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Mob Boss

The Life of Little Al D'arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia

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About this listen

Alfonso 'Little Al' D'Arco, the former acting boss of the Luchese crime family, was the highest-ranking mobster to ever turn government witness when he flipped in 1991.

His decision to flip prompted many others to make the same choice, including John Gotti's top aide, Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, and his testimony sent more than fifty mobsters to prison. In Mob Boss, award-winning news reporters Jerry Capeci and Tom Robbins team up for this unparalleled account of D'Arco's life and the New York mob scene that he embraced for four decades.

Until the day he switched sides, D'Arco lived and breathed the old-school gangster lessons he learned growing up in Brooklyn and fine-tuned on the mean streets of Little Italy. But when he learned he was marked to be whacked, D'Arco quit the mob. His defection decimated his crime family and opened a window on mob secrets going back a hundred years.

After speaking with D'Arco, the authors reveal unprecedented insights, exposing shocking secrets, and troublesome truths about a city where a famous pizza parlor doubled as a Mafia center for multi-million-dollar heroin deals, where hit men carried out murders dressed as women, and where kidnapping a celebrity newsman's son was deemed appropriate revenge for the father's satirical novel.

Capeci and Robbins spent hundreds of hours in conversation with D'Arco, and exhausted many hours more fleshing out his stories in this riveting narrative that takes listeners behind the famous witness testimony for a comprehensive look at the Mafia in New York City.

©2013 Jerry Capeci and Tom Robbins (P)2013 Tantor
Organized Crime True Crime Crime Mafia Exciting Witty Thought-Provoking Funny New York Italy Boss
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The extraordinary true story of the bloodbath at the top of the Lucchese crime clan, as told from the perspective of a loyal senior lieutenant who becomes acting boss when his two superiors go on the run. The family is locked in a state of paranoia and bloody retribution as the two mob chieftains order a string of killings. Against this backdrop, traditional Mafia values and practices rapidly disintegrate, and a deadly new reign of terror begins. A gripping listen, and a window into the inner machinations of a formidable Mob machine - which unravelled in spectacular style. The narration is a tad lacklustre. But the story compensates for this slight let-down.

A Wiseguy Bloodbath

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If you like books about, 'wise guys' and gangster life, then you'll love this. Recommended.

What I guess you'd expect

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I would highly recommend this book. The first half throws alot of names in that can be a bit overwhelming and probably unecessary but it is a great classic story of Mafia betrayal and the narrator projects really well.
Having listened to plenty of other Mafia books, I really enjoyed this one and despite its length, it seemed to be over very quickly and leaving me hungry for another similar book.

Great Mob Book

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I really enjoy this book. I've listened to it a few times now, so I'm ready to leave my review. A lot of names and details are thrown at you, which some people may get overwhelmed by, but I prefer this as a lot of other Cosa Nostra books lack the depth that Al D'Arco actually gives about the world around him and the people he associated with.

What lets the book down slightly is the narrator and the lack of chapter titles in the audiobook. It's a really long book, would it hurt to actually just name the chapters for the sake of the Audiobook? It would take two minutes.

My problem with the narrator lies with the fact he doesn't even say the main character, Al D'Arco's surname properly, and some other names are mispronounced. Things like this can be very frustrating for people. With that being said, he does a good job at keeping me engaged and as I started my review off with, I've listened to this a few times, so it obviously can't be that bad, just a few annoyances I needed to mention. Definitely worth a listen. I really loved Al's story and at times I truly felt sorry for him being caught up in the jealousy of Cosa Nostra, but it's the life he ended up living.

Brilliantly in Depth

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Excellent narrator; tone, accents and pace!
Found myself having longer gym sessions because I couldn't switch it off.
I even started to research the main 'characters' online - fascinating!

Figuring out who's who didn't take me long given the Italian surnames.

Passed this title many many times and decided to buy it. If you even think twice about it - do it!

First "mafia" book - HOOKED!

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