Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob, the Mafia's Most Violent Family [Paperback]

George Anastasia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

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 first-hand 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. A prime target for hit men to this day, Caramandi continues to survive only through the government's Witness Protection Program. 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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The violent rise and precipitous fall of the Philadelphia/Atlantic City Mafia family led by the bloodthirsty Nicky Scarfo has received extensive coverage in Joseph Salerno and Stephen J. Rivele's The Plumber ( LJ 1/90), Donald W. Cox's Mafia Wipeout ( LJ 2/15/90), and Frank Friel and John Guinther's Breaking the Mob ( LJ 6/15/90). Journalist Anastasia's riveting account is based primarily on his interviews with Scarfo associate Nick Caramandi, a confessed murderer and extortionist-turned-government witness who helped convict the entire Scarfo hierarchy. His story rings true, and it is one of treachery and viciousness, all blood and no honor. Easily the best of the Scarfo mob books, it is recommended for organized crime collections.
-Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Up-close and personal perspectives on a consequential Mafia family that law-enforcement agencies and turncoats have all but put out of business. Drawing mainly on interviews with Nick Caramandi (a confessed killer, loan shark, and extortionist now in the Federal Witness Protection Program), Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Anastasia offers a tellingly detailed rundown on a fiefdom encompassing not only his hometown but also Atlantic City from the late 1970's through the mid-1980's. During this violent period, an arguably psychopathic thug named Nicodemo Scarfo headed the local branch of La Cosa Nostra. His regime was notable for unusually savage rub- outs as well as for the systematic corruption of public and union officials. Eventually, however, the deadly don and more than a dozen of his henchmen were convicted on scores of felony murder and RICO charges in a series of trials that began in 1987. Among those responsible for putting Scarfo behind bars was Garamandi, a successful streetwise hustler who had been formally initiated into the mob. The erstwhile wiseguy broke the secret society's vow of silence and became an informer when he learned his capo had marked him for death in the wake of a failed real-estate swindle involving Philadelphia pols. The decision to eliminate Caramandi ranks among the vengeful Scarfo's worst since ``Crow'' (as he's known in gangland circles) provided government prosecutors with the firsthand dope they needed to bring a flock of kingpin outlaws to book. The gossipy stool pigeon here also provides the author an insider's savvy briefing on the quotidian world of organized crime; by Garamandi's credible account, there was appreciably more bad blood than honor among the thieves in thrall to Scarfo. Gripping curbside insights into mafiosi at work and play. (Eight pages of b&w photographs--not seen). -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Camino Books Inc (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940159864
• ISBN-13: 978-0940159860
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read., January 31, 2003

By 

Joshua Reicks "dack02" (Ames, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob-The Mafia's Most Violent Family (Hardcover)

This is the book which got me started reading mob books. If ever there was a book written from the street level perspective of organized crime this is it. Caramandi and Anastasia have it down, scam to scam, hustle to hustle, score to score that a mobster makes just to stay afloat when he's starting out. Then as the Crow starts to move up in the criminal ladder he launches into long stories about mafia politics and the power struggles and the jealousy and the double cross that was his every day life for 10 years.. It's absolutely fascinating stuff. It's worth every penny one pays for it. I've read it four times.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate, dramatic, chilling., August 27, 2002

By 

Joseph D. McCaffrey (Hollywood, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob-The Mafia's Most Violent Family (Hardcover)

George Anastasia got it right -- exactly right. Told from the point of view of a Mafiosi, Nicholas "Crow" Caramandi, a small time con man who rose through the ranks to become a "made guy," this book is right on target.

I was a newspaper reporter for a New Jersey paper during the late 1980s and was assigned to cover some of the big organized crime trials in Philadelphia that are mentioned prominently in Anastasia's book. After reading his book, I don't think there's a better reporter in this country than Anastasia.

Caramandi, the small time hood who gets his badge under Scarfo, is never a sympathetic character, but you can understand his motivations. Caramandi was doing fine as long as he kept within his abilities. He was a thief and a con man who lived by his wits. He only cheated others who had larceny in their hearts. However Caramandi was elevated in the Nicodemo Scarfo organization and he no longer had to be a con man, now he had the threat of violence of the mob behind him. And that led to his demise.

Nicodemo Scarfo, the crime boss of Philadelphia from the time of his predecessor's murder to his own arrest and incarceration, a period of about seven years, was the most violent mob boss of the modern age. Nearly two dozen murders have been attributed to Scarfo.

George Anastasia weaves a spell-binding tale. All the more spellbinding because every word of it is true. This book is a "must" read for anyone who wants to understand organized crime in America.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blood and No Honor, February 6, 2006

By 

adgblue "adgblue" (Tarzana, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob, the Mafia's Most Violent Family (Paperback)

"Blood and Honor" is a well-researched account of the Philadelphia/Atlantic City Mafia family headed by Nicky Scarfo. The primary source of the author's information is Nick Caramandi who turned to the witness protection program once he became one of the many people on Nicky Scarfo's hit list. Caramandi is a low-life crook and murderer who claims of duping and robbing only the greedy, not the innocent. However, it is evident that anyone from whom he could make a dollar was fair game. For example, the young pharmacist he scammed didn't know that Caramdi was connected and eventually committed suicide once he knew he was in over his head. Nicky Scarfo was the volatile and paranoid Family boss who killed his most loyal people one-by-one at the slightest bit of perceived threat. The story of this family and Caramdi's account of the events are interesting and gripping at times. This Mafia Family could be described as backstabbing, violent, disorganized, and greedy, but not the "most violent". Anyone interested in the most violent family of organized crime, should read the "Murder Machine" which describes in great detail the brutal murders committed by Roy Demeo's gang - a faction of the Gambino crime family. Finally, there are so many names mentioned in "Blood and Honor" that the who-and-what of the story is sometimes hard to follow. Had the author not included a special section for the names of the people involved, the story would've been even harder to follow.

All in all, "Blood and Honor" is an interesting book for those interested in factual accounts of Organized Crime.