The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer [Hardcover]

Philip Carlo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This stomach-turning account of the multiple atrocities committed over 43 years by Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski—as sadistic a killer as most readers would ever want to encounter in print—seems like more of an as-told-to than an independent journalistic narrative, though Carlo says that he verified Kuklinski's accounts where possible. But rather than critically assess Kuklinski's largely self-serving tales of his roles in such major mob killings as those of Jimmy Hoffa and Gambino boss Paul Castellano, Carlo (The Night Stalker) seems to accept them. Instead of applying objective insight into how such a murderer—who researched methods that would prolong his victims' suffering—came to be, the author presents instead chapter after chapter of Kuklinski summarily killing criminals he was hired to eliminate or randomly gunning down someone on the street to test out a new weapon. By disregarding the questions raised by Mafia experts such as Jerry Capeci about Kuklinski's credibility, Carlo has fumbled an opportunity. Sloppy errors (e.g., Rudy Giuliani served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not the Eastern District) also detract from the book, which ends with a bizarre invitation to the reader to write to Kuklinski at the Trenton State Prison. (July 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Richard Kuklinski, the Ice Man of the title, has told his story before in a variety of forums, including books and videos. Here Carlo tells Kuklinski's story more or less straight from the killer's mouth, with little verification or questioning. Given Kuklinski's grandiose claims, such as participation in the unsolved murder of Jimmy Hoffa, this produces a narrative of unrelieved horror. Kuklinski reveled not only in killing but also in the suffering of his victims, and here he emphasizes how he compartmentalized his life so that his family was shielded from the nastiness of his trade. Other than fulsome detail, not much new about Kuklinski is relayed. Carlo's presentation of Kuklinski uninterrupted does, however, make for nice comparative reading with the killer's wife's book, Married to the Iceman (1994). Good as an omnibus resource on Kuklinski, this is a fine entry in the burgeoning field of works tracing the decline of the traditional organized crime families and their once impenetrable structures. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312349289
• ISBN-13: 978-0312349288
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (167 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #227,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm sure he was a cold blooded killer but....., July 25, 2006

By	Catiline "Catiline" (Corning, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer (Hardcover)

I've studied NYC, NJ & Philly OC for over 20 years now. I've read 100's of books on this subject including the one by Anthony Bruno about Kuklinski about 10 years ago. Some by cops, some by feds, some by rats, some by reporters. Nowhere have I ever read, even hinted at, the more outragous claims made by Richard (Iceman) Kuklinski. A couple of the more unbelievable.

Paul (Big Paul) Castellano Shooting. HE WAS NOT THERE. This was planned and executed by "The Fist" a faction of Gambino's dissatisfied for a number of reasons with his leadership. The Fist was made up of John Gotti, Angelo Ruggerio, Frankie DeCicco, Robert (DeBee) Debenardo, and Sammy Bull Gravano. Others in the family (Gene Gotti, Joe Gallo, et al) knew of the plot, but it emulated and was executed primarily by the Bergin crew headed by Gotti. Below are the shooters. NONE was paid cash to participate. The payment was power within the Gambino's hierarchy after Big Paul was dead. There is NO WAY Gravano would have asked or Gotti would have approved of an unknown shooter being brought into the plot as a freelance mercenary.

John Carneglia Primary shooter, target Castellano, in front of Sparks,
Vincent Artuso Primary shooter, target Castellano, in front of Sparks,
Eddie Lino Primary shooter, target Billotti, in front of Sparks,
Salvatore (Fat Sally) Scala, Primary shooter, target Billotti, in front of Sparks,
Dominick (Skinny Dom) Pizzonia, Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
Anthony (Tony Roach) Rampino, Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
Angelo (Quack Quack) Ruggerio, Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
Joe (The German)Watts, Back-up shooter across E. 46th St. from Sparks,
John Gotti In Car at 3rd Ave & E. 46th St. opposite Sparks,
Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano In Car at 3rd Ave & E. 46th St. opposite Sparks,
FrankDeCicco Inside Sparks

The association with and killing of Roy DeMeo. It is possible that Kuklinski knew DeMeo. Although no cooperating witnesses ever mentioned him. It is even possible that DeMeo kept "The Pollock" around as a secert weapon - that I'd believe. But there is NO WAY, NONE, ZERO that DeMeo would have introduced him to his supervisor in the Gambino family, Anthony Gaggi. And Gaggi wouldn't introduce himself. BTW Gaggi's dog was not a German shepard but a pure breed male boxer. Lastly, Roy was killed by fellow crew associates Joseph Testa and Anthony Senter as well as Nino after orders came from Paul to "take care of him Nino". Also, Frankie DeCicco was instructed to assist Nino if he needed shooters or back-up. Again, no one was paid. Senter and Testa were promoted to made status. Dracula was killed around the same time.

The killing of Jimmy Hoffa. C'mon not even the author could possibly believe this. It has been verified beyond dispute that Tony Pro was in NJ at the time of the killing. I'm not going to waste time reputing this BS any more.

Carmine (Lilo, Cigar) Galante Shooting. There was a lone dinner in Joe & Mary's that hot July afternoon according to Giuseppe Turano's son. However, he hit the deck when Louis Giongetti, Dominick Trinchera and Sonny Black walked in armed to teeth. Turncoat Galante bodyguard Cesare Bonventre pulled his pistol and shot loyal Galante bodyguard Leonard Coppola six times before he hit the floor. Clueless and 3rd bodyguard Baldassare (Baldo) Amato pulled his gun and dove behind a table. Sonny shotgunned Galante while Big Trin chased down Turano's son and shot him in back while he searched for a gun stored in the employee's bathroom. Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato waited in the street by the car with a M1 carbine. Louis Giongetti walked over to Coppola and shot the top of his skull of for good measure. Cesare quickly informed his cousin Baldo not to shoot and leave with him, which he did. This killing was ordered by boss Phillip Rastelli in conjuction with the Gambino's over control of the heroin market and revenge for Gambino killings. Ironically, it was the Zips headed by Salvatore Catalano & Joe Ganci who eventually took over Galante's babina business. Massino took control of the family. This account has been verified by several different sources.

Cave with Rats. Logistics would be unlikely or impossible. Try to find a remote cave 75 miles from home at night whilst guarding a live hostage. Try setting up automatic camera's w/ lights to capture the rats eating the victim. I will admit it's a sick mind to envision such things, but I doubt he actually did it. Camera, light and motion technology plus logistics of transport makes it an unlikely tale to scare women and small children.

Flare to balls. I read almost same account about Legs Diamond and a farmer in a book called Mob Stories about seven years ago. A little less graphic but, punch line was same. Probably Rich read this too. Obviously author didn't read it or don't know how to vet a source.

All in all a good book and worth the money for true crime buffs. I'm glad I bought it, but the killings Kuklinski actually did would have been enough. The other mob stuff is his own fantasy.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing but Not Particularly Believable, July 31, 2006

By	Edward D. Terhune "Ed T." (Basking Ridge, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer (Hardcover)

Reviewer Jeffrey Johnson below sort of stole most of my thunder, and I basically would concur with the majority of what he said. My reaction to this book was similar to his. Upon first starting it, some warning lights went off for me. I'm always nervous about "real-life" books where the author changes the names of characters. I understand a reporter needing to protect his sources, but Mr. Carlo doesn't indicate what names he's changing or why (Ponti crime family?), which basically renders this "true-crime" book valueless as a research tool. The good news is that Carlo has written an engrossing book (although after slogging through the first dozen or so murders and/or mutilations, the reader does become a bit numb). Bad news? At least 40% on what's in this book is bogus, in my opinion, and I'm probably being conservative. Like Mr. Johnson, I don't believe Kuklinski killed anyone with a horde of ravenous rats and filmed it for the delectation of his underworld employer (in bucolic Bucks County yet!), I don't believe Kuklinski killed Paul Castellano, assisted in the "hit" on Jimmy Hoffa, knew Roy De Meo or worked for him or killed him, I don't believe he ever met Nino Gaggi, had anything to do with the slaying of Carmine Galante, etc. etc. There's enough empirical evidence that Kuklinski was a brutal, psychopathic killer, but if Carlo had been a less credulous chronicler of Kuklinski's torturous life and criminal career, he might have been more competently able to separate incidents that actually happened from incidents that happened only in Kuklinski's fevered imagination. It's a shame...Kuklinski was a fascinating and perversely-engaging criminal personality (as chillingly demonstrated in the HBO documentaries) and an in-depth and cogent examination of his life, his tortured psychology, the personal demons that mutated him and transformed him into the monster he ultimately come, the satanically-ingenious killings he did actually commit, would have been an invaluable addition to the canon of true-crime classics like "In Cold Blood" or the study of serial killer Ted Bundy by Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth. Instead, we get a superficial "murder-and-mayhem" semi-novel that probably would have been better served it if had appeared in serialized-form in one of the "True Detective" magazines infesting the newsstands.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Repetitve and strains credulity, July 12, 2006

By	Thaddeus J. Winiarski Winiarski Jr. "collecti... (Michigan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer (Hardcover)

I really wanted to like this book but it just has too much going against it. First, it is extremely repetitive. If you read the book, count the number of times the author mentions that Richard grew to hate his father or his mother. Count the number of times the reader is informed that Barbara has come to despise Richard, or that his family is the only thing Richard ever cared about or that Richard just has no human emotion or empathy. This book could have been about one third as long if all the repetitive garble had been excluded.

Second the killings Richard confeses to (takes credit for) encompass nearly (if not all) of the most celebrated mafia hits of the last half of the 20th century. Jimmy Hoffa, Carmine Galante, Paul Castelano, John Favara etc. Pretty impressive if true but seems unlikely. To me it's like saying one man was responsible for the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, and, oh yes, John Lennon too.

Overall, this is an interesting read only if taken with a huge grain of salt.