What do you think?
Rate this book
Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice
This unforgettable narrative follows the astonishing career and epic manhunt for Whitey Bulger—a gangster whose life was more sensational than fiction.
Raised in a South Boston housing project, James "Whitey" Bulger became the most wanted fugitive of his generation. In this riveting story, rich with family ties and intrigue, award-winning Boston Globe reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy follow Whitey's extraordinary criminal career--from teenage thievery to bank robberies to the building of his underworld empire and a string of brutal murders. It was after a nine-year stint in Alcatraz and other prisons that Whitey reunited with his brother William "Billy" Bulger, who was soon to become one of Massachusetts's most powerful politicians. He also became reacquainted with John Connolly, who had grown up around the corner from the Bulgers and was now--with Billy's help--a rising star at the FBI.
Once Whitey emerged triumphant from the bloody Boston gang wars, Connolly recruited him as an informant against the Mafia. Their clandestine relationship made Whitey untouchable; the FBI overlooked gambling, drugs, and even homicide to protect their source. Among the close-knit Irish community in South Boston, nothing was more important than honor and loyalty, and nothing was worse than being a rat. Whitey is charged with the deaths of nineteen people killed over turf, for business, and even for being informants; yet to this day he denies he ever gave up his friends or landed anyone in jail.
Based on exclusive access and previously undisclosed documents, Cullen and Murphy explore the truth of the Whitey Bulger story. They reveal for the first time the extent of his two parallel family lives with different women, as well as his lifelong paranoia stemming in part from his experience in the CIA's MKULTRA program. They describe his support of the IRA and his hitherto-unknown role in the Boston busing crisis, and they show a keen understanding of his mindset while on the lam and behind bars. The result is the first full portrait of this legendary criminal figure--a gripping story of wiseguys and cops, horrendous government malfeasance, and a sixteen-year manhunt that climaxed in Whitey's dramatic capture in Santa Monica in June 2011.
Raised in a South Boston housing project, James "Whitey" Bulger became the most wanted fugitive of his generation. In this riveting story, rich with family ties and intrigue, award-winning Boston Globe reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy follow Whitey's extraordinary criminal career--from teenage thievery to bank robberies to the building of his underworld empire and a string of brutal murders. It was after a nine-year stint in Alcatraz and other prisons that Whitey reunited with his brother William "Billy" Bulger, who was soon to become one of Massachusetts's most powerful politicians. He also became reacquainted with John Connolly, who had grown up around the corner from the Bulgers and was now--with Billy's help--a rising star at the FBI.
Once Whitey emerged triumphant from the bloody Boston gang wars, Connolly recruited him as an informant against the Mafia. Their clandestine relationship made Whitey untouchable; the FBI overlooked gambling, drugs, and even homicide to protect their source. Among the close-knit Irish community in South Boston, nothing was more important than honor and loyalty, and nothing was worse than being a rat. Whitey is charged with the deaths of nineteen people killed over turf, for business, and even for being informants; yet to this day he denies he ever gave up his friends or landed anyone in jail.
Based on exclusive access and previously undisclosed documents, Cullen and Murphy explore the truth of the Whitey Bulger story. They reveal for the first time the extent of his two parallel family lives with different women, as well as his lifelong paranoia stemming in part from his experience in the CIA's MKULTRA program. They describe his support of the IRA and his hitherto-unknown role in the Boston busing crisis, and they show a keen understanding of his mindset while on the lam and behind bars. The result is the first full portrait of this legendary criminal figure--a gripping story of wiseguys and cops, horrendous government malfeasance, and a sixteen-year manhunt that climaxed in Whitey's dramatic capture in Santa Monica in June 2011.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published February 11, 2013
181 people are currently reading
1736 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Cullen
24 books11 followersKevin Cullen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has written for the Boston Globe since 1985, was the first to raise questions about Whitey Bulger's relationship with the FBI. A frequent commentator on NPR and the BBC, Cullen has won major journalism prizes including the Goldsmith Prize, the George Polk Award, and the Selden Ring Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews
December 25, 2022
This was a very good read. This book followed a biographical approach. I learned about the setting of Boston, his childhood and family, the life of crime he turned to in his youth, Alcatraz, and his rise to power in the South Boston world of organized crime. I also learned about Whitey and Connolly grew up together in the same working class neighborhood. Even more they lived in the same apartment complex and had regular run-ins. Eleven years older than Connolly, Whitey had the reputation as a legend in the neighborhood. At age eight, Whitey bought Connolly and his friends ice cream because they couldn't afford any; he also saved Connolly from a beating by neighborhood bullies in the same timeframe (pgs 34-6). Connolly would never forget these acts of kindness and would later play out in there adult relationship on both sides of the law.
The read became detailed and full of information during the 1970s and 1980s. This was when he became the top of the Winter Hill Gang and then became his own man. During this time the famous deal with the Devil (pgs 104-8) when Whitey and FBI agent Connolly formed an alliance that was shocking once exposed. The timeline of the narrative went through Whitey's disappearance in 1994 and the events leading up to his arrest in 2011. In the end they both went down and justice was served.
The story was well-written and kept me engaged the whole time. I would rate this as an essential read second to Where the Bodies Were Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World that Made Him by T.J. English and Black Mass by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. I would recommend all three to anyone interested in the story of Whitey Bulger. Thanks!
The read became detailed and full of information during the 1970s and 1980s. This was when he became the top of the Winter Hill Gang and then became his own man. During this time the famous deal with the Devil (pgs 104-8) when Whitey and FBI agent Connolly formed an alliance that was shocking once exposed. The timeline of the narrative went through Whitey's disappearance in 1994 and the events leading up to his arrest in 2011. In the end they both went down and justice was served.
The story was well-written and kept me engaged the whole time. I would rate this as an essential read second to Where the Bodies Were Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World that Made Him by T.J. English and Black Mass by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. I would recommend all three to anyone interested in the story of Whitey Bulger. Thanks!
April 10, 2014
Whitey Bulger was a horrible man, and the FBI was even worse, but this is an exciting, well-written book that has the pace of a thriller.
Bulger was smart; what a waste of talent. But his solution whenever confronted with a problem was always murder - at least 19 of them. His energy was devoted to stealing from others the fruits of their (mostly illegal) labor. He never did any legitimate work of his own.
Bulger was protected by the FBI, in return for information he allegedly provided to help the FBI destroy the Boston mafia. He was given license to extort and kill, and his crimes were covered up. The really frustrating part of the book is that only one FBI agent was prosecuted and sent to prison. The Boston and DC offices emerged largely unscathed from their despicable acts. It leaves one wondering what levels of FBI corruption remain undiscovered and serves to tar all the good FBI agents.
Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy have written a remarkable book, well worth reading if you have the stomach for it.
My wife and I attended one day of Bulger's trial in Boston this past summer, where we watched the testimony of Ralph Flemmi, Bulger's chief partner in crime and murder. It was spellbinding and horrifying. People like that exist, and sometimes the FBI helps them do their business.
Bulger was smart; what a waste of talent. But his solution whenever confronted with a problem was always murder - at least 19 of them. His energy was devoted to stealing from others the fruits of their (mostly illegal) labor. He never did any legitimate work of his own.
Bulger was protected by the FBI, in return for information he allegedly provided to help the FBI destroy the Boston mafia. He was given license to extort and kill, and his crimes were covered up. The really frustrating part of the book is that only one FBI agent was prosecuted and sent to prison. The Boston and DC offices emerged largely unscathed from their despicable acts. It leaves one wondering what levels of FBI corruption remain undiscovered and serves to tar all the good FBI agents.
Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy have written a remarkable book, well worth reading if you have the stomach for it.
My wife and I attended one day of Bulger's trial in Boston this past summer, where we watched the testimony of Ralph Flemmi, Bulger's chief partner in crime and murder. It was spellbinding and horrifying. People like that exist, and sometimes the FBI helps them do their business.
April 27, 2013
This books is seriously a tome. Massive in size and substance, I was expecting to learn a great deal about Whitey himself (and I must admit here, I'm a little freaked out even mentioning Whitey's name in a public forum - I'm terrified of him after reading this book, even though he's clearly no longer a threat and certainly not to me), but I was surprised by how much I learned about Boston socio-economics and politics. Whitey Bulger's story is deeply and intrinsically tied to both South Boston and the FBI, as the authors' meticulous research shows and I really enjoyed the historical perspective on it all. Several days after finishing it, I'm still thinking about Whitey and the contradictory man that he appears to be!
June 23, 2020
This biography on Whitey Bulger was very interesting as it contains more information about his 16 years on the run than the other books that I've read on Bulger.
The topic "man on the run" fascinates me since my childhood when I was watching "The Fugitive" with David Janssen playing Dr. Richard Kimble on German TV.
If anybody can recommend more non-fiction books about people on the run I would be thrilled.
The topic "man on the run" fascinates me since my childhood when I was watching "The Fugitive" with David Janssen playing Dr. Richard Kimble on German TV.
If anybody can recommend more non-fiction books about people on the run I would be thrilled.
March 19, 2013
There has been much written about the inherent nature of human beings, and as a former educator, I have reflected many times on the question as to whether or not people can be born "bad." There is something deep in us that wants to believe that at birth, we are all potentially improvable, and that no basic trait is immutable. Whitey Bulger comes about as close to being a born sociopath as I have ever encountered. And yet...
This book treats many facets of Bulger's life: His upbringing in Southie; the tribalism and clannishness of the Irish; the blinding loyalty of family and friends. That Bulger was born with a strong, contrarian will and a disinclination to obey authority seems quite clear. He seems always to be crashing into forces that want him to do something that he does not want to do: parents, teachers, police, etc. By the time he reaches adulthood he has already had numerous run-ins with the law for theft, sexual assault, aggression, fighting--you name it--by 18, he already had a long rap sheet. But the tight bond of the Irish seems to keep giving him a pass, until he finally commits a crime that puts him in Alcatraz.
All seems to go well in prison. He seems to have reconciled himself to paying for his crimes, and for the most part, in prison, he manages to obey the rules, and is so convincing to the authorities (with Father Robert Drinan, his brother, and numerous others pleading his case) that he gets out on parole with the stated promise that he has turned his life around and intends to live right. Which points out another outsized trait of his--his manipulative charm. Those who trusted him, took him at his word, were seduced by his charm, would have witnessed just what a conniver he really was--had they been interested in really finding out...
He embarks on a life of considerable savagery as he consolidates power in a community where the old gangsters have been weakened while he was in prison. Theft, coercion, protection rackets, shaking down drug dealers and murder--he is a criminal polymath, and carries out his crimes with particular savagery. , Whitey has a handler in the FBI--a younger member of the Southie community who Whitey treated kindly a couple of times as a kid who sanitizes and manipulates information to make it look like Whitey had a direct conduit to the inside of the Mafia. And the FBI, obsessed with decapitting the Mafia, essentially gives Whitey a free pass to carry out whatever criminal activities he wants including murder, as long as he provides them with intelligence that advances their cause.
The open question about Whitey though, is a result of the effect of his "voluntary" acquiescence to do LSD trials under the auspices of the CIA while in Alcatraz. It seems that the effects of this, which traumatized him in prison, may have caused a psychological shift in him that exacerbated his already troubling behavioral traits. It seems that some of the experiences that he had as a result of the LSD so disturbed him that he was never able to fully escape the effects.
Whitey is scheduled to go to trial in 2013, and swears that he will tell his true story. There is pretty credible evidence that the FBI never really wanted to find him in the 15 years he was on the lam, because of the terrible embarrassment that his poor handling would reveal about the organiization.
A highly recommended read--exhaustively researched, well written--a compelling story about a very complex man in a very complex time.
This book treats many facets of Bulger's life: His upbringing in Southie; the tribalism and clannishness of the Irish; the blinding loyalty of family and friends. That Bulger was born with a strong, contrarian will and a disinclination to obey authority seems quite clear. He seems always to be crashing into forces that want him to do something that he does not want to do: parents, teachers, police, etc. By the time he reaches adulthood he has already had numerous run-ins with the law for theft, sexual assault, aggression, fighting--you name it--by 18, he already had a long rap sheet. But the tight bond of the Irish seems to keep giving him a pass, until he finally commits a crime that puts him in Alcatraz.
All seems to go well in prison. He seems to have reconciled himself to paying for his crimes, and for the most part, in prison, he manages to obey the rules, and is so convincing to the authorities (with Father Robert Drinan, his brother, and numerous others pleading his case) that he gets out on parole with the stated promise that he has turned his life around and intends to live right. Which points out another outsized trait of his--his manipulative charm. Those who trusted him, took him at his word, were seduced by his charm, would have witnessed just what a conniver he really was--had they been interested in really finding out...
He embarks on a life of considerable savagery as he consolidates power in a community where the old gangsters have been weakened while he was in prison. Theft, coercion, protection rackets, shaking down drug dealers and murder--he is a criminal polymath, and carries out his crimes with particular savagery. , Whitey has a handler in the FBI--a younger member of the Southie community who Whitey treated kindly a couple of times as a kid who sanitizes and manipulates information to make it look like Whitey had a direct conduit to the inside of the Mafia. And the FBI, obsessed with decapitting the Mafia, essentially gives Whitey a free pass to carry out whatever criminal activities he wants including murder, as long as he provides them with intelligence that advances their cause.
The open question about Whitey though, is a result of the effect of his "voluntary" acquiescence to do LSD trials under the auspices of the CIA while in Alcatraz. It seems that the effects of this, which traumatized him in prison, may have caused a psychological shift in him that exacerbated his already troubling behavioral traits. It seems that some of the experiences that he had as a result of the LSD so disturbed him that he was never able to fully escape the effects.
Whitey is scheduled to go to trial in 2013, and swears that he will tell his true story. There is pretty credible evidence that the FBI never really wanted to find him in the 15 years he was on the lam, because of the terrible embarrassment that his poor handling would reveal about the organiization.
A highly recommended read--exhaustively researched, well written--a compelling story about a very complex man in a very complex time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2016
"Christmas is for cops and kids." --Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger one December as he stuffed envelopes full of cash for FBI agents (He also gave out Lalique crystal, cases of wine, and fancy clocks.)
Even if you know that Whitey Bulger was at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list and had a $2 million bounty on his head, you may not know that . . .
* He literally ran away with the circus when he was a young man.
* He once owned an ocelot.
* He volunteered to be injected with LSD once a week for 15 months to reduce his time in prison. (The doctors told him they needed healthy volunteers to help them cure schizophrenia. It was actually a CIA mind control experiment. The drugs caused horrific nightmares and hallucinations, and he got only 54 days off his sentence.)
* He bragged that he read a book a day during his 10-year stint in prison.
* He also bragged that he had killed 40 people.
* He firebombed the JFK birthplace during the busing crisis.
* He tried to blow up Plymouth Rock. (He just chipped it a little and blasted a hole in the sand.)
* He shot up the front entrance and the back entrance of the Boston Globe building. When the newspaper hired more security guards, he bragged he was a jobs creator.
* He cut down on killing people (and dumped two of his four girlfriends) when his doctor told him that stress was bad for his heart.
Between Honey Fitz, Toodles, Billy O, Spike, Zip, Wimpy, and Punchy, the nicknames in this book make it feel like a demented fairy tale--Snow White(y) and the Seven Hoods.
"I can't kill [up-and-coming politician] Ray Flynn. But I can kill you. . . . Killing you would be easy." Bulger to a 25-year-old political aide
Even if you know that Whitey Bulger was at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list and had a $2 million bounty on his head, you may not know that . . .
* He literally ran away with the circus when he was a young man.
* He once owned an ocelot.
* He volunteered to be injected with LSD once a week for 15 months to reduce his time in prison. (The doctors told him they needed healthy volunteers to help them cure schizophrenia. It was actually a CIA mind control experiment. The drugs caused horrific nightmares and hallucinations, and he got only 54 days off his sentence.)
* He bragged that he read a book a day during his 10-year stint in prison.
* He also bragged that he had killed 40 people.
* He firebombed the JFK birthplace during the busing crisis.
* He tried to blow up Plymouth Rock. (He just chipped it a little and blasted a hole in the sand.)
* He shot up the front entrance and the back entrance of the Boston Globe building. When the newspaper hired more security guards, he bragged he was a jobs creator.
* He cut down on killing people (and dumped two of his four girlfriends) when his doctor told him that stress was bad for his heart.
Between Honey Fitz, Toodles, Billy O, Spike, Zip, Wimpy, and Punchy, the nicknames in this book make it feel like a demented fairy tale--Snow White(y) and the Seven Hoods.
"I can't kill [up-and-coming politician] Ray Flynn. But I can kill you. . . . Killing you would be easy." Bulger to a 25-year-old political aide
April 7, 2014
Extremely Thorough, Well Researched, and Highly Readable
Extremely Thorough, Well Researched, and Highly Readable
The Whitey Bulger tale is legendary. There has been so much written it's hard to know what to believe. The biography by Cullen and Murphy is well researched and explains the back story of Bulger and how he grew up, matter of factly, not in an apologetic nor heroic manner. It is detailed enough to provide a thorough explanation of events without over elaborating to the nth degree. The rare instances where Bulger is seemingly kind, it recounts them (even Hitler liked dogs) but this account in no way attempts to romanticize Bulger, his life or make him into some "Robin Hood of Southie." Great writing, fascinating tale.
Extremely Thorough, Well Researched, and Highly Readable
The Whitey Bulger tale is legendary. There has been so much written it's hard to know what to believe. The biography by Cullen and Murphy is well researched and explains the back story of Bulger and how he grew up, matter of factly, not in an apologetic nor heroic manner. It is detailed enough to provide a thorough explanation of events without over elaborating to the nth degree. The rare instances where Bulger is seemingly kind, it recounts them (even Hitler liked dogs) but this account in no way attempts to romanticize Bulger, his life or make him into some "Robin Hood of Southie." Great writing, fascinating tale.
September 22, 2013
I'm about half-way through the book. I picked it up because as a transplant, I could never understand what the fuss over this man was about. I now understand the fascination with him. Cullen and Murphy have written an engaging account that does not just expose the corrupt relationship between Bulger and the FBI, it forces the reader to ask the tough questions: how far is it ethical to go to bring down a powerful crime syndicate like the Mafia? The FBI special agents appear to have truly thought that they were ultimately doing the greatest good for the greatest number. Is it possible for law enforcement to work that closely with a corrupt organization and not become corrupted? The book's message is a resounding "no". How can someone like Bulger be capable of such horrible acts but also do much good for many people? His capacity for both extreme good and col-blooded murder is what clearly makes him so fascinating. It's a study in the narratives we tell ourselves to excuse our bad actions as much as anything else.
What also stood out to me was Bulger's intelligence and charisma--it's clear that this engendered extreme loyalty in many people. He couldn't have kept up his organization without it. He put that together with the neighborhood loyalty in South Boston, and for many years he was unstoppable. The authors clearly think that the impression he made on his main FBI handler, and the one who covered for him for many years, as a child in South Boston was what allowed this to go on for so many years.
Bill Bulger also stands out as an interesting figure--the reasons he stands behind his brother are never fully explained--I don't think they can be. The authors chalk it up to the tendency in South Boston for the same family to produce a police officer with a gangster (or "wiseguy"). It is interesting to observe how this phenomenon is taken for granted as a by product of growing up in public housing, yet today we punish families who have a convict among them by throwing them out of public housing if they provide a place to stay for a someone returning from prison (as Bulger's family did for him).
In addition to reading this book, I'm simultaneously reading the WBUR blog of the trial and the columns Cullen wrote on it. It's interesting that Cullen is mostly pleased with the way the trial was conducted and the verdicts while the WBUR blogger is very critical of the prosecutors' presentation and disappointed with the verdict. I would have expected the opposite.
What also stood out to me was Bulger's intelligence and charisma--it's clear that this engendered extreme loyalty in many people. He couldn't have kept up his organization without it. He put that together with the neighborhood loyalty in South Boston, and for many years he was unstoppable. The authors clearly think that the impression he made on his main FBI handler, and the one who covered for him for many years, as a child in South Boston was what allowed this to go on for so many years.
Bill Bulger also stands out as an interesting figure--the reasons he stands behind his brother are never fully explained--I don't think they can be. The authors chalk it up to the tendency in South Boston for the same family to produce a police officer with a gangster (or "wiseguy"). It is interesting to observe how this phenomenon is taken for granted as a by product of growing up in public housing, yet today we punish families who have a convict among them by throwing them out of public housing if they provide a place to stay for a someone returning from prison (as Bulger's family did for him).
In addition to reading this book, I'm simultaneously reading the WBUR blog of the trial and the columns Cullen wrote on it. It's interesting that Cullen is mostly pleased with the way the trial was conducted and the verdicts while the WBUR blogger is very critical of the prosecutors' presentation and disappointed with the verdict. I would have expected the opposite.
November 22, 2014
Pretty comprehensive bio of the white man. According to legend, my dad had a pretty good run in with him in late 60's when my dad had an Irish nightclub in Southie.
November 14, 2013
Whitey Bulger had a long career as a Boston-based gangster. He and his cohorts murdered many people, some of them were not gangsters. They just got in his way. The real focus of this book is on the unsavory partnership Whitey had with the FBI. A local agent was eventually convicted and jailed for his complicity with Whitey's murderous activities. Some believe that the FBI did all they could to allow Whitey to escape capture for many years, knowing that his history, when revealed, would give the Bureau a black eye. This is a sordid tale, fascinating and well researched.
March 13, 2013
A very enjoyable, informative book on one of the more interesting criminals to come out of any major city in a long time. Fear and intimidation were Whitey's stock in trade. If that didn't work, he'd kill you. The book details just how corrupt the Boston FBI office was, and how they stymied the State Police and other agencies at every turn. A whole passel of Whitey's cohorts have written books about their association with him, now I'd like to here from the man himself.
June 24, 2013
Coming from the Boston area I found this book very good, interesting and informative. The descriptions of the Boston neighborhoods and the bussing issue I found were pretty much right on. I do not know what to believe or to believe any of the FBI or Gangster stories. It seems to me they were all a bunch of lying Rats all trying to save their Asses. Forget the Good, just Bad and Ugly... A good read none the less...
July 13, 2013
Oftentimes repetitive, it was confusing at times trying to keep the facts straight. But an amazing portrayal nonetheless. The authors did an incredible job given the amount of information and the number of individuals involved. A timely read as Whitey Bulger makes daily news headlines during his ongoing trial.
March 21, 2013
A bit detailed, but a fascinating true story of organized crime in Boston as well as Whitey Bulger's interplay with the FBI and his years on the run.
August 19, 2013
How do I give this book 1 million and a half stars
February 19, 2018
A very informative book. Having lived in Massachusetts, I had heard of James "Whitey" Bulger. If you didn't live in the northeast then you probably had never heard of him.
The authors did a lot of research. Going all the way back to his troubled childhood and his participation in the gang wars. His rise to prominence in the Winter Hill Gang. Brother William , a prominent politician and later, briefly, president of UMass.
Whitey viewed law enforcement as the good good guys. He was one of the good bad guys. He constantly denied being an FBI informer.
He's still alive, close to 90 and in prison. A good read if you are a New England native.
The authors did a lot of research. Going all the way back to his troubled childhood and his participation in the gang wars. His rise to prominence in the Winter Hill Gang. Brother William , a prominent politician and later, briefly, president of UMass.
Whitey viewed law enforcement as the good good guys. He was one of the good bad guys. He constantly denied being an FBI informer.
He's still alive, close to 90 and in prison. A good read if you are a New England native.
April 27, 2018
My dad sent this book to me thinking I'd like it. And boy did I! Very informative and learned a lot that I didn't know about him before (including his attempt to blow up the Plymouth Rock!). He and his cronies were quite a scary bunch and definitely would not want to cross the likes of him, Flemmi or any one else in the Winter Hill Gang.
Read
July 14, 2023Okay, I'm having a hard time rating. There was SO MUCH information that I could listen 50 times and still learn things. But with all of this information, there was nothing about his trail, which is what I was really looking forward to actually.
I listened and the narrator did a great job! Love those east coast accents 😻
I listened and the narrator did a great job! Love those east coast accents 😻
September 13, 2019
I feel like this was more about Whitey and less about the FBI like Black Mass was. A lot of the information between the two are similar, if not the same, but I feel like this was the better of the two.
June 13, 2024
Na početku scenarija Dejvida Memeta, Homicide, nervozni policajci gube osumnjičenog čovjeka u zajedničkoj akciji sa FBI, i šale se na račun Federalnog istražnog biroa, zato što je ta pretjerano ugledna agencija na njih prebacila čitavu odgovornost. „Nikada nemoj da poljubiš agenta FBI“, kaže jedan od njih, „jer ćeš onda morati da ga izvedeš na večeru.“ Njegov kolega se kasnije nadovezuje na istu konverzaciju: „FBI nema namjeru ni da te stavi na svoju listu Deset najtraženijih prestupnika sve dok ne saznaju GDJE se nalaziš i KOLIKO tamo planiraš da ostaneš.“
Prije nego što je uhvaćen u 81. godini života, 2011. godine, Džejms „Vajti“ Baldžer se nalazio na pomenutoj FBI listi odmah ispod Osame Bin Ladena – na poziciji broj dva. Nemoguće je utvrditi da li je FBI prethodno bio svjestan Baldžerove lokacije, kao što kažu Memetovi policajci, ali je to činjenica koju, makar u ovom slučaju, ne bi trebalo olako da prenebregnemo. Ovo je definitivna „true crime“ knjiga o doista fascinantnom žitiju čuvenog bostonskog gangstera napisana iz pera nagrađivanih ljudi koji su decenijama pratili njegovu karijeru u Boston Gloubu
Do početka XX vijeka, irski i italijanski imigranti su od Bostona, koji je do tada puna tri vijeka bilo najveće protestantsko leglo u čitavoj naciji, napravili katolički raj, gdje je parohija definisala društvenu strukturu i stambena područja. Vajti Baldžer je pripadao najozloglašenijem dijelu Bostona, tzv. Sautiju (Južni Boston iz filma Dobri Vil Hanting), poznatom po tome što su njegovi stanovnici prvi počeli proslavljati najznačajniji irski praznik ili Paradu Sv. Patrika.
Na svu sreću, ona se poklapala sa sekularnim Danom Evakuacije (17. mart), odn. kad je s dokova Južnog Bostona izvojevana prva pobjeda kolonijalnih snaga bez ijedne žrtve na čelu sa generalom Džonom Tomasom, i kad je engleska flota, zavisno od tumačenja, prosto odlučila da napusti lice mjesta, ili pobjegne iz Bostona.
I pored toga, Sauti se odvajkada smatrao bostonskim getom (čak i tokom Drugog svjetskog rata, automobil u tom komšiluku bili su rijetkost). Tako da i ne treba da čudi što su najjači irski gangsteri obično bili stacionirani u dijelu grada kao što je Somervil i susjedni Čarlstaun (iz filma The Town).
No, kad se sve zbroji, svi su bili prinuđeni da plaćaju reket italijanskoj mafiji iz Nort Enda (Sjevernog dijela), kako bi mogli da žive u relativnom miru.
Ono što se najviše cijenilo u getu kao što je Sauti, a što je kod Iraca uvijek bilo prenaglašeno, jeste slijepa lojalnost prema bližnjem čovjeku, svojoj porodici i Irskoj. Baldžer je rođen 1929. godine i već je kao 16-godišnjak postao svojevrsna legenda među mlađom populacijom; novac je zarađivao tako što je krao namirnice sa kamiona i prodavao ih na ulici. Često je znavao da lokalne klince čašćava sladoledom.
Jednom prilikom je 8 godina mlađem, Džonu Konoliju – koji će kasnije postati FBI agent – i njegovom društvu ponudio da im kupi po sladoled, a ovaj je to odbio.
„Majka mi je rekla da ništa ne uzimam od stranaca“, kazao je Konoli.
„Mi nismo nikakvi stranci. Tvoji roditelji su iz Irske. Moji roditelji su iz Irske. Sad mi reci kakav sladoled voliš?“
Drugi put je Baldžer istog dječaka spasio batina. Konoli se navodno više nije susretao sa Baldžerom, ali i pored toga što su im se putevi naizgled zauvijek razdvojili – kao što se događa sa protagonistima u Istvudovom filmu Rijeka Mistik – Konoli nikada nije zaboravio šta je Baldžer uradio za njega. U Sautiju su dječaci obično postajali ili kriminalci ili policajci.
Vajti je još tada privođen u policiju gdje su ga brutalno ispitivali, ali gdje, prema njegovim riječima, nikada nije odao ljude s kojima je krao. U 26. godini je, poslije 4 opljačkane banke, uhvaćen zahvaljujući prijateljima koji su ga ocinkarili. On je zauzvrat učinio isto. I pored saradnje sa policijom, dobio je 20 godina zatvora. Devet od njih je proveo u najtežim kazneno-popravnim, ustanovama – u Atlanti, Alkatrazu i u Levenvortu. U Atlanti je htio da sreže nekoliko mjeseci sa kazne tako što se prijavio za eksperimente sa tada nepoznatom drogom LSD-om i umalo nije izgubio razum; Atlanta je bila jedan od 86 univerziteta i institucija uključenih u testiranje LSD-a koje je CIA sprovodila u periodu 1953-64. u kontroverznom projektu MK-Ultra.
Sem opasnosti po razum i posljedice što će ga pratiti narednih decenija, Baldžer je 15 mjeseci učestvovao u eksperimentima sa LSD-om; za svaku injekciju je dobijao 3 dolara i sveukupno su mu od kazne oduzeta 54 dana. Iz petnih žila se trudio da se vlada što bolje i da ne upada u nevolje.
U Alkatrazu je umanjio kaznu za još 100 dana, čitajući do mile volje; filozofiju, istorijske romane i vojnu nebeletristiku. Jedno istraživanje je pokazalo da je kvalitet čitanja u tom zatvoru bio umnogome jači nego u prosječnom američkom komšiluku; najviše su se čitali Šopenhauer, Hegel, Kant... napredna matematika i skripte iz fizike. Navodno je Baldžer i prije nego što je prvog puta završio iza rešetaka, imao kvocijent inteligencije od 118 jedinica.
Oslobođen je poslije 9 godina, 1965, dobrim dijelom zahvaljujući i rođenom bratu, Bilu Baldžeru, koji se polako penjao ka senatu države Masačusets i konstantno urgirao da se Vajtiju odobri izlazak pred odbor za pomilovanje (Vajti je slobodu izvojevao tek nakon trećeg saslušanja).
U to doba, u Bostonu se vodio rat između irskih bandi iz Čarlstauna i Somervila. Rat je trajao nekoliko godina i odnio je preko 60 života, a doslovno je, kao i Trojanski rat, počeo tako što je vođa bande izvjesnu djevojku uhvatio za dojku. Na njegovu nesreću, radilo se o djevojci čovjeka iz protivničke bande.
Što se tiče kvantitativnosti, irski gangsteri su lako mogli biti dominantna etnička grupa u organizovanom kriminalu u Bostonu, osim što su se oni i dalje dijelili po kvartovima, a katkada čak i na sitnije grupacije, na taj način umanjujući moć jedinstvene bande kao kompaktne cjeline i, naposljetku, izazivajući daleko više nereda zbog sitnica kao što su bili teritorija i ponos (takođe su podsticali bratoubistva, time još više raspirujući krvoproliće).
Za razliku od njih, Italijani su imali samo jednu organizaciju, La Cosa Nostra, a njen jedini uslov (italijansko porijeklo) bacalo je daleko širu mrežu i ograničavalo, barem u manjem gradu kao Boston, rizik od frakcijaštva. Poslije Bostonskog rata bandi, Italijani su samo uvećali svoju moć, a skoro da nisu ni pomakli prstom; i to je organe gonjenja, tokom rata, više usredsredilo upravo na Italijane nego na neorganizovane Irce.
I pored toga što je i bogu i narodu obećao da će se promijeniti, Baldžer nije mogao da se vrati u Boston u boljem, odnosno u haotičnijem, trenutku, kad je upražnjenih mjesta u gangsterskoj hijerarhiji bilo na pretek. Tu je upoznao Stiva Flemija, žilavog i respektabilnog mafijaša irsko-italijanskog porijekla, i budućeg prisnog prijatelja, a koji je već radio kao doušnik za dvojicu prevejanih agenata FBI, Rikoa i Kondona. Dvojica pomenutih su doslovno pomagali jednoj bandi da istrijebi drugu – nešto zbog čega bi Flemi dospio na svačiju listu smrti. Posmatrajući kako su FBI agenti, Riko i Kondon, okrenuli Boston tumbe u ratu bandi, bila je Flemijeva prva lekcija u vezi toga koliko je FBI bio direktno upleten u bostonsko podzemlje, i koliko je linija što je razdvajala ta dva svijeta bila jedva primjetna.
U međuvremenu je onaj dječak iz Sautija, i dalje pun utisaka, Džon Konoli, postao poznati FBI agent u Bostonu s jednim ciljem: da zdrobi italijansku mafiju sada kad je Dž. Edgar Huver, slavni direktor, napokon uvidio da ona stvarno postoji. Slijedeći pravilo da je „neprijatelj mog neprijatelja moj prijatelj“, a takođe privučen i glamuroznim stilom života ovih bandita, Konoli je odlučio da Vajtija Baldžera poveže sa vlastitim doušnicima iz podzemlja, i da im svima pruži imunitet sve dok mu budu pomagali u slučaju protiv mafije.
Generalno gledano, Vajti bi rijetko kad pružio dobru informaciju Konoliju protiv Italijana, no kad bi mu lokalna policija pokušala da mu stane na rep – Vajti bi taj podatak dobio od Konolija i odmah bi prestajao sa svim nezakonitim aktivnostima. Tako je policiji svako malo bilo predodređeno da konstantno nailazi na neizbježni ćorsokak, makar kada je Baldžer bio u pitanju.
Dok je na taj način bio tetošen od Federalnog biroa, Vajti je izvršio 19 ubistava, vremenom postavši jedan od najvećih gangstera u Bostonu, a njegovu pojavu je parafrazirao i Džek „Irishman“ Nikolson u (precijenjenom) filmu Martina Skorsezea, The Departed (2006). Vajti je čak zadavio i dvije žene, ali nošen ponosom da jedan Irac nikada ne ubija žene i ne cinkari svoje prijatelje – njihova ubistva, bez obzira na svjedoke, nikada nije priznao.
U isto vrijeme, Vajti je ucijenio bostonske dilere droge irskog porijekla da mu svako malo daju danak od prodaje kako bi oslobodilačkoj organizaciji – Irskoj oslobodilačkoj armiji – bio u stanju da šalje oružje u Evropu, a što je redovno i radio. Sve dok mu jedan od brodova, zahvaljujući drugom policijskom doušniku, nije zaplijenjen od strane irske policije. Tog doušnika je sâm odlučio da ubije, i to pred nekolicinom svjedoka kao što su Stiv Flemi i njegova desna ruka, Kevin Viks.
Zahvaljujući vezama u FBI-u, Vajti je lišio života najmanje četiri značajna policijska doušnika, dok on bezmalo ničim nije pridonio u istrazi protiv mafije. Štaviše, jedan od rijetkih razumnih agenata, Džon Ficdžerald, odavno je prigovarao bostonskoj upravi FBI da Vajti ništa ne zna i da se pošto-poto odstrani sa liste doušnika.
Pošto uprava nije htjela da posluša Ficdžeralda, on je, par godina kasnije, dao otkaz.
Možda su ljudi iz uprave živjeli u iluziji da je Vajti ipak dobar čovjek, budući da mu se brat nalazio u trci za predsjednika državnog senata i da tim svojim angažmanom protiv mafije želi da vrati dug društvu i vlastitoj brojnoj porodici, gdje je on bio jedina crna ovca. Vajti je očigledno najmanje razmišljao o mlađem bratu kog je, ruku na srce, idolizovao i kojim se uporno ponosio. Hiljadu devetsto devedeset četvrte godine, agent Konoli će ponovo obavijestiti svojeg prijatelja da mu je policija na tragu, i Vajti će tada napustiti Boston i ostati u bjekstvu punih 16 godina.
Posljednja trećina ove izuzetno slojevite knjige prikazuje posljednjih šesnaest godina tokom kojih se Vajti krio bezmalo pred očima pravde, kao i gonitelje u stalnoj potrazi za čovjekom kome je federalna vlada ucijenila glavu na dva miliona dolara.
Najzanimljivije od svega je što je Vajtijev „zemljak“, Džon Konoli, bio jedini agent FBI koji je naposljetku kažnjen za ono što je odvajkada izgledalo kao daleko veće saučesništvo u najznačajnijoj federalnoj policijskoj instituciji, kao što i sami vidimo, nimalo imunoj na korupciju.
2013
[Apendiks 2018: Džejms „Vajti“ Baldžer je poznat po tome što je živio dvostrukim životom kao jedan od najvećih bostonskih mafijaša i tajni doušnik Federalnog istražnog biroa. Napokon je uhapšen u Kaliforniji, 2011. godine. Ubijen je krajem oktobra 2018, čim je prebačen u zatvor u Zapadnoj Virdžiniji. Ubice su bili zatvorenici sa vezama u italijanskoj mafiji. Baldžer je imao 89 godina.]
November 4, 2021
A fantastic, in-depth look into one of Boston's most notorious criminals. Whitey Bulger by Kevin Cullen was crafted by a great writer with a great team who delved deeply into Bulger's life. The research and access to those who knew Whitey comes through loud and clear in this gritty account.
November 11, 2016
If you enjoyed watching "The Departed," then this book, the true story behind the movie, should appeal to you.
Whitey Bulger started life as a petty criminal at the docks in Boston, moved on to a brief career in bank robbery and graduated from the federal correctional system (including a spell at Alcatraz) to run the Boston underworld for longer than a decade.
This book argues that his success, if that is the right word for it, was not so much due to his ruthless treatment of opponents and potential informers (conservative estimates attribute 19 murders to him) but to the fact that he grew up in predominantly Irish Southie together with a prominent local politician (his brother Bill) and his eventual FBI handler (next door neighbor John Connolly). This bond, the authors allege, provided him the necessary cover for a criminal career that spanned the whole postwar period up to the eighties.
In awarding damages to a number of Bulger's victims, US courts have now implicitly decided that the FBI and Bulger to some extent worked together to eliminate the Italian mafia in Boston, in exchange for which Bulger was effectively given carte blanche to make Boston his protection fiefdom, with activities ranging from gambling and drugs to the arming of the IRA. That fact alone means the authors can't be far off the truth.
According to my brother, who lives in Boston, has read most of the literature, is friends with people in law enforcement, and is more than a little interested in the topic, this is the definitive account of the Whitey Bulger affair. I can't comment on that, obviously, but I can say that this is a fascinating book.
Importantly, the authors are two of the Boston journalists who first uncovered Bulger's FBI link decades ago and put their necks on the line to expose it, so this is a very detailed and substantiated book, but it is not in the least sensationalist. And for all its 400+ pages it's actually written in as compact a way as possible, given how much ground had to be covered. You get the story behind every proven murder, from its motivation, to the (inevitably disputed) eyewitness account of how it was carried out, to how the body was disposed of.
Most importantly, there is a narrative. You get the history and the context, you don't actually notice that this is a story built around the evidence for the hard facts (i.e. the murders). The book reads like the series of human relationships that shaped Whitey Bulger: his parents, siblings and neighbours, then his partners in crime, his fellow prison inmates, two of his many women, his FBI handlers and his victims and their families all feature. And it ends with the manhunt that led to his arrest.
Overall, this is comprehensive, well-written and as short as humanly possible.
Whitey Bulger started life as a petty criminal at the docks in Boston, moved on to a brief career in bank robbery and graduated from the federal correctional system (including a spell at Alcatraz) to run the Boston underworld for longer than a decade.
This book argues that his success, if that is the right word for it, was not so much due to his ruthless treatment of opponents and potential informers (conservative estimates attribute 19 murders to him) but to the fact that he grew up in predominantly Irish Southie together with a prominent local politician (his brother Bill) and his eventual FBI handler (next door neighbor John Connolly). This bond, the authors allege, provided him the necessary cover for a criminal career that spanned the whole postwar period up to the eighties.
In awarding damages to a number of Bulger's victims, US courts have now implicitly decided that the FBI and Bulger to some extent worked together to eliminate the Italian mafia in Boston, in exchange for which Bulger was effectively given carte blanche to make Boston his protection fiefdom, with activities ranging from gambling and drugs to the arming of the IRA. That fact alone means the authors can't be far off the truth.
According to my brother, who lives in Boston, has read most of the literature, is friends with people in law enforcement, and is more than a little interested in the topic, this is the definitive account of the Whitey Bulger affair. I can't comment on that, obviously, but I can say that this is a fascinating book.
Importantly, the authors are two of the Boston journalists who first uncovered Bulger's FBI link decades ago and put their necks on the line to expose it, so this is a very detailed and substantiated book, but it is not in the least sensationalist. And for all its 400+ pages it's actually written in as compact a way as possible, given how much ground had to be covered. You get the story behind every proven murder, from its motivation, to the (inevitably disputed) eyewitness account of how it was carried out, to how the body was disposed of.
Most importantly, there is a narrative. You get the history and the context, you don't actually notice that this is a story built around the evidence for the hard facts (i.e. the murders). The book reads like the series of human relationships that shaped Whitey Bulger: his parents, siblings and neighbours, then his partners in crime, his fellow prison inmates, two of his many women, his FBI handlers and his victims and their families all feature. And it ends with the manhunt that led to his arrest.
Overall, this is comprehensive, well-written and as short as humanly possible.
August 4, 2014
Very dry book report on Bulger's life as a Boston-based criminal and long-time FBI informant, his life running from law enforcement and eventual capture. There's interesting history here of the large Irish-Catholic community in South Boston and the story of generations of kids growing up together with some becoming politicians, some law enforcement and some criminals. The intersection of these lives and their variable allegiances to family, neighborhood and their chosen profession is an interesting one.
At the heart of that intersection is James Bulger and John Connolly (11 years Bulger's junior), whose families were neighbors in the Old Colony housing project in South Boston when Bulger was an up and coming neighborhood tough. Connolly recalls Bulger once stepping in to stop some kids from beating up Connolly and also that Bulger used to buy ice cream for the neighborhood kids. He went on to become an FBI agent working the Boston field office and recruited Whitey to be an informant for the FBI against the Boston based Mafia.
The relationship between Connolly and Bulger became deeply intertwined, with Bulger's status as an informant helping to raise Connolly's profile within the FBI and Connolly's tips to Whitey helping him excel in his criminal activities. Connolly's actions clearly and repeatedly broke the law and he was eventually convicted on racketeering and murder charges of his own.
The most disturbing bit of this story, exceeding even the family grief involved with the many murders described in the book, is the circling of the wagons by the FBI and Department of Justice following Connolly's convictions. The DOJ and FBI were ruthless in their stonewalling of the families of the murder victims who were seeking damages from the government for allowing Connolly to repeatedly break the law with fatal consequences.
Despite these fantastic story lines that equal any possible fiction, the book is an endless drone of encyclopedic facts. The authors are so committed to sharing every detail that the lines of discussion often overlap and backtrack in time, making it difficult to follow in places. Along with striving to be the authoritative account of Bulger's history the reader wonders if it occurred to anyone to also try to tell a good story.
At the heart of that intersection is James Bulger and John Connolly (11 years Bulger's junior), whose families were neighbors in the Old Colony housing project in South Boston when Bulger was an up and coming neighborhood tough. Connolly recalls Bulger once stepping in to stop some kids from beating up Connolly and also that Bulger used to buy ice cream for the neighborhood kids. He went on to become an FBI agent working the Boston field office and recruited Whitey to be an informant for the FBI against the Boston based Mafia.
The relationship between Connolly and Bulger became deeply intertwined, with Bulger's status as an informant helping to raise Connolly's profile within the FBI and Connolly's tips to Whitey helping him excel in his criminal activities. Connolly's actions clearly and repeatedly broke the law and he was eventually convicted on racketeering and murder charges of his own.
The most disturbing bit of this story, exceeding even the family grief involved with the many murders described in the book, is the circling of the wagons by the FBI and Department of Justice following Connolly's convictions. The DOJ and FBI were ruthless in their stonewalling of the families of the murder victims who were seeking damages from the government for allowing Connolly to repeatedly break the law with fatal consequences.
Despite these fantastic story lines that equal any possible fiction, the book is an endless drone of encyclopedic facts. The authors are so committed to sharing every detail that the lines of discussion often overlap and backtrack in time, making it difficult to follow in places. Along with striving to be the authoritative account of Bulger's history the reader wonders if it occurred to anyone to also try to tell a good story.
September 9, 2013
The Whitey Bulger story intrigues the shit out of me. It is so indicative of what's wrong with America's law enforcement and criminal justice systems. Informants and the aiding and a abetting of the lesser evil – only who decides which is which and how arbitrary is it to go after one while the other flourishes? The FBI is a sham. Hoover's obsessive compulsion to nab commies in the '50's while virtually ignoring organized crime is a prime example. Now here the FBI is at it again, using the Irish mob to get at the Mafia because… ah, who the hell knows? And then Bulger is off and running and they can't seem to find him for 20 years because, well, because terrorism is the new problem, and catching criminals' needs to take a backseat to that. It's all about priorities. Never mind that Bulger's FBI handler John Connolly is doing time, and all of Whitey's cronies are ratting him out, the victims families are suing, the feds are lying, and it's a huge freakin mess – we're still supposed to have faith in our law enforcement institutions. Yeah, right.
Interesting to see it all laid out here. Although, I felt the book a bit repetitive, a good editor could've cut down on the same information being repeated over and over. However, I am sure it had to do with getting the book out before the market was flooded. Or, before all things Whitey Bulger were forgotten.
Interesting to see it all laid out here. Although, I felt the book a bit repetitive, a good editor could've cut down on the same information being repeated over and over. However, I am sure it had to do with getting the book out before the market was flooded. Or, before all things Whitey Bulger were forgotten.
July 14, 2013
A great overview of Whitey's life and rule in South Boston, as well as the unbelievably crooked FBI organized crime division in the Boston office. While I went into it with some background knowledge about Whitey and the Boston neighborhoods discussed, Cullen and Murphy do a good job with catching up readers who may not know much about Southie.
Cullen has a history with Whitey, as he has been writing about him for the Globe for decades now. It's hard to stay objective about Bulger and those around him, as the despicable things that went on both on the criminal side and within law enforcement, are blood boiling. The authors do a good job of telling all sides of the story. Whitey's human side is portrayed, and while it certainly does not justify anything he's done, it is the sign of a good biography that someone as evil as Bulger can be humanized by the authors.
The only small thing I would nitpick is the fact that while the book is narrative in general, it skips around a bit even within chapters, so if you're not paying really close attention it can be a bit confusing at times.
Cullen has a history with Whitey, as he has been writing about him for the Globe for decades now. It's hard to stay objective about Bulger and those around him, as the despicable things that went on both on the criminal side and within law enforcement, are blood boiling. The authors do a good job of telling all sides of the story. Whitey's human side is portrayed, and while it certainly does not justify anything he's done, it is the sign of a good biography that someone as evil as Bulger can be humanized by the authors.
The only small thing I would nitpick is the fact that while the book is narrative in general, it skips around a bit even within chapters, so if you're not paying really close attention it can be a bit confusing at times.
September 17, 2015
This book is a biography of James Bolger known as Whitey. He was born and raised in south Boston and rose to the top of the underworld there. It follows his criminal career and his early prison term part of which was served at Alcatraz. When released he returned to Boston and began hide to the top of criminal activity in the city. He was aided in his rise by the FBI. John Connolly, an agent in Boston and childhood acquaintance, enlisted Whitey as an informant in the effort to bring down the local Mafia. In return the FBI covered for him and his criminal activities. They tipped him off about investigations into his activities and those who were informing on him. All the while Whitey was committing crimes: murders, extortion, drugs, etc. when law enforcement was closing in finally, Connolly tipped him off so he could flee. Whitey was able to evade arrest for 16 years. He was finally apprehended and tried for his crimes. The book is a fascinating story of crime and FBI malfeasance.
October 5, 2015
A fascinating page turner covering the rise and fall of Whitey Bulger. The tale is impossible to write without a detailed background of the socioeconomics, politics and race relations of South Boston during the time Whitey was in action and the book provides this information. Whiteys' activities may have ended up as strictly a story of interest for Boston and some of the northeast, but the interplay of the FBI's protection of him by some corrupt agents makes for a very intriguing read. As the saying goes "you can't make this s*&t up", although parts are very hard to believe. The writers were painstaking in covering the story with journalistic integrity although parts were a bit confusing due to all of the characters involved. The book does a good job at humanizing Whitey and his colleagues and in the end exposing them for what they are, a bunch of sociopathic murderers.
March 24, 2015
This is a face-paced run from coast to coast, starting in Boston's South End, and culminating in an apartment building on the California coast. The cast of characters is large, as is the even larger contacts and presumed murders and strong-armed street pals who run many improper actions in eastern Massachusetts. This is an absorbing story to one who lived in the Boston area during Bulger's heyday and was living in southern California when he was finally captured. The two authors have done an outstanding job of piecing together the essentials of the Bulger story.
The story was especially engaging for Natalie and me since her brother-in-Law Evo Somontes had a cousin Vinnie who was one of Bulger's victims, and we were struck by the oddity that Bulger finally was captured in Santa Monica so close to where our family have been during the past twenty years.
The story was especially engaging for Natalie and me since her brother-in-Law Evo Somontes had a cousin Vinnie who was one of Bulger's victims, and we were struck by the oddity that Bulger finally was captured in Santa Monica so close to where our family have been during the past twenty years.
October 26, 2018
For decades, the Irish mob ran South Boston. Under the leadership of boss leader Whitey Bulger, they flooded the streets with drugs, ran gambling and prostitution rings, and killed anyone who got in their way. Whitey found he could ensure survival for himself and his crew by becoming an FBI informant, giving up information on his enemies, and earning protection in return. The Federal government protected Irish mobsters in order to persecute the Italian cosa nostra mafia. This book definitively lays out the corrupt, entrenched conspiracy for which only a few individuals paid a price. This book will make your blood boil. How could the FBI possibly justify these kinds of decisions? In lends weight to every crazy conspiracy theory. If they were able to do this, what else were they able to do? A chilling book and a must-read for any true crime fine.
October 26, 2015
The Boston Globe reporters did a terrific job of depicting not only Whitey Bulger and the gangsters of Boston, but the city and its ethos during Bulger's reign: the 1970's, 80's and early 90's. Perhaps the most fascinating entity was the Boston FBI (and perhaps higher up as well) whose agents, especially one who had been one of Bulger's childhood friends, covered up for Bulger and his gang in the FBI's single-minded quest to root out the FBI.
For those who have seen "Black Mass" with Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, and are interested ("enjoying" the movie is difficult), this book is a perfect read.
For those who have seen "Black Mass" with Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger, and are interested ("enjoying" the movie is difficult), this book is a perfect read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews