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Deal with the Devil: The FBI's Secret Thirty-Year Relationship with a Mafia Killer
In Deal with the Devil , five-time Emmy Award–winning investigative reporter Peter Lance draws on three decades of once-secret FBI files to tell the definitive story of Greg Scarpa Sr., a Mafia capo who “stopped counting” after fifty murders, while secretly betraying the Colombo crime family as a Top Echelon FBI informant.Lance traces Scarpa’s shadowy relationship with the FBI all the way back to 1960, when his debriefings went straight to J. Edgar Hoover. In forty-two years of murder and racketeering, Scarpa served only thirty days in jail thanks to his secret relationship with the Feds. This is the untold story that will rewrite Mafia history as we know it —a page-turning work of journalism that reads like a Scorsese film. Deal with the Devil includes more than 130 illustrations, crime scene photos, and never-before-seen FBI documents.
672 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2008
184 people are currently reading
881 people want to read
About the author
Peter Lance
15 books52 followersPeter Lance is a five-time Emmy-winning investigative reporter now working as a screenwriter and novelist. With a Masters Degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, Lance spent the first 15 years of his career as a print reporter and network correspondent.
He began his career as a reporter for his hometown paper, The Newport, R.I. Daily News. There, while a student at Northeastern University in Boston, he won the coveted Sevellon Brown Award from the A.P. Managing Editors Association. Lance next moved to WNET, the PBS flagship in New York, where he won his first New York area Emmy and the Ohio State Award as a producer- reporter for Channel 13′s news magazine THE 51ST STATE.
Later, while working as a writer and producer for WABC-TV Lance won his second Emmy along with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism prize for WILLOWBROOK: THE PEOPLE VS. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, an exposé on a notorious institution for the mentally retarded. He also was awarded The National Community Service Emmy for that same documentary.
While getting his law degree, Lance worked as a Trial Preparation Assistant in the office of the District Attorney for New York County. Moving to ABC News as a field producer, Lance won his fourth Emmy for his investigation of an arson-for-profit ring in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago: “Arson and Profit.”
In 1981 Lance became Investigative Correspondent for ABC News. For his very first investigative piece on 20/20 Lance won his fifth Emmy for “Unnecessary Surgery,” an exposé of unnecessary surgery in an Arkansas hospital. He won two more Emmy nominations in 1982 for 20/20 investigative pieces on Formaldehyde “The Danger Within” and toxic waste: “Deadly Chemicals, Deadly Oil;” a piece that also won the National Headliner Award.
Over the next five years he covered hundreds of stories worldwide for ABC NEWS 20/20, NIGHTLINE, and WORLD NEWS TONIGHT.
He was a member of the first American crew into Indochina after the end of the Vietnam War. He chased rebel insurgents through the Plaine Des Jarres in Laos and members of the Gambino Family through the toxic wastelands of New Jersey. He tracked knife-happy surgeons in the Deep South and nuclear terrorists through the twisted streets of Antwerp. Then, in 1987, he took a break from non-fiction.
Lance came to L.A. and began working as a writer and story editor for Michael Mann on two of his acclaimed NBC series: CRIME STORY and MIAMI VICE. In 1989 Lance became the co-executive producer and “show runner” on the fourth season of WISEGUY for CBS and in 1993 he co-created MISSING PERSONS, for ABC. In recent years, he has served as a writer and consulting producer on such series as JAG (NBC) and THE SENTINEL (UPN).
In 1997 Lance’s first novel FIRST DEGREE BURN became a national best seller, ranking No. 24 on The Ingram A-List The Top 50 Requested Titles in Mystery- Detective Fiction. The film-noir mystery features FDNY Fire Marshal Eddie Burke.
Following the 9/11 attacks Lance began investigating the origins of the FBI’s original probe of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Ahmed Yousef. He authored 4 books on counter terrorism and org. crime for HarperCollins between 2003-2013.
In 2020 his investigation of the murder of Eduardo Tirella killed in 1966 by Doris Duke was the lead piece in Vanity Fair's July/Aug. issue. During sequestration Lance expanded into a 438 page book HOMICIDE AT ROUGH POINT published in 3 editions on 2.23.21 with the Audible edition which he narrated published on 3.10.21
Email: pl@peterlance.com
He began his career as a reporter for his hometown paper, The Newport, R.I. Daily News. There, while a student at Northeastern University in Boston, he won the coveted Sevellon Brown Award from the A.P. Managing Editors Association. Lance next moved to WNET, the PBS flagship in New York, where he won his first New York area Emmy and the Ohio State Award as a producer- reporter for Channel 13′s news magazine THE 51ST STATE.
Later, while working as a writer and producer for WABC-TV Lance won his second Emmy along with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism prize for WILLOWBROOK: THE PEOPLE VS. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, an exposé on a notorious institution for the mentally retarded. He also was awarded The National Community Service Emmy for that same documentary.
While getting his law degree, Lance worked as a Trial Preparation Assistant in the office of the District Attorney for New York County. Moving to ABC News as a field producer, Lance won his fourth Emmy for his investigation of an arson-for-profit ring in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago: “Arson and Profit.”
In 1981 Lance became Investigative Correspondent for ABC News. For his very first investigative piece on 20/20 Lance won his fifth Emmy for “Unnecessary Surgery,” an exposé of unnecessary surgery in an Arkansas hospital. He won two more Emmy nominations in 1982 for 20/20 investigative pieces on Formaldehyde “The Danger Within” and toxic waste: “Deadly Chemicals, Deadly Oil;” a piece that also won the National Headliner Award.
Over the next five years he covered hundreds of stories worldwide for ABC NEWS 20/20, NIGHTLINE, and WORLD NEWS TONIGHT.
He was a member of the first American crew into Indochina after the end of the Vietnam War. He chased rebel insurgents through the Plaine Des Jarres in Laos and members of the Gambino Family through the toxic wastelands of New Jersey. He tracked knife-happy surgeons in the Deep South and nuclear terrorists through the twisted streets of Antwerp. Then, in 1987, he took a break from non-fiction.
Lance came to L.A. and began working as a writer and story editor for Michael Mann on two of his acclaimed NBC series: CRIME STORY and MIAMI VICE. In 1989 Lance became the co-executive producer and “show runner” on the fourth season of WISEGUY for CBS and in 1993 he co-created MISSING PERSONS, for ABC. In recent years, he has served as a writer and consulting producer on such series as JAG (NBC) and THE SENTINEL (UPN).
In 1997 Lance’s first novel FIRST DEGREE BURN became a national best seller, ranking No. 24 on The Ingram A-List The Top 50 Requested Titles in Mystery- Detective Fiction. The film-noir mystery features FDNY Fire Marshal Eddie Burke.
Following the 9/11 attacks Lance began investigating the origins of the FBI’s original probe of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Ahmed Yousef. He authored 4 books on counter terrorism and org. crime for HarperCollins between 2003-2013.
In 2020 his investigation of the murder of Eduardo Tirella killed in 1966 by Doris Duke was the lead piece in Vanity Fair's July/Aug. issue. During sequestration Lance expanded into a 438 page book HOMICIDE AT ROUGH POINT published in 3 editions on 2.23.21 with the Audible edition which he narrated published on 3.10.21
Email: pl@peterlance.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
November 21, 2020
Books like this are rare now, by this I mean a journalistic investigation that is so thoroughly researched and where no stone is left unturned. Peter Lance is clearly the go to man on this subject. Some readers have said that it is a dry dull read, its not really a narrative and it certainly is not a biography of Scarpa, but what it is and does is goes into Scarpa's extensive criminal career and his relationship with imo clearly a bent Federal agent, this is the only conclusion of the book. I cannot believe for a moment that that agent honestly thought Scapa was just a soldier as opposed the major figure he actually was.
It could be argued that this agent essentially helped end Cosa Nostra in NY because now it is a shadow of itself, but the fact is he was feeding information to Scarpa for over a decade and that was getting innocent people killed ie Mari Barie, Scarpa was also dealing drugs, the reason for this was so that the FBI could get their man as the Boss of the Colombo family , ie their inside man would be a hell of a scoop. But It was not initially the point of getting scarpa to co operate or reactivating him, it was a by product.
But the fact is the book shows that many of these convictions that ended the family are very questionable, for instance the FBI knowingly had firearms planted resulting in arrests then conviction or the way Scarpa got away with barely any jail time because he was considered too important, when the reality was he using the feds for his own means. The way it was covered up basically those in power lied through their teeth or ignored the obvious and a decent cop Joe Simione was thrown under a bus is disgusting, many of those jailed were essentially defending their own lives from a man that was being fed information from the feds to target and kill them, albeit many were gangsters, but some innocent people paid a very harsh price and some the ultimate price.
I also believe his daughter needs to stop making money out of her fathers name, he was a woman murderer and a rat anyone that even breathed it was killed including his own brother, there is nothing nice about him, even if he did like coming home from a hard days gangstering sitting on the couch with his kids and watching the cosby show.
Lastly, People who give a work like this 1 star, should have researched the book before purchase, no work as detailed and expertly researched as this deserves less than a three, it is a book that most people could never write in a life time and for that alone it is not a one star book.
It could be argued that this agent essentially helped end Cosa Nostra in NY because now it is a shadow of itself, but the fact is he was feeding information to Scarpa for over a decade and that was getting innocent people killed ie Mari Barie, Scarpa was also dealing drugs, the reason for this was so that the FBI could get their man as the Boss of the Colombo family , ie their inside man would be a hell of a scoop. But It was not initially the point of getting scarpa to co operate or reactivating him, it was a by product.
But the fact is the book shows that many of these convictions that ended the family are very questionable, for instance the FBI knowingly had firearms planted resulting in arrests then conviction or the way Scarpa got away with barely any jail time because he was considered too important, when the reality was he using the feds for his own means. The way it was covered up basically those in power lied through their teeth or ignored the obvious and a decent cop Joe Simione was thrown under a bus is disgusting, many of those jailed were essentially defending their own lives from a man that was being fed information from the feds to target and kill them, albeit many were gangsters, but some innocent people paid a very harsh price and some the ultimate price.
I also believe his daughter needs to stop making money out of her fathers name, he was a woman murderer and a rat anyone that even breathed it was killed including his own brother, there is nothing nice about him, even if he did like coming home from a hard days gangstering sitting on the couch with his kids and watching the cosby show.
Lastly, People who give a work like this 1 star, should have researched the book before purchase, no work as detailed and expertly researched as this deserves less than a three, it is a book that most people could never write in a life time and for that alone it is not a one star book.
July 8, 2013
In Deal with the Devil, Peter Lance reveals the secret thirty-year relationship between the FBI, and Gregory Scarpa, Sr., a Mafia capo, nicknamed “the Killing Machine” who stopped counting after fifty murders. The FBI enlisted Scarpa Sr. as early as 1960 to provide detailed debriefings on Mafia practices, and activities sent straight to J. Edgar Hoover. Thoroughly documented, Peter Lance proves that the FBI’s playbook against “La Cosa Nostra” was designed, and shaped by what Scarpa Sr. fed them. This was long before the celebrated Valachi hearings. Scarpa Sr. was the first Mafioso to reveal ‘the face of the enemy’ and the true source for Mario Puzo’s Godfather trilogy.
Shocking details demonstrate:
Time and time again, the FBI protected Scarpa Sr.
The FBI has blood on their hands as Scarpa Sr. carried out more than twenty-six ‘hits’ while acting as a paid informant.
The Mafia capo was a bigamist, and adulterer who would watch his mistress have sex with the younger man he ‘adopted’ as his own son, and protégé.
Scarpa Sr. punched 666 into his phone to communicate each significant kill.
Deal with the Devil is deliciously written for a true Mafioso lover. But more importantly, it is a must read for every American citizen who deserves to know the truth.
Shocking details demonstrate:
Time and time again, the FBI protected Scarpa Sr.
The FBI has blood on their hands as Scarpa Sr. carried out more than twenty-six ‘hits’ while acting as a paid informant.
The Mafia capo was a bigamist, and adulterer who would watch his mistress have sex with the younger man he ‘adopted’ as his own son, and protégé.
Scarpa Sr. punched 666 into his phone to communicate each significant kill.
Deal with the Devil is deliciously written for a true Mafioso lover. But more importantly, it is a must read for every American citizen who deserves to know the truth.
July 17, 2014
Goodreads winner .
"Deal with the Devil" is an assertive chronicle and social history of Gregory Scarpa Sr.'s 30+ years as a paid FBI informant while still living a notorious and appalling life of crime. An ambitious true story of crime and disloyalty. Peter Lance, author and investigative reporter, has written a book that excels on authentication of the FBI 's deportment. Details in this narrative are deplorable and almost beyond belief. A consuming story of crime and subterfuge. Revelations are dismaying with extraordinary assertions that are well investigated from decades of files, information and materials. An interesting story, yet lamentable. Almost too astounding. Lance does an expert job of telling a story factually that sometimes goes against belief of a life more scandalous than some fiction. This in -depth depiction will be of particular interest to those who enjoy books regarding the Mafia and understanding the world of organized crime and digging deeply into the protection of the FBI to their paid informants.
"Deal with the Devil" is an assertive chronicle and social history of Gregory Scarpa Sr.'s 30+ years as a paid FBI informant while still living a notorious and appalling life of crime. An ambitious true story of crime and disloyalty. Peter Lance, author and investigative reporter, has written a book that excels on authentication of the FBI 's deportment. Details in this narrative are deplorable and almost beyond belief. A consuming story of crime and subterfuge. Revelations are dismaying with extraordinary assertions that are well investigated from decades of files, information and materials. An interesting story, yet lamentable. Almost too astounding. Lance does an expert job of telling a story factually that sometimes goes against belief of a life more scandalous than some fiction. This in -depth depiction will be of particular interest to those who enjoy books regarding the Mafia and understanding the world of organized crime and digging deeply into the protection of the FBI to their paid informants.
January 13, 2019
Could not finish. This is a well-researched book, but it was so boring. How does one make a book about the mafia and murder boring? I don’t know how but this author managed to do it. It does’t flow well either. It jumps back and forth, making it hard to follow. Once I started it and read about 60 pages, I couldn’t read anymore and managed to read 4 or 5 other books before coming back to this one. It was then I realized this book was not worth my time/
September 12, 2016
Good read
The Feds are always doing what ever it is they want so it was good to see someone throw it out there for the public to see.
The Feds are always doing what ever it is they want so it was good to see someone throw it out there for the public to see.
April 4, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “THE GRIM REAPER-THE MAD HATTER-HANNIBAL LECTER-THE KILLING MACHINE… A RAT OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!”.
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As a large part of my personal library is made up of books that fall into the following category… Mafia… organized crime… FBI… profiling… and serial killers… I have a lot of experience with books of this genre. In reviewing books of this type I try to act as a sounding board for all types of potential readers… so I have tried very hard to gear my recommendation on this book from multiple points of view… from the view of an experienced reader of this type of book… and from the point of view… of a reader who may have thought of taking the literary plunge into this dark area… but hasn’t actually stuck a toe in this exciting cesspool as of yet.
This book centers around Greg Scarpa Sr… a despicable… soulless… serial killer… of the innocent and guilty alike. So devoid of what might pass as even a minute bit of a human soul… Scarpa Sr… admits to not bothering himself with keeping track of how many people he killed… once he got past fifty! Though at first blush… it would seem that a less than human individual who killed this often… couldn’t possibly add any other “intangibles” to his M.O.…. that could make him even less desirable to take up space on this planet… this biological mistake… finds numerous additional ways to bring bile up the back of your throat. As one Mafia story after another is written that ends up… in a now altogether similar ending of… ratting out their family members… (Omerta… is simply a word that doesn’t exist… and makes all the old “blood-pledges”… seem as childishly ridiculous as the tooth fairy)… but this lowlife Scarpa takes it to a new low. Instead of ratting out every member of their family at the end… Scarpa Sr…. ratted out everyone from the beginning… and continued to do so for decades upon decades. And as unbelievable as that… he was actually paid by the FBI for his spineless Benedict Arnold in the Mafia performance. Scarpa was a multi-talented-lowlife-snitch. He not only ratted his “brothers” out to save his hide… he also ratted them out to help his advancement in the Mafia. He would simply rat out any competition he might have had from within. He ratted out… with the truth… he ratted out with lies. And the second biggest rat in this book… is the FBI! The FBI knew Scarpa Sr. was not only continuing on his criminal endeavors… but he was also continuing to murder with no inhibition… all while the FBI looked on… all of this against the entire creed of the FBI.
As I mentioned earlier… I have read innumerable books on this subject… and two of those were*GASPIPE*… and *MAFIA SON*… both by different authors… and the latter… was about Scarpa’s son… Greg Jr. … who gave another perspective on his Father… and his own attempt to help the United States fight Al Qaeda from inside a maximum security prison… and the three books intermingle well if you’ve read the other two. But here’s where I will try to look out for both types of potential readers… this book is so well documented… based on newly released documents… which verify much of what has been told before… that at times the author… due to the fact that he’s proving and documenting literally everything he writes… slows down the story at times… to where it’s more like a court reporter reading back testimony… as compared to a fast flowing story… which many of the good crime books I’ve read… come across as. Now I find myself in a dilemma… I like the fact that the author “proves” everything he says… and I really like the way the author at times states… I’ll prove that more in chapter “X”… but sometimes it just gets tedious as he lists countless FBI “airtels” and “209’s”.
In addition to Scarpa Sr.’s… murders… lying… ratting out associates… and performing other countless crimes… he also finds time to be married to two women at the same time… and also have a common law wife. There are so many things to hate and despise Sr. about… but at the same time… you have to hate the FBI and all it stands for… as they allowed so much murder and mayhem to continue… in the name of what??? Justice??? After reading this book… that’s a word the reader will have a hard time computing… not only in the same sentence as the FBI… but the same book.
The story starts out very interestingly in explaining that Scarpa Sr. was ratting out the Mafia even before the infamous Valachi ever sang like a canary in front of the world… and before the landmark “Valachi Papers” was even published. The author makes the case that it very well may have been Scarpa Sr. who fed all the information to Hoover’s FBI… and Hoover may have used that info to his advantage to get illegal wire taps. But from there… it becomes a very well documented court transcript. I applaud the author for his diligent research…. But if you’re expecting a high speed fuel injected ride through the history of the Mafia… you better make sure to pack some snacks and a change of clothes… because it’s a very long… slow ride… through interesting territory.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a large part of my personal library is made up of books that fall into the following category… Mafia… organized crime… FBI… profiling… and serial killers… I have a lot of experience with books of this genre. In reviewing books of this type I try to act as a sounding board for all types of potential readers… so I have tried very hard to gear my recommendation on this book from multiple points of view… from the view of an experienced reader of this type of book… and from the point of view… of a reader who may have thought of taking the literary plunge into this dark area… but hasn’t actually stuck a toe in this exciting cesspool as of yet.
This book centers around Greg Scarpa Sr… a despicable… soulless… serial killer… of the innocent and guilty alike. So devoid of what might pass as even a minute bit of a human soul… Scarpa Sr… admits to not bothering himself with keeping track of how many people he killed… once he got past fifty! Though at first blush… it would seem that a less than human individual who killed this often… couldn’t possibly add any other “intangibles” to his M.O.…. that could make him even less desirable to take up space on this planet… this biological mistake… finds numerous additional ways to bring bile up the back of your throat. As one Mafia story after another is written that ends up… in a now altogether similar ending of… ratting out their family members… (Omerta… is simply a word that doesn’t exist… and makes all the old “blood-pledges”… seem as childishly ridiculous as the tooth fairy)… but this lowlife Scarpa takes it to a new low. Instead of ratting out every member of their family at the end… Scarpa Sr…. ratted out everyone from the beginning… and continued to do so for decades upon decades. And as unbelievable as that… he was actually paid by the FBI for his spineless Benedict Arnold in the Mafia performance. Scarpa was a multi-talented-lowlife-snitch. He not only ratted his “brothers” out to save his hide… he also ratted them out to help his advancement in the Mafia. He would simply rat out any competition he might have had from within. He ratted out… with the truth… he ratted out with lies. And the second biggest rat in this book… is the FBI! The FBI knew Scarpa Sr. was not only continuing on his criminal endeavors… but he was also continuing to murder with no inhibition… all while the FBI looked on… all of this against the entire creed of the FBI.
As I mentioned earlier… I have read innumerable books on this subject… and two of those were*GASPIPE*… and *MAFIA SON*… both by different authors… and the latter… was about Scarpa’s son… Greg Jr. … who gave another perspective on his Father… and his own attempt to help the United States fight Al Qaeda from inside a maximum security prison… and the three books intermingle well if you’ve read the other two. But here’s where I will try to look out for both types of potential readers… this book is so well documented… based on newly released documents… which verify much of what has been told before… that at times the author… due to the fact that he’s proving and documenting literally everything he writes… slows down the story at times… to where it’s more like a court reporter reading back testimony… as compared to a fast flowing story… which many of the good crime books I’ve read… come across as. Now I find myself in a dilemma… I like the fact that the author “proves” everything he says… and I really like the way the author at times states… I’ll prove that more in chapter “X”… but sometimes it just gets tedious as he lists countless FBI “airtels” and “209’s”.
In addition to Scarpa Sr.’s… murders… lying… ratting out associates… and performing other countless crimes… he also finds time to be married to two women at the same time… and also have a common law wife. There are so many things to hate and despise Sr. about… but at the same time… you have to hate the FBI and all it stands for… as they allowed so much murder and mayhem to continue… in the name of what??? Justice??? After reading this book… that’s a word the reader will have a hard time computing… not only in the same sentence as the FBI… but the same book.
The story starts out very interestingly in explaining that Scarpa Sr. was ratting out the Mafia even before the infamous Valachi ever sang like a canary in front of the world… and before the landmark “Valachi Papers” was even published. The author makes the case that it very well may have been Scarpa Sr. who fed all the information to Hoover’s FBI… and Hoover may have used that info to his advantage to get illegal wire taps. But from there… it becomes a very well documented court transcript. I applaud the author for his diligent research…. But if you’re expecting a high speed fuel injected ride through the history of the Mafia… you better make sure to pack some snacks and a change of clothes… because it’s a very long… slow ride… through interesting territory.
April 15, 2018
This book reads like a compilation of redacted memos. Interesting information, but a bore to read. I had a very hard time staying interested enough to continue reading it... It is a very accurate and well researched book, but sometimes just to hard to stay focused and on track as it does not read like a novel, more like an encyclopedia read, but there is no mistaking that the author has done his homework and got it bang on.... I did manage to finish it, but to be honest I was at 34% percent and ended up reading something else and didn't have the energy to get back to it till about a year later to be able to finally finish it... It ends at around 70% and then the rest is the proof of the research he has done to back up his claims and to be honest I didn't start really getting in to the book and staying interested until after the first 34% which was when I had had enough of trying to continue forcing myself to believe it was going to get interesting right around the corner and turn in to a story line... In the first 34 percent I had to tell myself that I would give it a few more pages to get through the boring memo style of writing and it was finally going to be a good read, but I just ended up deceiving myself at least twenty to thirty times until I finally gave up till, as I said; about a year later, realistically if I would have given it that it will get interesting in the next few pages one more time, it would have gotten me past that crest/plateau and I would have finished it first try, but now that I have finally finished it, I am very glad I did find the resilience to continue on from the 34% as it was certainly a very eye opening book and I have to agree with him, the Federal Authorities have zero concern for honesty, they are all about covering their asses no matter the expense to society at large; people should truly not expect the truth from the governments... It is truly sad and I would like to thank the author for taking this time to get the real story out there... Even though I had a hard time staying focused at first, it truly is a very good book, Maybe just not what I expected in the writing style when I purchased it.... I am more of a true crime buff and kind of thought it would be a bit more like a story with some proof thrown in here and there and maybe even some references at the end about where he gained his knowledge, but when you have to use 30% of a book to just list the places where you can prove what you said is true, then that should tell you that there is an awful lot in the first 70% that is pretty much verbatim from files and documents... Like i said;, extremely well researched and very accurate, but a hard read to keep interested in until you get past the first 34%....
October 24, 2024
DNF at 300 pages.
DNF but still giving 4 stars. I gave this the old college try, and I flew through the first 30% or so. After that, I struggled. The content is so interesting - the government (namely FBI and CIA) is corrupt and knowingly allowed Greg Scarpa to murder multiple people (and sometimes on their wishes), lied on their internal documentation... SHOCKED PIKACHU FACE, amirite?
The amount of investigation and information in this is the most I've ever encountered in a nonfiction. Ridiculous amounts of time were poured into this, and I do greatly appreciate the dedication the author took to do this. However, it is also the downfall of this book. The appendix and references in the back are nearly 100 pages long - we love having the receipts. But it's just too much for a read. It feels more like a textbook. I think this would have been a lot better by cutting out a lot of the little details and at the end the author could have just referenced the documents with which he made conclusions. There needed to be a balance, and this gets overwhelming. Everything is laid out down to the last detail. The sheer amount of information just becomes dry after a while and this never gets into a flow of a story and feels like you're just reading the court documents and 209's that were heavily referenced throughout.
DNF but still giving 4 stars. I gave this the old college try, and I flew through the first 30% or so. After that, I struggled. The content is so interesting - the government (namely FBI and CIA) is corrupt and knowingly allowed Greg Scarpa to murder multiple people (and sometimes on their wishes), lied on their internal documentation... SHOCKED PIKACHU FACE, amirite?
The amount of investigation and information in this is the most I've ever encountered in a nonfiction. Ridiculous amounts of time were poured into this, and I do greatly appreciate the dedication the author took to do this. However, it is also the downfall of this book. The appendix and references in the back are nearly 100 pages long - we love having the receipts. But it's just too much for a read. It feels more like a textbook. I think this would have been a lot better by cutting out a lot of the little details and at the end the author could have just referenced the documents with which he made conclusions. There needed to be a balance, and this gets overwhelming. Everything is laid out down to the last detail. The sheer amount of information just becomes dry after a while and this never gets into a flow of a story and feels like you're just reading the court documents and 209's that were heavily referenced throughout.
January 31, 2019
What more can I say about Peter Lance that hasn't already been said? The man's journalistic prowess really shines through in a work that not only satisfies the mafia junkie in me, but also provides a bit of a contemporary history lesson in regards to the corrupt practices that have plagued our law enforcement institutions for generations.
While certainly not for the casual true crime consumer, clocking in at nearly 700 pages, this thome is rich with mafia lore and a harrowing story of two of the most corrupt individuals in American history. Throughout the course of my studies, I have become intimately aware of the life and work of Agent Lindley Devecchio, who was nothing more than another iteration of Lou Eppolito with a pedigree.
What truly sets this work apart from other mafia accounts is the personal look into Scarpa's life. Applying some semblance of humanity to a monster is a tricky balancing act, but Lance does it with the expertise his readers have come to revel in. He removes the stark black and white terms in which we as a society tend to view these stories and reveals the grey that lies beneath it.
While certainly not for the casual true crime consumer, clocking in at nearly 700 pages, this thome is rich with mafia lore and a harrowing story of two of the most corrupt individuals in American history. Throughout the course of my studies, I have become intimately aware of the life and work of Agent Lindley Devecchio, who was nothing more than another iteration of Lou Eppolito with a pedigree.
What truly sets this work apart from other mafia accounts is the personal look into Scarpa's life. Applying some semblance of humanity to a monster is a tricky balancing act, but Lance does it with the expertise his readers have come to revel in. He removes the stark black and white terms in which we as a society tend to view these stories and reveals the grey that lies beneath it.
August 22, 2018
You’ll need a lot of patience and concentration to get through this 530 page tome on the unholy alliance between the FBI and Mafia killer Greg Scarpa. Through copious research and documentation, investigative journalist Peter Lance makes a strong case that Agent Lindlay Devecchio was the John Connolly of New York. Connolly, of course, was the infamous agent who protected and supported the bloodthirsty reign of mobster Whitey Bulger in Boston. What Devecchio did in New York was arguably even worse, and Lance’s book is a strong and necessary indictment of FBI corruption and government abuse of power. I only wish Lance could have found a way to make his points more concisely. I was plumb exhausted by the time I finally slid this brick down the chute at the library return.
September 15, 2022
Holy smokes this one took me forever at over 700 pages. But I think this is the definitive account of Scarpa Sr and Lin DeVecchio's FBI/Mafia relationship. Scarpa was essentially given a license to kill by his handler Lin and nobody in Cosa Nostra knew he was an informant for 20 years. He also goes into Scarpa Jr being locked up next to Khaleed Sheik Mohammed who masterminded 911 and how he tried to tell the FBI that this guy was telling him about these terrorist threats they intended to carry out and nothing was done about it prior to 911. They had this info 6 years before and did nothing with it.
This book is incredibly well researched and well documented and I will be reading other Lance stories.
This book is incredibly well researched and well documented and I will be reading other Lance stories.
January 8, 2020
Clearly well researched and full of information, but at the same time incredibly hard to read, with all that information being awfully badly presented, most of the first half of the book is nothing more than reprinting of FBI memos and other released documents, that just dump facts and names on the reader with very little context explanation, on top of it there are a series of jumps in chronological order that make things even more difficult to keep up with. this was a struggle to finish.
April 4, 2022
In this investigative report you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about NYC Mafia member Greg Scarpa Sr and FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio. This was a slog of a read for me which was made even more challenging by the poor focus/editing. It was obvious that the author did a great deal of research and gathered a lot of information, but I struggled to keep track of events (seemingly presented haphazardly) and people (who were referred by various nicknames).
January 29, 2017
This book details the relationship between the FBI and “The Grim Reaper” Greg Scarpa. It tells how he kept the FBI on a string only giving them information to help himself while the FBI helped keep a murderer on the street. The book dragged quite a bit at times with the back and forth of various FBI documents and court cases.
May 25, 2018
Great book. Very informative.
Less of a story book and more of a study in criminal procedure involving the mafia, courts, and police.
Audiobook version was a tad difficult. The narrator, who I think may be the author, had a somewhat grating voice. He’s got that “newscaster” inflection.
Totally worth listening to, but slightly odd.
Less of a story book and more of a study in criminal procedure involving the mafia, courts, and police.
Audiobook version was a tad difficult. The narrator, who I think may be the author, had a somewhat grating voice. He’s got that “newscaster” inflection.
Totally worth listening to, but slightly odd.
June 13, 2018
I thought the book was a great read without getting overly in depth. I think the biggest event from this book was the ruination perpetrated against a NY detective by the Agent in charge. How was this allowed to happen? In all honesty, you need to read it to understand, but I was both amazed and angry about it.
June 7, 2018
Putting this in purgatory for now. Can’t put my finger on why, but I’m not especially gripped by this book. I’m not certain it’s the author’s fault, either - I just know that it started feeling like a slog halfway through, and my reading time is too precious to be less than entertained.
July 22, 2019
This book was super interesting. I enjoyed the facts it offered and the idea behind it was cool. Unfortunately, the author's writing style was about as interesting as watching paint dry. His narrative wandered around, seemingly aimlessly before settling back on some relevant fact.
November 20, 2025
I started deducting a star every time the author used “rubout“ for murder. Within the first hundred pages, I had counted negative bajillion stars. I also did not know it was possible to make the mafia completely and utterly boring.
March 28, 2019
Great book learned allot
Need a lot more leadership at FBI especially when comes to terror cases
Instead using lawyers and prosecutors the next FBI chief should be an investigator
Need a lot more leadership at FBI especially when comes to terror cases
Instead using lawyers and prosecutors the next FBI chief should be an investigator
June 22, 2020
Desperation read. Grisly.
August 30, 2021
Great read. It's really no wonder people have distrust and disgust with our government.
November 18, 2021
Very interesting, but hard to follow at times.
December 7, 2021
Well researched and very wild for a true crime story.
October 21, 2022
Really good..you know with books about organized crime there are a lot of layers and people to go through but the author does it well. Delvecchio..I can't say with certainty his hands are clean
December 15, 2023
While interesting from a factual standpoint, this book was soooooooo repetitive, and it felt like the author thought quite a lot of himself and his research.
July 27, 2025
Very intriguing subject matter but I feel like the author jumped around in a weird way and repeated himself too much
October 8, 2025
This book was okay but very hard to follow as it had lots of characters. The author tended to promote all the books he had written which I did not appreciate.
April 17, 2014
It feels strange rating a book so highly when I can honestly say I spent half the time wondering what the hell was going on. Everyone's name ended in a vowel, everyone was getting killed on every other page, everyone had a given name as well as a nickname, and on and on it went.
Hey, so this is a book about a made man, Gregory Scarpa, Sr., who is turned by the FBI, and his handler is a dude named Lin DeVecchio. Needless to say, from the title of the book, neither of the two are on the up and up. Scarpa doesn't tell the entire truth to the FBI and *gasp* makes sure what he does tell the FBI suits his situation. DeVeccihio uses his in with the mob to, well, get in with the mob, you'll see.
Another thing about Scarpa is that he has full-blown AIDS through-out much of his life due to a transfusion, so that adds a little twist.
Then, to make things even MORE confusing, the author, Peter Lance, he of the fully-researched book (no kidding, wow, holy cow), shows at the end how if the FBI would just stop investigating the dying mafia already, they totally could have prevented 9/11. Look, it's hard to explain in a book review because I'm not very good at book reviews, but Peter Lance does a great job of it because he is very good at writing well-researched books. I'm going to read all of his books now. Heck, I even read his footnotes at the end, and I never do that, because who the heck cares about footnotes.
Hey, so this is a book about a made man, Gregory Scarpa, Sr., who is turned by the FBI, and his handler is a dude named Lin DeVecchio. Needless to say, from the title of the book, neither of the two are on the up and up. Scarpa doesn't tell the entire truth to the FBI and *gasp* makes sure what he does tell the FBI suits his situation. DeVeccihio uses his in with the mob to, well, get in with the mob, you'll see.
Another thing about Scarpa is that he has full-blown AIDS through-out much of his life due to a transfusion, so that adds a little twist.
Then, to make things even MORE confusing, the author, Peter Lance, he of the fully-researched book (no kidding, wow, holy cow), shows at the end how if the FBI would just stop investigating the dying mafia already, they totally could have prevented 9/11. Look, it's hard to explain in a book review because I'm not very good at book reviews, but Peter Lance does a great job of it because he is very good at writing well-researched books. I'm going to read all of his books now. Heck, I even read his footnotes at the end, and I never do that, because who the heck cares about footnotes.
August 30, 2016
There are alot of unexpected developments in this very readable tale. What really struck me the most was that the subject of the book, Nikki Scarpa, was that he was used to go down to the deep south during the civil rights crisis of the 60s, to aid in their enforced interrogations there. Besides that, though there is quite a bit in here, that is very revelatory, about how not only the mafia works, but also how FBI units handle their prized CIs (confidential informants), and how much some of them get away with, as well. Just as with all of the other investigative journalist type of books this author has written, you are left feeling more informed, but also more disgusted, at how the people reported on got away with so much for so many years. If you are a fan of this mans body of work, then you will like this book, or if you just like good, to the point journalism, this will keep your interest, too.
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