War of the Godfathers [Mass Market Paperback]

William F. Roemer Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 1991

The stakes -- Las Vegas. The players -- Bonanno vs. Accardo.
William F. Roemer, Jr., is the renowned FBI agent whose relentless crusade against the mob outshone even that of legendary crime buster Eliot Ness. Only Roemer -- the most-decorated hero in the FBI and the most-wanted man on the underworld's hit list -- could tell the electrifying inside story of the no-holds-barred duel that pitted the reigning dons of New York and Chicago against each other for the most precious jewel in the organized crime crown -- Vegas.
Featuring the battling godfathers themselves -- Joe Bonanno and Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo -- plus a rogues gallery of high rollers, professional hitters, capos, underbosses, and soldiers, here are the strategies, the setups, the takedowns, and the double crosses in the real words of the men who cut the deals -- and the throats -- in the biggest, deadliest power play in the history of the mob and the annals of true crime.
""Exciting reading . . . Roemer's experience has left him with some fascinating tales, and this is one of them." -- The Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author, who wrote of his 30 years as an FBI agent in Roemer , here covers some of the same material as a preface to his story of the gangland war for Las Vegas. The background: the five New York Costa Nostra families were to have Atlantic City as their territory to reap gambling profits, while Nevada was reserved for the Chicago mob. Joe Bonnano of the Brooklyn family, who retired to Tucson, Ariz., attempted to upset the arrangement by taking over Las Vegas; his chief opponent was Tony Accardo. The violent struggle lasted from 1986 to 1989 and ended in a victory for the Chicagoans, with Roemer working on the case as a consultant to the Chicago Crime Commission and as an investigator for the U.S. Senate Rackets Committee. The victory, however, was a Pyrrhic one, for it led to a trial in which a dozen leaders of organized crime in the Windy City were found guilty and much of the Mafia's power there broken. The author's encyclopedic knowledge makes the book a unique contribution to U.S. crime history.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In 1986, the Chicago Mafia violently repulsed a bid by the Joe Bonnano crime family to wrest control of the Las Vegas underworld. It was a pyrrhic victory; afterward most of the top Chicago mob figures were convicted of various crimes. The author, a former FBI agent who investigated the Las Vegas brawl ( Roemer: Man Against the Mob , Fine, 1989), knows his subject. Although he employs fictional characters and invented dialog to dramatize these events, his account is probably reliable and generally readable. Suitable for larger organized crime collections.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books; Ballantine Books ed. edition (October 21, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804108315
• ISBN-13: 978-0804108317
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,178,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fact or Fiction?????, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: War of the Godfathers (Mass Market Paperback)

The fatal flaw of this book is that Roemer fails to make clear that much of the book is fiction. If Roemer wanted to write a fictional story about Las Vegas, then fine write a fictional story. However, the mishmash of both truth and fiction leaves the reader confused as to what really happened. Also, being written by an ex FBI agent the book reads much like a police report, a little on the dry side with lots of "he said and she said". Finally, why bother using the phoney name of Richards, when we know he is talking about himself? Seemed rather silly to me.

I lost interest after the fictional hit on Moe Dalitz (right on the strip in broad daylight of all things!!). As if the mob would ever be that stupid. Come on Roemer, you can do better than that.

As a reader looking for accurate information on what really went on behind the scenes in Las Vegas, I was left disappointed. Roemer's book "The Enforcer" which details the accounts of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro's adventures in Vegas was a much better effort.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I felt duped..., January 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: War of the Godfathers (Mass Market Paperback)

I read the book, not realizing entire events were fictional. Then I read "Enforcer" and found out that Moe Dalitz died in his sleep and Tony Spilatro was killed by his own people. I felt duped -- this is not taking artistic license but complete falsification of reality

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars what happened roemer?, March 28, 2005

By 

M. Cohen "yes, i read" (long island, new york) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: War of the Godfathers (Hardcover)

While the way the book is attempted to be written is clever, as it is almost like a Hollywood script of real events, the book is farfetched and is downright untrue in several instances.One glaring falsehood is that Moe Dalitz was shot down an then was later poisoned in a hospital.Roemer a former FBI agent, should have known better,escpecially considering he wrote briefly about Dalitz real demise in another book.If one takes this book for what it is, a story , it is enjoyable.The one interesting factual aspect about this book is the details given to the famous "STRAWMAN" cases which largely crippled organized crime in the midwest.