Customer Reviews

Family Affair: Greed, Treachery, and Betrayal in the Chicago Mafia

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After the excellent job Scott Burnstein did with Motor City Mafia I knew this was going to be a winner. I was right! Scott did multiple interviews with agents to get the real deal on what was happening with the Family Secrets trial and other recent cases involving the Chicago Outfit. His narrative is a real easy read and he explained things well. As an attorney Scott covered all the bases with a fine tooth comb. For those who are interested, all the names and their stories are told here. "Joe Batters" Accardo, Joe Lombardo, Angelo LaPietra, Tony Spilotro, Nick and Frank Calabrese and more have their stories. But he doesn't just cover the bad guys, he also gives us a little info on the heroes, the FBI agents who develop cases so the criminals can be taken off the streets. So for those who are into what's been going on in the Outfit over the past 30 years, this book is for you.

How did a book like this get published? It seems to be nothing more than a few transcripts that are publicly available on the DOJ website,common knowledge, noncommittal analysis and sensationalized accounts of uninteresting events all woven together in an erratic narrative. There's no bibliography and no index. It leaves readers with the impression that the Outfit is still a force to be reckoned with, which it isn't.

In my humble opinion, Giancana has written one good book: Double Deal with M. Corbitt.

Double Cross was entertaining, though I personally regard it as pulp fiction. I suggest that Giancana should enlist the help of one Joseph Fosco who maintains a blog called American News Post. Mr. Fosco is the #1 source of Outfit info on the Internet today. (But be advised of the presence of a very prolific troll named Logic in the blog's threads.)

The book has nothing new I haven't read in other books. I was hoping for stuff I haven't read about or heard about. It's not a bad book. Very disappointed!

"Family Affair" is an excellent read. Burnstein does an outstanding job of describing the politics of Chicago's modern underworld. This book is far superior to the Family Secrets book, which is basically a recap of the trial. "Family Affair" on the other hand takes the reader through the rip-roaring world of the post-Giancana Outfit. As a reader living outside of Chicago, I learned quite a bit.

A great book period!! I purchased this title along with the, "Family Secrets" book and let me tell you that I was knocked out by the one, two punch they delivered!! With all the books written about the NYC Mafia familys, etcetra, it was very refreshing to find these two jewels about the legendary CHICAGO OUTFIT.
A native Chicagoan myself, on top of being a Outfit buff, I loved every page and basically went through both of them in two weeks. Great read, it's strange but these two compliment each other very well, it would be a good idea to pick up both!
Alot of information in which once you get started you will not want to stop until the end.

I just ordered this book and can't wait to read it and then I'll give my review. But for anybody interested. I also just finished Mafia Princess. It is an older book but was written by Giancana's daughter. I only found it used but was well worth the read. She talked about all the people mentioned in this book!!
Now I can't wait to read this book next!!

After his success with "Motor City Mafia", Burnstein has done it again! "Family Affair" is a well written, informative non fiction book that reads like a novel. I thoughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it!