Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Joseph D. Pistone (Author), Charles Brandt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

When FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone began what was supposed to be a six-month operation infiltrating New York’s Bonanno crime family in 1975, he had no idea what was about to happen. Posing as jewel thief “Donnie Brasco,” Pistone would spend the next six years undercover in the Family, witnessing-and sometimes participating in-the Mafia’s gruesome activities while gathering enough evidence to send over 200 gangsters to jail. Pistone told his story in the 1988 book Donnie Brasco-a New York Times bestseller and later a feature film starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. But because of pending trials at the time of publication, many details of the alleged crimes were omitted. Now, in Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business, Pistone for the first time reveals with great detail the horrific deeds of wiseguys Tony Mirra, Lefty Ruggiero, Sonny Black, and the rest of the cold-blooded Bonanno crew. He puts the operation into historical perspective, detailing the timeline of Mafia trials from 1981 through 2005 that crippled the New York City crime family. He also recounts his experiences after the operation, his time on the Hollywood set with Pacino and Depp, and other undercover operations through present day. A tense, thrilling account of the greatest infiltration ever by a federal agent into the most brutal gang of killers in the world, Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business is the final chapter in the story of a real American hero.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Readers who don't know Donnie Brasco, either the book or the movie, which detailed how young Pistone managed to float in the sewer of Mafia scum, won't get what Unfinished Business is all about. But those who remember rasco will be eager to know the rest of the story, 20 years after Pistone/Brasco recounted how he infiltrated the New York Mafia and how his testimony led to a series of investigations that emasculated the five New York families. The rationalization for this follow-up volume is that, now that the trials have come to fruition, Pistone can tell more about how he worked undercover and how he testified. There's a great deal of filler here (we don't really need to know about what a nice guy Johnny Depp was on the set of the movie Donnie Brasco), but there is also enough deep background about working undercover, enough truly hair-raising reminiscences of close calls, and enough reflection on how far an undercover agent submerges himself before losing a moral compass to make this worthwhile reading--providing you're a fan of the first Donnie Brasco. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Unfinished Business is a better read than most crime novels simply because it's true." Sunday Business Post" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762427078
• ASIN: B000X1H6MQ
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brasco returns, January 30, 2007

By 

Thomas Hunt "[e-mail]" (New Milford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business (Hardcover)

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.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Previous Questions Are Now Answered, February 16, 2007

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business (Hardcover)

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening, July 8, 2007

By 

Superman (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business (Hardcover)

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.