Customer Reviews

Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business: Shocking Declassified Details from the FBI's Greatest Undercover Operation and a Bloody Timeline of the Fall of the Mafia (paperback)

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Two decades after wowing us with Donnie Brasco-related revelations, former undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone returns to tie up some loose ends.

I must admit I was skeptical that Pistone could find enough loose ends in the Donnie Brasco story to fill another book. However, while there is some repetition, the ex-agent provides enough new information to keep us very interested. And, frankly, the repetitive parts are quite entertaining - Donnie Brasco's thrilling adventures are worth recalling.

The first portion of the book is basically a summary of the Donnie Brasco deep-undercover experience with many of the gaps filled in. Some details apparently had to be kept secret until court cases had been processed. Pistone also takes the opportunity to correct some impressions created by the movie based on his bestseller. He takes issue with some of the sentimental and self-critical Johnny Depp moments in the film.

"I never experienced any doubt, uncertainty, or reservation," he writes. "I did not make Lefty [Ruggiero] a Mafia gangster... Lefty and his Mafia underground nation is America's enemy. I was an American FBI agent... In the end, I was proud to bring Lefty to justice, and I'm even more proud of the devastating short- and long-term effects on the Mafia that people have credited, in part, to my work."

Pistone recalls for us the criminal activities ("unauthorized by the Bureau") he engaged in while undercover as "Donnie," an associate of the Colombo and Bonanno Crime Families. His admitted crimes include a murder conspiracy, hijacking and a number of other offenses. But Pistone admits he would have gone further in order to protect himself.

Underworld associates like Brasco might be called upon by Mafia superiors to perform gang "hits." Pistone decided that, if confronted with a situation in which he had to kill an underworld character or face the certain wrath of the mob, "...the wiseguy would go. I knew the FBI would not stand behind me on something like that. Well, let me call it what it is - murder in the first degree."

The situation nearly came up, first in the murder of the Three Capos (when Bonanno bigshot Joseph Massino nixed Brasco's participation) and then in 1981, as Brasco was assigned by Bonanno caporegime "Sonny Black" Napolitano to assassinate Bruno Indelicato. Indelicato went into hiding, and Pistone was pulled from his assignment before the nightmare scenario had a chance to develop.

The rest of the book is devoted to Pistone's post-Brasco experiences as a courtroom witness against the Mafia. Working with prosecutors, like then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani of New York, he participated in some blockbuster trials, including the Bonanno Family case, the Pizza Connection, the Mafia Commission case, the conviction of Bonanno boss "Big Joey" Massino, and the Mafia Cops trial of 2006.

Pistone's description of the trials is anything but bland. He provides compelling and often gory detail, while recounting the defeats of the mob through the past 25 years.

Pistone has a different co-author for "Unfinished Business," former Delaware prosecutor Charles Brandt who wrote "I Heard You Paint Houses." However, the writing style - using casual phrasing and rhythms that would be at home in city street corner conversations - remains uniquely Pistone.

This is an informative and entertaining book.

Author Joe Pistone relates his experiences as an undercover agent for the F.B.I. Yes, there is some repetition from his previous book, but the title Unfinished Business derives from the unanswered questions that have been brought to light. Sonny Black Napolitano paid the ultimate price for Pistone's infiltration of the mafia. Sonny Black's murder was orchestrated by the last Don, Big Joey Massino. Bonnano capo Frank Lino along with Stevie Beef Cannone were the hitmen who lured Sonny to a Staten Island home for his execution. To spare himself the death penalty for having insisted on the execution of a Canadian who Joey felt was questioning his authority, Joey turned against his own mafia family which led to a domino effect in the conviction of several other individuals. The bottom line is that there is no loyalty within the mob. In most cases the turnover in this line of work is constant. You're under stress constantly because someone will eventually want to see you whacked. Pistone also relates his difficulties in dealing with an unnamed F.B.I. agent in a south eastern city who resented Pistone and caused him a lot of unnecessary problems. If you enjoy books on the mob or if you have read the previous book entitled Donnie Brasco you are sure to enjoy this book as well.

This book includes a lot of interesting details that could not be included with the first Donnie Brasco book. The author had several close calls and only his quick wit and ability to stay cool under fire kept in alive with mobsters who kill simply on the account of the wrong body language.

The reader will have a better understanding of how the mafia operated under a centralized hierarchy called The Commission. It was the Commission, comprised of the leaders of the five major mafia families, that sanctioned violence and imposed a rigid discipline to prevent any young upstarts from trying to unseat older, established leaders. Bucking this Commission could get one "whacked". Numerous mob wars and civil wars within families broke out after all of the Commission members were convicted under RICO.

Although the Sicilian Mafia is a shell of its former self, the Donnie Brasco operation forced the mob to change its rules to better weed out informers and undercover agents.

I finished the book wondering if this operation really accomplished anything. It didn't eradicate organized crime by other ethnic groups. The power vacuum is being filled by even more ruthless organized crime gangs like the Jamaicans, Colombians, Asians and Jews from Russia and the Ukraine.

Former FBI Agent Joseph Pistone and former Delaware Deputy Attorney General Charles Brandt, have teamed up to write this true Crime Thriller which is based on six years of undercover work by Pistone, a/k/a Donnie Brasco. Donnie Brasco went "under" the same year Teamster Boss, Jimmy Hoffa was killed (1975). Brandt wrote about Hoffa in his 2004 book, "I Heard You Paint Houses". Pistone, likewise, has written about his fascinating work in previous books.

"Unfinished Business" is fast paced and heart-stopping. And troublesome. When he was undercover, Donnie Brasco determined that, if necessary, he would KILL an innocent person rather than blow his cover. In fact, he did beat the crap out of two thugs to maintain the façade. However, he claims he probably saved their lives. One wonders.

Donnie Brasco "went under" as a jewelry thief. The FBI actually trained him in the field; it didn't take much; as few thugs know about jewelry. I would like to have heard more about the psychology or reason(s) Joe Pistone was selected for this dangerous operation. Whatever the reason(s) for his selection, it was a stunning success. But it lasted much too long and recklessly endangered Pistone's life and numerous investigations. Pistone stayed under so long because he wanted to achieve "made man" status before surfacing. Fortunately, his handlers pulled him out before it was too late.

Pistone's efforts coupled with talented, ambitious and determined federal prosecutors, exposed and decimated the Mafia's operation in New York and other U.S. Cities. Among the prosecutors Pistone worked with are Rudy Giuliani (2008 Presidential Candidate) and Michael Chertoff (now Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security). Pistone and men like Giuliani, Chertoff and others, helped along immeasurably by the Witness Protection Program, mandatory minimum sentences and RICO Statutes combined to deliver a breath-taking blow to organized crime in New York and elsewhere. To this day, the Mob continues to suffer from the efforts of these brave, bright, hard-working men.

In many respects this book (after page 75) reads like a series of victory laps. The narrative explicates the dramatic success that Pistone's efforts brought to criminal prosecutions outside New York as well as a number of prosecutions in and around New York including the "Pizza Connection" cases, the "Mafia Commission" case, the Lucchese Family prosecutions, and cases as recent as 2006 involving the so called rogue "mafia cops". The "rogue" cops were convicted and will probably die in jail. These are all tremendous victories for the government and it will apparently be a long time before the mafia can make a recovery, if ever.

But Pistone's efforts were not appreciated by everyone, including fellow agents and especially one supervisor who gave him such a difficult time that Pistone actually quit the FBI for a time. After being undercover for 6 years (1975-1981), he would testify in a number of trials; usually with devastating results.

I found the first 75 pages most engaging, Watching Donnie Brasco sweat and weave his way through the mob is thrilling and scary beyond any comparison. He could have been "whacked" at any time. For any reason. For "disrespect". For being a traitor to the mob. For no reason. The word "whacked" must appear 200 times in the text. Fortunately, it doesn't apply to Mr. Pistone. YET. Killings were often performed by Zips; hoods imported from Italy to do messy work. Hoods with a curious morality. Listen to this excerpt regarding one Zip, Luigi Ronsisvalle, age 47 and imported from Catania, Sicily with a fourth-grade education:

Luigi confessed to 13 murders the way you or I might confess to having eaten the last slice of cake in the refrigerator. His first slice of cake was at 18 in Sicily. His last slice was the 1979 pay-for-hire shooting of a restaurant chef who had allegedly raped a Brooklyn father's 14-year-old daughter. The girl's father had gone to the Mafia instead of the criminal justice system seeking the death penalty to avenge his child. Luigi walked into the restaurant and asked to see the chef. The chef said, "That's me," and Luigi blew him away on the spot.

Luigi explained his hits to the jury in English with a heavy Italian accent. "That was a job. It had nothing to do with destroying people....If you give me $30,000 to kill a person, you kill him, not me."

Pressed further about the 13 hits, Luigi explained further: "I'm-a no kill. I'm-a the messenger. The bullet Kill. I'm-a just-a the messenger"

The troubling aspect of this book is that one of the principal crime fighters, FBI Agent, Lin DeVecchio, was recently indicted for murder by a Brooklyn prosecutor. That case is still (July, 2007) working its way through the court system and while numerous FBI agents have lined up behind the defendant in support of him, the defendant is in a great deal of trouble and may be, and hopefully will not be, convicted of serious crimes (like murder) which could put him away for the rest of his life.

Early on in the book, Pistone explains that he was willing to take an innocent life if necessary and at the end of the book former FBI Agent DeVecchio is being charged with murder. My guess is the now indicted FBI agent wishes Pistone had not been so candid in revealing that he was prepared to do whatever was necessary to protect his undercover identity. The question now is what was DeVecchio prepared to do. And what did he do, if anything.

The Epilogue is odd. It is one page and is a requiem, if you will, "of Mafia men I associated with and hung out with who got whacked......(there's that word again)". No wonder then that there was, and may still be, a $500,000.00 contract on Pistone's head.

There is very little in "Unfinished Business" that has not been covered before. Also, UB lacks the freshness, the bold impact that "Donnie Brasco" caused when first published. That was a classic. This is an easy one to pass by. The DB story may have stayed too long at the dance.

Pistone delivers a strong follow-up to his original book on the Donnie Brasco operation. Of course, there is a good deal of overlap from the original book, but with the conclusion of the mafia cases stemming from the operation, Pistone has been freed to deliver new information on his deep undercover operation as Donnie Brasco. Pistone also covers his life after the FBI, including the time he worked for a supervisor at the Bureau who almost jeopardized the prosecution of the Donnie Brasco defendants.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about organized crime, the FBI and/or Donnie Brasco. This is not a comprehensive examination of the mafia, and as Pistone says there are many things he cannot and will not disclose regarding his days as Donnie Brasco. Nevertheless, this book serves as an excellent account of the Brasco operation and the takedown of the mafia as it existed prior to the 1990s.

An easy introduction by Charles Brandt, who wrote "I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES", wets the taste for Pistone's eye-opening chronicle of his risky undercover assignment. Fascinating descriptions (and photos) of key mobsters and related events during six years of deep undercover work are as colorful as some of its startling aftermath.

Pistone's candid account of working relationships with key mob figures and ordinary street thugs is very engaging. It extends beyond dangerous criminals to his encounters with respectable luminaries. Among such figures are well-heeled lawyers, Hollywood actors and former Governor Cuomo. The reader also learns enough about an "enemy" within the F.B.I. to resent the unidentified bureaucrat.

Readers will absorb knowledge of the crucial R.I.C.O. law gradually. For some of the key criminals, the very threat of this law resulted in their premature obituary or hundred-year prison sentence. For others, it facilitated witness relocation.

Those interested in Mafia culture and its underlying authority to enforce rules and mores in quasi-governmental fashion should be immensely delightened by DONNIE BRASCO: UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

I loved the original Donnie Brasco book as well as the movie. There were a few questions left unanswered in the first book, and a few things about the changes in the movie from the book that I was interested about. This book written twenty years later does answer those questions. The problem with this book is that it has too little information that I wanted and way too much filler. Part of the book covers his experiences in Hollywood, while another part at the end talks about various cases involving the Mafia that can only tenuously be linked to the Donnie Brasco affair. Most of the cases talked about have been covered in much greater detail in other books. The parts that I wanted to know about were interesting. I just wish he had rereleased a revised Donnie Brasco with an extra chapter or two added to the end to summarize the outcome of certain situations that couldn't be written about the first time around.

- I agree with 2 other reviewers that there is too little new information added after the first book by the same author.

- In my opinion, the writing style is not interesting. I'm glad I read it in the library instead of buying it.

If you've already read "Donnie Brasco", there's really nothing here that you need. Pistone rehashes some of his time undercover, and then goes on to re-report the same mob news that's been reported over and over for the past decade. Really, there's nothing here to justify the cost. No new photos, very little new information of interest, save Pistone's opinion on more modern mobsters and a few undercover snippets from his other later operations. His clear opinion that the Commission Case led to the dismantling of the modern American Mafia is a bit overstated, as well, being mentioned continually during his ruminations on the state of the modern mob. Overall, you can miss this one, without actually missing all that much.