Frank DiMatteo

An insider's look at the story of mafioso Carmine Persico, the head of the Colombo family. Persico (later nicknamed the Snake, or Mr. Immortal) began his criminal career at a very young age in the streets of New York City. Already at age 17, he was charged with his first murder. The book documents his rise in the rank and his participation in many of the infamous mafia hits.
Through it all, Persico emerges as a highly intelligent man, with an incredible sense of honor to the code of "Omerta". Despite being in prison on repeated stints, and now locked up for the rest of his life, he never "rats" out anyone.
The book discusses the huge impact the "RICO" laws had on the mafia. Basically, no matter how careful you were, and how many levels you had between you and the actual crime, it was "guilt by association".
The author is in a unique position. As the son of an actual "hitman' for the Gallo crime family, he witnessed the life firsthand. His level of insight is unique. While you would think you would be repulsed by Persico, the author manages to make him come across as an almost normal character. One who, if his life had taken a different direction, could have been a respected and successful business man or politician. The author's disgust for the judicial system and it's RICO laws is palpable. Not to give anything away, but Rudy Giuliani is lucky to be alive today.
The book was great, and very readable. The nicknames tended to confuse me, one almost needs an index to keep track of who was who. In fact, that would be a great idea for the next publishing of this book.
Finally, on a personal note, I spent over 20 years working in the Federal Prison system. Over the course of my career, I met and interacted with many incarcerated members of the "Mafia". While I know they were dangerous and violent men, and I have no doubt they were criminals, they always acted with honor and respect towards the officers. If you didn't harass them, you would never have a problem with them. They had their rackets, but they never ran around the prison creating havoc and disorder like many of the other inmates.
To be sure, they were running their rackets, but they never ran around the prison creating havoc and disorder like many of the other inmates. And they never whined about their conditions, as did most of the "white-collar" criminals incarcerated.… (mehr)