18 books like The Godfather
Mafia son
In this dark, jagged true crime thriller, wily mob head Gregory Scarpa Sr. (alias the "Grim Reaper") secretly steals and kills under FBI protection for decades. When faced with arrest for his own crimes, he betrays his adoring son, Gregory Jr., whom he'd groomed to take his place. Taking the fall for his father out of familial respect and love, the young Scarpa endures decades of maximum security…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Criminals, Crime
Smaldone
I never thought it would end.—Clyde SmaldoneStarted by Italian brothers from North Denver, the high-profile Smaldone crime syndicate began in the bootlegging days of the 1920s and flourished well into the late twentieth century. Connected to such notorious crime figures as Al Capone and Carlos Marcello, as well as to presidents and other politicians, charismatic Clyde Smaldone was the crime…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Criminals
The origin of organized crime in America
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…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Crime
Tishomingo Blues
Dennis Lenahan is a daredevil and the girls love him. Things are going along okay with his gig at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, "the Casino Capital of the South," until the day he looks down from the high-dive platform and witnesses a mob hit -- Dixie style. The killer looks up and says, "Let's see you dive." Suddenly, being a daredevil has lost its kick. Leonard calls…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Criminals, Mystery
The Good Rat LP
"I didn't tell anyone that I was going to Santa Fe to kill myself."On the outside, Terri Cheney was a highly successful, attractive Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer. But behind her seemingly flawless facade lay a dangerous secret—for the better part of her life Cheney had been battling debilitating bipolar disorder and concealing a pharmacy's worth of prescriptions meant to stabilize her moods…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Crime
The History of the Life of Jonathan Wild, the Great
This book is a satire of Walpole that draws a parallel between Walpole and Jonathan Wild, the infamous gang leader and highwayman. He implicitly compares the Whig party in Parliament with a gang of thieves being run by Walpole, whose constant desire to be a "Great Man" (a common epithet for Walpole) should culminate only in the antithesis of greatness: being hanged.
Shares: Organized crime, Criminals
The good mothers
"An unprecedented look inside a ruthless and obscenely wealthy branch of the Italian Mafia and the electrifying story of the brave women who decided to fight back"--
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Crime
The Camorra
Over the last twenty years the camorra of Naples and the surrounding region has risen to a level of strength rivalling that of the Sicilian mafia.This is not a new organization: the Camorra first emerged in the last century, several decades before the mafia. Tom Behan traces the history of the organization from its inception to the present. Until the 1970s the extent of its influence fluctuated,…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime
REVERSIBLE DESTINY
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime
The Hunted
"Al Rosen was doing just fine, hiding out in Israel, until he decided to play Good Samaritan and rescue some elderly tourists from a hotel fire"--Cover p. [4].
Shares: Organized crime, Crime
Donnie Brasco
Posing as jewel thief "Donnie Brasco," FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone carried out the most audacious sting operation ever, working undercover for six years to infiltrate the flamboyant community of mafia soldiers, "connected guys," captains, and godfathers.Now his unforgettable eyewitness account brings to pulsating life the entire world of wiseguys—their code of honor and their treachery, their…
Shares: Mafia, Organized crime, Crime
The executioner's men
Los Zetas represent a new generation of ruthless, sadistic pragmatists in Mexico and Central America who are impelling a tectonic shift among drug trafficking organizations in the Americas. Mexico's marines have taken down the cartel's top leaders; nevertheless, these capos and their desperados have forever altered how criminal business is conducted in the Western Hemisphere. This narrative…
Shares: Organized crime, Crime
The profession of violence
John Pearson details the lives of Reggie and Ronnie Kray, the infamous brothers who, for decades, ruled the criminal underground in London's East End. This biography of the identical twins is, at times, humorous and revealing, but always maintains a clear-eyed view of the seriousness of the brothers' crimes. An absorbing read.
Shares: Organized crime, Criminals, Crime
The gate house
\#1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille delivers the long-awaited follow-up to his classic novel The Gold Coast. When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London. Now, ten years later, he has come home to the Gold Coast, that stretch of land on the…
Shares: Mafia, Criminals, Crime, Mystery
Mob star
John Gotti is terminally ill; when he passes on to that great Mafia in the sky, co-author Capeci will be in great demand for interviews and will the plug the book.As he battles terminal cancer in a federal prison in Illinois, John Gotti, still the acting head of the Gambino Mafia family, is constantly in the news. Once Mr. Gotti ascends to Mafia heaven, he will be worldwide news-and Alpha will…
Shares: Organized crime, Criminals
R. Holmes & Co.
The son of Sherlock Holmes (who also happens to also be the grandson of thief A. J. Raffles) decides to have his own adventures published. Upon selecting the man who will chronicle his life (much as Watson did for Holmes), we get the tale Raffles' astonishing origin, followed by an exciting series of adventures involving burglary, extortion, armed robbery, and more-with Raffles treading the fine…
Shares: Criminals, Mystery
Judas
"This stunning, edge-of-your seat memoir chronicles Astrid's terrifying experience working as a double agent, preserving her brother's trust just so that she could get enough information to put him away for life. Judas is the intimate account of Astrid's deeply personal betrayal, set against the backdrop of their haunting family history and the astonishing world of the criminal…
Shares: Organized crime, Criminals
Second generation
Born to enormous wealth and social standing, Barbara Lavette leaves her sumptuous home on San Francisco's Nob Hill to lead a life of adventure that takes her from the depression to the darkest days of World War II.Troubled by the conflicts of her dual inheritance and scornful of her mother's social world, Barbara sets out to build her own life in her own way, leading her to a Europe on the brink…
Shares: Italian Americans, Romance