Blood Oath [Hardcover]

George Fresolone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

The saga of an undercover crusader for justice who helped dismantle the most powerful criminal family in New Jersey. Repelled by the lies, betrayals and hypocrisy of the mob, Freselone risked his life as an undercover agent for the police, and gathered enough evidence to indict 39 mob figures.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Organized crime is not a thing of honor," we're reminded by Fresolone, a former member of the Bruno-Scarfo family, which ran the underworld in Philadelphia, Atlantic City and other parts of New Jersey. As a minor cog in the gambling-loansharking wheel, he went to prison in 1983 with assurances that his fellow mobsters would take care of his family financially. But they did not, and here began Fresolone's disillusionment with organized crime. In 1988, he became an informant for the New Jersey State Police, collecting enough evidence to indict some 39 figures. Ironically, he was inducted into La Cosa Nostra a month before his undercover work ended. With the aid of Wagman (The Nazi Hunters), Fresolone tells a suspenseful story, ending with a chapter on his life in the Witness Protection Program. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Despite readers' apparently inexhaustible curiosity about the Mafia, many organized-crime books really aren't very engaging or readable. Some rely too heavily on nearly unintelligible transcripts of bugged conversations; others fail to help readers distinguish among hundreds of characters with outlandish nicknames. Sometimes the authors, who are often newspaper reporters, simply can't sustain a 75,000-word effort. Blood Oath is a happy exception. It's the story of George Fresolone, who from the age of nine kept company with wise guys. Naively, Fresolone believed that mafiosi were men of respect and honor. He learned otherwise when his comrades failed to support his family while he was in jail. Several years later, when the New Jersey state police had enough evidence to put him away again, Fresolone agreed to be wired for sound and promised to bring down important mobsters from New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. He did, and he and writer Robert Wagman have produced an immensely readable and engaging story--a straightforward narrative that will satisfy (this season's) inexhaustible curiosity about the Mob. Thomas Gaughan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671779052
• ISBN-13: 978-0671779054
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book about mafia life in general and Philly/NJ mob, August 12, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)

Told through the eyes of mobster George Fresolone "Blood Oath" is a blow by blow account of life with wiseguys and gangsters. Fresolone grows up in New Jersey and gravitates toward gamblers and wiseguys. An astute gambler, George is quick to scam a buck and start a sports gambling book. He is noticed by wiseguy Patty Specs, a mobster connected to the Scarfo crime family, and becomes his driver. Soon he is part of the New Jersey crew of the Philadelphia Mob and in time beomes a made member himself. These scenes in the book are especially vivid as Fresolone gives a birds-eye view of what it was like to grow up in New Jersey and how one becomes connected to the Mob. In those days they came looking for you because they saw you could earn and had talent.

Once George becomes connected his life starts to change. He gets pinched and does a couple of years in prison. While there his old crew ignores his wife won't pay her money George is owed. When George gets out he is facing heavy jail time with one more arrest so he contacts the Feds and agrees to wear a wire against his crew. Not only does he pick up his crew but he deals with many other representatives of other families in New Jersey including the Gambinos, the Genevese, the Colombos, and the DeCavalcantes. On top of that recently imprisoned Nicky Scarfo sends his son up to New Jersey for protection after he is gunned down in a Philly restaurant. George is responsible for "The Kid" and is privy to the desperate attempt of Scarfo to keep a hold on his crime family from prison.

Told with a wonderful first person narration by Fresolone the book succeeds in conveying the harrowing and tense life of a wiseguy in the 80's and 90's. It also succeeds in illustrating how and why men go into the life in the first place and the problems they have with their wives and siblings and friends and neighbors who are not part of "that" world. On top of that it is an excellent breakdown of mafia politics in New Jersey and is a first rate continuation of the trials and tribulations of the Philadelphia Mob. It bridges the gap between "Blood and Honor" and "Goodfella Tapes" with a perspective from a different end of that family. Wholeheartedly recommended.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best mob story I ever read........., March 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)

This is the best mob strory i ever read, it took a great deal of courage for George Fresolone to do what he did, i hope some day to see this story on the big screen..............

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What is really going on in the mob?, February 20, 2003

By 

Tom Heiman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Oath (Hardcover)

What if you are a boy growing up with your dad doing illegal gambling, and working with the mob. well in the book Blood Oath by George Fresolone. George goes through the book and explains to you how his life in the mob started out and how he became one of the mob families gambling buddy. He explains to you who he worked for and what he did for his boss. George gives us great detail in how the mob was formed and how it was ran. My opinion I believe you should definately buy Blood Oath, because it's a book you could read moer than once. You can certainly expect alot of info about what they did, and why they did it. Also he explains to you how he actually came around in helping the law. The author likes to give his info in large paragraphs to give more detail to everything.