Customer Reviews

The Underboss: The Rise and Fall of a Mafia Family

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Interested in the New England mob? Go no further - THE UNDERBOSS is well researched and you walk away from it with a very good understanding of the events that occurred and the key players behind it. Worthy of any mafia book collection. I also recommend BLACK MASS, ALL SOULS, and STREET SOLDIER.

If you're interested in the Boston Mob & the Angiulo family, this is the book for you. There is very little out there on the subject and this book gives a compelling view into the workings of the North End Mob & the Feds attempts, failures, & ultimate success in catching the seemingly unattainable Jerry Angiulo. It is well written and consistantly interesting & exciting.

This is a great book to read if you ever wanted to know about Boston's mafia and the Angiulo family. It would be of particular interest if you live in Boston - especially the North End, Angiulo's home base. It goes in to detail about the FBI and their determination to get Angiulo, no matter how long it took. Very interesting!

One of Jerry Angulio's favorite sayings do you speak american..$$$. At any rate, this a good account on the Boston mafia and New England Underboss Jery Anguilio's. It tells how he got his start after being in the navy in ww 2 becoming a bookmaker and early on almost getting whacked for making a blunder. He eventually rose in the mafia ranks despite never having actually personally killed anyone himself although he would order many hits. He actually at one time wanted to be a lawyer and was one of the first mafioso to Realize that RICO could become what it has becom and ironically his family would be the first proving ground trial that RICO would be used against LCN successfully. He wasn't all that well like even among mafia ranks but made a ton of money. FBI breaks ins to wire his social club would bring down him and many other Boston LCN members instead of the supposed info Whitey Bulger gave to the FBI.

New stories about the Cosa Nostra in New England. Not the same old rehashing of the transitions of the New York families.
Interesting reading!

This book is good fact/fiction with a lot of things (especially most of the illegal shenanigans of the FBI) completely left out. We should never forget that although the goals might seem noble, the means used by this government are sometimes just as, or even more illegal than the crimes being targeted. I think using a known mass murderer like Whitey Bulger as an informant "rat" and murderous FBI "agents" would fall into the unforgiveable column. Before anyone praises the government in general or the FBI in particular, take a close look at just how they really operate to bring down the "bad guys". This book is a perfect example of this type of behavior. Is it right for the FBI to overlook the terrible crimes of one man or a few men to gather evidence on others, especially when some of those crimes are comitted by FBI "agents" who personally kill and order hits on "mobsters"? It's an ok book, but only covers things that make it read like a good guy/bad guy tale with the "bad guys" losing in the end. The "good guys" didn't really exist in this instance except in their own eyes.

This is a good book on a faction of the mafia not too much has been written about before. Actually encompasses the Angiulo family and goes back a little in Boston mafia history too before the rise of Angiulo. This was actually one of the first successful mafia cases where RICO was used. It goes into the bugging of the place plus a few other things like hits..and New York people who asked for someone to be taken out..like Phil Giacconne( Bonnano captain who was whacked by Sonny Black and Lefty Two Guns over Donnie Brasco thing in Florida, Sonny Black eventually got killed after it turns out Donnie is really an FBI agent). Anguilo wasn't all that well liked, and in fact very muderous even though he never made his bones himself by killing someone

I love mob books and this one doesn't dissappoint. Must have for the mob book lover.

Man, Jerry Anguilo was a jerk. Bosses like this guy make jobs miserable and morale low. Now consider the fact that he was the underboss of the Patriarca Family, and the boss of Boston. This guy never killed anybody himself but made alot of cash from gambling. This book covers the FBI operation that brought Anguilo and his organization down. Some of the conversations picked up on bugs drive home my point about this guy's attitude and management style. Even his own brothers caught an earful daily. All in all, a great read. My Life in the Mafia by Vincent Teresa, further describes Anguilo's character.

This book was written by 2 Boston investigative reporters so it is thorough and reads real smooth.It describes the rise of the Boston Italian mob headed by Raymond Patriarca.The underboss described in the title is Gerry Angiulo,an aspiring criminal lawyer who only made it half-way to his career goal-or so goes the joke as told in the book!The Boston Irish mob and the careers of Whitey Bulger and associates are not covered.
The first part of the book describes the history and development of the Italian mob and how they were literally getting away with murder.The second part starts after the chapter entitled"Catch Up"when FBI agent John Morris says,"We've have to put a mike in that place"(Jerry Angiulo's office).The next part of the book gives a detailed suspenseful description of the bugging operation which included female FBI agents applying their appropriate feminine charms.Lots of great pictures including Gerry Angiulo's senior high school picture.Does the FBI pull it off-read it and see.(But you already know the answer).
These same 2 authors have put out a book regarding the Boston Mafia entitled "Black Mass" which also covers the Bulgers and the Irish Mafia.Interestingly enough some of the same FBI heroes of "The Underboss" book have their reputations heavily sullied in the 2nd book.If you read "The Underboss",you will need to read "Black Mass" to get an even bigger picture.The lines between the good guys and the bad guys are considerably less defined in"Black Mass",which I guess means-Black Massachusetts,rather than any devil-cult type thing. Although there are some real devils in this work!