out there living comfortably in a quiet community in reward for testifying against their former partners.The recent episode in Palm Coast, Florida, where a former hit man with many murders to his discredit was running a pizza restaurant courtesy of the witness protection program, and was exposed after attacking a customer and pulling a gun on him, should concern us all. Now the woman wants us to support her by buying her book.Sorry lady, I work too hard for my money.

By far the most interesting part of the book is the detailed description of the organization and how the massive earnings are divided up, who gets what, what the product is bought and sold for, and who gets paid off on the way, and who pays tribute to whom, but this has already been spelled out in investigative reporting and most gangster movies.

Apart from the rather pretentious ghost writing, there are a number of errors both typographical and chronological. Dates are very fuzzy, especially as there was no disclaimer that names and dates had been changed to protect the some identities.She refers to her mother and father dying shortly after July 1991, but by mid 1992 after her arrest, her mother had apparently returned from the dead and was down at the police station raising merry hell.The book should have been carefully proofed.Don't waste your money on feeling sorry for Andrea!

Entertaining and thought provoking book
This book definitely wasn't what I expected, and I had no idea that I would stay up all night reading it, because I didn't want to put it down.Andrea Giovani's true-life story is less about the mob and more about a woman and her life, the bad choices she made, really based on what she knew, and the way she'd been raised by a mother who emphasized questionable values in her children.

I feel like I learned something about my own life from reading Giovani's life story.At some points in the book, I was saying the lines before I read them.This is a great book for women to read, and I highly recommend it.I identified with Andrea Giovani in ways that I'd never expected I would.

No mea culpa here.
The book is well written.The story is familar in terms of mobster literature.Its a pretty good read.She leaves me cold.She divorced said mob and turned her life around when she had no other choices. Maybe that was the best she could do given the particulars of her life, but something is too off putting for me to be able to sympathise.
And turned her life around to what?We arn't give any particulars of her new "independent" life.For safety's sake? Who knows" Ultimatly, who cares?

Poor Editing
I found this biography fascinating (in the vein of "The Glass Castle"), but there were too many typos - at least in the edition I read. These mistakes (often 1 or more to a page) were disconcerting and inexcusable, in my opinion, since the book was co-written. You'd figure one of the two writers would have found the other's errors. I have to give Andrea credit, though, given her childhood, she's truly a survivor. Her story makes me wonder what might have been had she experienced an ordinary or a privileged upbringing.

No Accountability
I'm still waiting for the other part of the title to materialize.That is, when did she become an independent woman?She leeched from man to man and then to the Witness Protection Program.She even needed a man to help her write the book.

She might talk the talk but she did not walk the walk.Even when her world is falling apart (again), she first thinks of who is going to care for her first before she thinks of putting food on the table for her kids.Me, me, me, me, me.

One got the feeling she was only sorry she got caught.If she had never been caught, she'd still be mooching off the organized crime system.

If she had to do it all over again, you know she'd do it again in a heartbeat. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

A good overview, but lacking detail
Dirty Dealing reads more like a 2-day introductory seminar on money laundering.It covers the basics.I was looking for more detailed information regarding the machinations of multi-jurisdictional offshore structures related specifically to viaticals.Didn't find that here.

Useful introduction but needs more work
Money laundering is the engine behind the ever expanding scourge of global organised crime. After reading this book one has an appreciation of the magnitude of the problem and a basic understanding of the mechanics behind laundering. Money laundering is conceptually fairly simple. As Lilley confirms there have been developed no truly new vehicles for money laundering since the early days when criminals washed their proceeds by mingling them with clean money from businesses with high cash turnovers such as launderettes. The internalisation of the business environment, the proliferation of sophisticated financial instruments, the speed of new technology (fax, the internet), and the removal of (intra-EU) border controls are factors that contribute to the widening repertoire of launderers, going beyond banks to include the global world of business. Despite this surface complexity it appears that schemes remain variations on a few basic old themes. These methods encompass surprisingly simple mechanisms as hard cash deliveries and invoices for fictitious consultancy services to complex multi-jurisdictional offshore structures. Anonimity (of false identity) is the pivotal element in all. Complicity of high-level officials and decision-makers and lax oversight procedures from financial institutions help tremendously in lowering the transaction costs for criminals (and increasing them for law enforcement). Reining in money laundering is - given the geographical scope of the dealings, the seamless meshing with the legal economy, the superficial diversity of schemes, and the enormous volumes of cash involved - a significant challenge. It relies to a large extent on a "soft" approach, sensitising banks, businesses and their employees to take personal responsibility in reporting suspicious transactions. Opportunism and greed make this very hard to do.

Lilley's book reads like a kind of consultancy report, suitable for quick access to the facts (insofar as known) but it is not a great literary treasure. Sometimes it looks more like a dressed-up powerpoint presentation, with lists of bullet points to summarise key facts. There's a fair amount of repetition as well. I guess the book could be quite easily condensed to two thirds of its present volume. Surprisingly, Lilley discusses some of the better known laundering setups - such as the black market peso exchange system, or the Bank of New York case - very summarily. A book such as Nick Kochan's The Washing Machine does a better job here.

Common to much of the laundering literature is the paradoxical feeling that, although laundering is conceptually simple (despite the occasional technical complexity), it remains hard to grasp exactly how the washing ties into the criminals' business models. For example, why exactly are "International Business Corporations" the key laundering vehicles for drug traffickers? What other instruments to they use? What other criminal entrepreneurs make use of IBCs? A simple typology of laundering mechanisms - derived from a few basic operational principles and linked into logic of various type(s) of illicit business - could be of great help here. Maybe the authors are hard to fault as the details of these setups are probably not even known or privy to criminal investigators. The suggestion to draw up a clear typology may also run counter to Lilley's assertion that "laundering is just as likely to be a self-perpetuating cycle or continuum as opposed to a clearly definable process with a discernible beginning and conclusion." Despite this assertion it seems still a good idea to systematise the book's ideas in a few clear conceptual frameworks.

Lilley's book is useful as a broad, general survey of laundering (and terrorist financing, which is of a different nature), but one will have to read further afield to get a better understanding for how laundering and trafficking mesh in creating viable, criminal business models. I'd give the book 3,5 stars.

Strongly recommended reading for students of economics, criminology, and global terrorism
The fully revised and updated third edition of Dirty Dealing: The Untold Truth About Global Money Laundering, International Crime And Terrorism by global crime expert Peter Lilly is an informed and informative study of international corruption and crime as resulting in over two trillion US dollars being siphoned for illegal purposes every year. Introducing readers to a methodical and documented account based upon expertly researched information and analysis, Dirty Dealing provides a progressive basis for comprehending the global funding of international terrorism, major national and international organized criminal groups, the impact of the internet and "cyber laundering", and international anti-money laundering strategies for all types of corporate and multinational businesses. A seminal work of considerable scholarship and insight, Dirty Dealing is very strongly recommended reading for students of economics, criminology, and global terrorism.

Highly Recommended!
The subtitle of this book promises the "untold story" of dirty international financial dealings. That's not quite what it delivers, because the book compiles already-published accounts, public reports and Congressional testimony, and adds to them. Given that money laundering involves drug dealers, terrorists and slavers, the book has some titillating asides about sex, violence and filthy money. Author Peter Lilley explains precisely how money laundering works, including an introduction to the practices and techniques that have proven most successful. While praising the author's reportorial depth, we note one dilemma that emerges from such thoroughness: we hope this book doesn't fall into the hands of someone who wishes to take up money laundering but is unsure how to proceed. Business people who want to avoid being victimized should take particular note of the chapter discussing well-known checks-and-balances, controls and best practices. ... Read more

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This book contains a collection of essays in honor of Alan A. Block including his now classic study on the origins of IRAN-CONTRA. It brings together important contributions from Block's students and contemporaries to show the impact of his work on the field of global organized crime. Professor Alan A. Block of Penn State University has proven to be one of the most inspiring criminologists in the field.

Customer Reviews (1)

Dr. Block rules!
I had Alan Block at Penn State as well as traveled abroad with him to the Netherlands and to say the least he changed my thoughts on corprate nature and people in general. Alan and his awesome wife Connie make the best team and his investigations are as much life experiences as research. He deserves to be honored and will always hold a special place in my heart. ... Read more

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amazing
Wow, what a read. this guy was totaly honest and upfront about his life as a rouge cop and mob affilate. It was the life of obsession. a man thatwas spirling out of control for money and living on the edge. Someone should make a movie out of this book. The shear pace of it left me breathless. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

What Does Gerald Posner Think 13 Years Later?
The superb and meticulously honest journalist Gerald Posner wrote the "Warlords of Crime" back in 1988. The project took place during a more naive era when many including myself thought the drug war might be winnable. Posner takes us on a journey to learn about the drug warlords of Chinese heritage. These ruthless outlaws carry out their nefarious activities throughout the world. They have no hesitation in either bribing or murdering their fellow human beings. Life is looked upon as an inexpensive commodity in a culture that traditionally values the collective over the individual. Most are members of criminal organizations going back hundreds of years. A warped sense of family values underpin their organizational structure. Enduring long prison sentence for the sake of the clan is regarded as a proud duty. Delayed gratification and self discipline are virtues taken for granted. Mere physical courage alone is not deemed sufficient for advancement. Superb management skills and patience are instead mandatorily required for those hoping to be promoted to the top echelons of leadership.

Posner finds that some of the police officers who have sold out to the warlords often have the best arrest records. It turns out that the warlords do everything to help their partners in law enforcement to publicly look good as possible. Even allowing some of their less esteemed comrades to be arrested is accepted as a price to be willingly paid. The risks are high and rewards mostly nonexistent for lawmen poorly paid and commonly despised. The Oriental culture often does not perceive policemen as professionals deserving of honor. On the contrary, only the so called economic losers usually apply for police training. Needless to add, many of those choosing this line of work do so for corrupt reasons. It should be added that policemen at the turn of the twentieth century in the United States were also thought to be jerks and too lazy to do anything else. Warm respect for police officers is far more prevalent in countries actively encouraging political and cultural equality of the masses. Unfortunately, just like governments in Central and South America desperately trying to evolve towards democratic stability, the Asian nations have the added burden of drug money threatening their fragile political institutions.

I have enormous respect for Gerald Posner. Nonetheless, I am compelled to confront him with an awkward and disturbing question. In this book, Posner refers to the routine torture practiced upon suspected Asian drug lawbreakers in their respective homelands. Posner does not condone such police behavior, but neither does he condemn it. One distinctly gets the impression that Posner at least subconsciously accepts this as a price that must be grudgingly accepted if we are to win the war on drugs. What does Posner believe about our current efforts to defeat the drug barons? Should we, as I strongly advocate, host the white flag of surrender? Posner thinks the legalization of drugs would likely entice some people to experiment with drugs that might otherwise continue to shun such self destructive behavior. I have no reason to disagree with Posner on this point. That is indeed what occurred when the USA ended its national prohibition of alcohol. Almost certainly this phenomenon will be repeated if we also legalize drugs. Nonetheless, do we not have larger concerns demanding our attention? Should we continue to jeopardize the civil liberties and safety of all citizens to protect the few who may be seduced into a life of low self esteem and existential wastefulness? Illicit drugs are ridiculously low in price and virtually available in most areas of the United States. Have I perhaps overlooked a more recent appraisal of the drug war by Gerald Posner? Has he thoroughly thought about this matter since 1988? If not, it's time for the author to revisit the issues surrounding the "Warlords of Crime." ... Read more

Product Description

While the later history of the New York Mafia has received extensive attention, what has been conspicuously absent until now is an accurate and conversant review of the formative years of Mafia organizational growth. David Critchley examines the Mafia recruitment process, relations with Mafias in Sicily, the role of non-Sicilians in New York’s organized crime Families, kinship connections, the Black Hand, the impact of Prohibition, and allegations that a "new" Mafia was created in 1931. This book will interest Historians, Criminologists, and anyone fascinated by the American Mafia.

Customer Reviews (19)

The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931
Meticulously documented survey, with the authors synthesis.Challenges previous interpretations.Of great value to those interested in this history.

New York City Mafia History Writ Large
A fascinating, complex, in-depth investigation of the origins of Italian-American organized crime in New York. This book will surely stand as the most comprehensive analysis of a period in American criminology that has long been neglected by historians of the subject, at least on a scale as exhaustive and far-reaching as this work.

Critchley's ten years of painstaking research has brought us nearer to understanding the strange and tortuous links that make up the chain connecting Italian immigration through their Diaspora west to America and the phenomena that is collectively known today as the Mafia.

Tracing its origins from the street gangs of New York led by hoodlums like Paolo Vaccarelli, through the oppressive machinations of Black Hand groups into the counterfeiting gang of Giuseppe Morello, described as the very first 'Boss of Bosses,' the book leads us through a veritable minefield of Italian names, genealogical relationships, inter-marriage connections, murders, assassination attempts and more skulduggery than anything Dan Brown or Robert Ludlam could have hoped to create in their wildest dreams.

Taking us year by year, and gang by gang, the author painstakingly recreates through his masterful research, the way in which Sicilian, and later Neapolitan and Calabria `men of honour' left their homelands and settled into a new life of law-breaking in the biggest city in America. From these early beginnings, emerged the five Mafia crime families that have dominated the city's underworld since the early 1930s.

David Critchley is to be congratulated on creating what will surely be the benchmark for any future investigative writing on this subject. I sincerely hope he continues his research into the criminal world and shares it with the rest of us.

Critchley's masterpiece
David Critchley's text represents a rare combination of social scientific precision and lively narrative. His work is both factual and entertaining.

There are a number a significant contributions to the study of crime in the text including:

*Critchley disentangles previous writers' attempts at conflating the "Black Hand" with the Mafia.

*The author deconstructs the notion that Luciano transformed the Mafia into a completely cosmopolitan syndicate. In other words, despite Luciano's open-mindedness, the Mafia retained a number of Sicilian traditions.

*Critchely uncovers a number of previously unknown connections between the Sicilian Mafia in New York and the Detroit underworld.

Critchley's new book is an outstanding contribution to the history of organized crime. Scholars will find the text to be an indispensable source for their own research.

Origin of Organized Crime in America
David Critchley challenges many of the common beliefs and assumptions about
the American Mafia in this excellent book.For those readers who are interested in an academic approach to organized crime, The Origin of Organized Crime in America presents many controversial arguments and theories - all backed by critical analysis and, wherever possible, primary sources.Every chapter is heavily referenced with nearly a quarter of the book taken up with citations.A central unifying theme of law enforcement authorities exaggerating the power and influence of Italian racketeers is found in nearly every chapter as Critchley argues persuasively against many popular conceptions of the Mafia.
The content of the book is amazing.There is no other book that critically evaluates the myths and fables of the Italian Mafia in America.Critchley has delved deeply into many cherished beliefs such as the Black Hand serving as a nursery for the post-Prohibition crime families; the Purge; the Americanization of the Italian Mafia; and even the wealth of the great bosses.He has gone beyond these topics to find connections between obscure hoodlums and major crime figures.His genealogical studies have shown patterns in the composition of crime families that have frequently been overlooked or assumed without concrete evidence.
The organization is unusually for a scholarly work.The chapter arrangement is basically chronological; but each chapter is broken up into small sections that analyze minute aspects of a certain topic such as Counterfeiting ca. 1900s; Salvatore D'Aquila; and Organization of (Italian gangster) bootlegging.Most chapters include a brief historiography section; but this is just an overview.Critchley addresses previous studies as they directly pertain to the sub-sections of each chapter.
Wherever he can, he uses primary sources including first hand narratives, law enforcement documents, and other materials such as city directories.Much of the later chapters rely heavily on three narratives: Joe Bonanno, Nicolo Gentile, and Joe Valachi.All three men had their own agendas and left out certain aspects that were embarrassing to them.Several robust studies have raised doubts about the authenticity of Valachi's narrative.Critchley addresses these studies and rebuffs some of their key criticisms.However, the result is that some of the later chapters appear almost as a defense of Valachi.The fact remains that this is one of the best books written about Italian organized crime in New York.It provides valuable analysis, models, and sources for amateurs, students, and experts.

Superbly researched, reliable history
It's been a long time since I came across a book so doggedly and so originally researched. David Critchley has taken a subject that has long been sorely in need of rescuing from the massed attentions of true crime buffsand hack writers, and restored it pretty much single-handedly to academic respectability. The Origins of Organized Crime is the product of at least a decade of work in dozens of obscure archives, and the result of the painstaking cross-referencing ofmany thousands of fragments of information, from obscure Mafia memoirs in the original Italian to dry data painstakingly extracted from birth, death and naturalisation certificates. The completed jigsaw puzzle isthe first truly reliable history of a notoriously unreliable subject - the birth and early development of Sicilian organised crime in the United States - and though Dr Critchley would no doubt be the first to admit that it is still missing many important pieces, it's also as close as we can now get to a proper understanding of what went on in America's Sicilian underworld in its first decades.

I say 'American' deliberately. The author has taken a single city - New York - and for much of the book focusses on a single family, the Morellos, but his book is far richer than that bald summary suggests. It touches on the early criminal history of several dozen other cities and the doings of many hundreds of other criminals, all meticulously referenced in nearly 80 pages of notes and all told in a sober tone. There is comparatively little narrative, and the book occasionally shifts a little abruptly from one topic to the next, but this is a minor criticism that should do nothing to undermine Crithley's achievement. What he gives us is nine clearly laid-out chapters that clearly state what is known or can be sensibly deduced from a most fragmentary record.

Speculation, where it occurs, is clearly labelled as such, but for the most part the author sticks firmly to such facts as can be established. In doing so, he takes a far deeper look at the early history of the Mafia than any of his predecessors. Most other books on this topic chronicle little but endless streams of murders, and do little or nothing to place even these events in context or explain their wider meaning or implications. This book, in stark contrast, is the sort that explores the inter-relationship between shareholders in lathing companies, and it's all the better for it.

Dr Critchley opens his book with the arrival of the earliest documented Mafiosi in New York and ends it with a look at how the fraternity emerged in more or less its famous form during the 1930s. Along the way he sets to rest any number of potent, well-established myths. Did the Mafia and the Camorra fight a 28-year battle for supremacy in New York, as David Chandler supposed? Critchley establishes that the conflict lasted for about five months, with at most half-a-dozen casualties. Was the infamous Castellammare War of 1930-31 really responsible for the extermination of an older generation of 'Mustache Petes' by Young Turks set upon the Americanisation of the Mafia? Hardly at all, as it turns out.And did Mafiosi really earn millions from organised crime? The author has scoured surviving probate records to find out.

The early Mafia that emerges from the pages of this book is neither the benevolent protector of vulnerable immigrants so disgracefully portrayed in the Godfather movies, nor the many-headed hydra of established myth. It is, instead, a group of murderous but frequently incompetent small-time crooks. Their world was one in which life really was nasty, brutish and short, in which bosses were at most only one step removed from the footsoldiers on the streets, and in which everybodystruggled to make much more than a basic living.

The Origins of Organized Crime is, as you'd expect, supplied with full scholarly apparatus and it is also richly illustrated, more often than not with photos that have never before appeared in print. Yes, it's pretty expensive - scholarly books of this sort usually are. But if you're serious about this subject, it's a book you simply cannot afford to be without.

Oh, and if the the test of a good historian is his originality, it's a test that Dr Critchley passes with flying colours. ... Read more

Product Description

Written as a text for undergraduate courses, this book appeals to instructors interested in teaching the field of white-collar crime, both from a matter-of-fact investigative perspective as well as a decidedly academic endeavor. Accordingly, it goes beyond discussing the basic theories and typologies of commonly-encountered offenses such as fraud, forgery, embezzlement, and currency counterfeiting, to include the legalistic aspects of white-collar crime. It also explores the investigative tools and analytical techniques needed if students wish to pursue careers in this field. Because of the inextricable links between abuse-of-trust crimes such as misuse of government office, nepotism, and bribery and the realm of corporate corruption, these issues are also included.

The text also maintains a connection between white-collar crime and acts of international terrorism; as well as the more controversial aspects of possible abuses of power within the public arena posed by the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the asset forfeiture process.

Adapted readings at the end of each chapter provide readable cases of white collar crime in action to illustrate the principles / theories presented. Activities, Exercises, and Photographs are also included in each of the 10 chapters and a Companion Web Site provides additional test items and other instructor support material.

Customer Reviews (3)

todays white collar crime
Excellent book!! Written by an expert, I used it as a text book, Good reference book.

Incorrect ISBN: Below are the correct ones!
Greetings:
The ISBN listed for this textbook on this page (ASIN: 020388177X) is incorrect. The correct ISBNs are as follows:

Paperback: 978-0-415-99611-2
Hardcover: 978-0-415-99610-5

Both versions of this book are available on Amazon.com

Thanks!
- Hank

Taught me a lot about an often overlooked subject!
Today's White-Collar Crime: Legal, Investigative, and Theoretical Perspectives (Criminology and Justice Studies)

Although I bought this book on another website, it is a bit cheaper on Amazon.com. I am not a criminal justice major, and have not taken any courses in this area, but I found this book very, very interesting! It provided me with a thorough understanding of white-collar crime. I liked the author's use of activities at the end of each chapter, and it made difficult concepts easy to understand. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested knowing more about white-collar crime or government corruption. ... Read more

Product Description
Forget Hollywood's version of the "Mafia"; this is the real inside story from a man who observed the day-by-day behaviour of these 'instinctual killers' and for whom 'it was a matter of principle to destroy them'. FBI Medal of Valour recipient Joe Griffin, with the help of writer/researcher Don DeNevi, provides intimate details of mob intrigue, drug deals, gambling rings, hits, bloody gangland wars, and even a plot to plant a 'mole' in the Cleveland FBI office. All the more fascinating because it's true, "Mob Nemesis" is an engrossing story of the underworld from a man who took them on and won. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

mob nemesis
ai enjoyed the book- the writer has done a masterful job at bringing the subject at hand back into realistic view.I had been one of the many who had been blindsided by Hollywood's glamorizing the hoodlum element in society.The reality is that underworld figures are not bad guys with hearts of gold.but men with hearts of stone and ice water in their veins instead of blood.

Only for true aficionados, otherwise it's a tough read
Satisfactorily written but unless you really need to know the day-to-day activities of the mafia and the FBI this will be a tough read.If you've read one chapter, you've read the entire book: bad guys sell drugs, gamble illegally, kill each other, then, when caught by the good guys, do whatever they can to cut deals to avoid jail time.Kudos for not romanticizing La Cosa Nostra, though.These people are crude, dull-witted, morally challenged, and, perhaps the worse crime of all, boring as heck.

Average
The author describes his life in the FBI and how he fought against the mob.The first part of the book is about him trying to become an FBI agent and does not discuss many details about the Mafia.The author comes off very conceded but at the same time describes details of the mob that contradict numerous other books.The biggest example is when he describes Agent Joseph Pistone aka Donnie Brascoe.He describes Pistone as a good friend yet says he infiltrated the Colombo family for 8 years.Any mob enthusiast knows Pistone was involved with the Bonanno Family.It's hard to trust the other facts he lists when getting major facts like Donnie Brasco wrong.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in the mob or FBI
Griffin did a great and long overdue job of shedding an honest look into the lives and character of real mobsters.His book was facsinating and gives the reader a glimpse of what went on behind the scenes, both for the mob, and the FBI.I am an avid reader of mob related books, and this book is by far one of the best I've read, I'm sure it's going to make a great movie someday.

Dull
I guess this book was kinda interesting.It just seemd to drag on and go deep into FBI procedures and not so much into the everyday life of a gangster.Compared to other Mafia books I've read this is by far the worst.But it is still a mafia book, so I found it to be at least somewhat interesting.I would not recommend this book unless you are more interested in how the FBI fought organized crime, and not the everday operations of a mafia family. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous and accurate.
Like all Linnane's work, this book is a hoot.It's also well researched and thorough.For a historian or researcher, it is invaluable. ... Read more