11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, Quick Read, on the Bonanno/Massino Family, March 15, 2006
This review is from: The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino (Berkley True Crime) (Paperback)
This book is a quick read that captures the reader's interest from the start. The book takes the reader through the life and times of Bonnano Gangster Joey Massino, detailing his rise through the Bonnano family, to his ultimate ascension to Boss of the Bonanno Family, which he renames, the Massino Family.
After dropping out of high school, Massino starts his gangster career under the tutelage of former Bonanno Boss Phil Rastelli, working in Rastelli's catering business. Massino quickly rises from soldier to "acting captain", and acquires a Lunch Wagon business that he uses as a front to take numbers bets & tips on scores from customers. Massino uses food businesses throughout his career as "fronts" for illegal, albeit profitable, enterprise.
The book takes the reader through Massino's rise to power, the episode of FBI agent Joseph Pistone(Donnie Brasco), the murder of 3 rival mafia captains in the early 1980's, the Bonnano's being banned from the official Mafia Commision, to the Bonnano's resurgence as one of the most powerful New York Mafia Families in the late 1990's/Early 2000's.
Massino proves time and time again to be very cagey gangster. Massino outsmarts almost every one of his enemies while holding on to a traditional old code of honor for most of his criminal career.
My suggestions for improvements of this book would be that the author include more details of the way mafia schemes work (for the uninitiated), and more day-to-day details of what life is/was really like for a Bonnano Mafioso.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and think that anyone who is interested in true crime would also find it to be an enjoyable read. I give it 5 stars.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True Crime that Reads Like a Novel, March 7, 2006
This review is from: The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino (Berkley True Crime) (Paperback)
This is a great book. Simon Crittle takes us inside the Mafia; into their homes and into their haunts, giving the reader a front seat on what could be the set of the Sopranos. But Joey Massino, the guy the book is about, makes Tony Soprano look like a sissy. Massino is the real live boss of one of New York's Five Families. He's bad and he's brillant. The book take you on a journey from his rough days on the street, through his murderous asent to the top and finally inside the day to day life of a Mob boss in New York today. Crittle avoids all of the familiar mistakes of true crime Mafia books - a zoo of names without defined characters, and a million end-on-end facts that read like a newspaper article - and keeps you on the edge of your seat with this gritty yet beautifully written story.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad...., March 22, 2006
This review is from: The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino (Berkley True Crime) (Paperback)
I just finished this one. Good read and good follow up if you have read 'Donnie Brasco'. This book ties up alot of loose ends (especially w/ the murder of the three Bonnano captains). I rated this one a four because it went into detail in some areas and glossed over some others. I would like to have seen some org chart (like in Roemer's book about the Outfit) with the various caporegimes and soldati. I thought the court excerpts interwoven with the storyline was a bit distracting.
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