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Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia
Reminiscent of Wiseguy, Mob Boss is a compelling biography from two prominent mob experts recounting the life and times of the first acting boss of an American Mafia family to turn government witness
Alfonso “Little Al” D'Arco, the former acting boss of the Luchese crime family, was the highest-ranking mobster to ever turn government witness when he flipped in 1991. His testimony sent more than fifty mobsters to prison and prompted many others to make the same choice, including John Gotti's top aide, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano.
In Mob Boss, award-winning news reporters Jerry Capeci and Tom Robbins team up for this unparalleled account of D’Arco’s life and the New York mob scene that he embraced for four decades.
Until the day he switched sides, D’Arco lived and breathed the old-school gangster lessons he learned growing up in Brooklyn and fine-tuned on the mean streets of Little Italy. But when he learned he was marked to be whacked, D’Arco quit the mob. His defection decimated his crime family and opened a window on mob secrets going back a hundred years.
Speaking with unprecedented insight, D’Arco exposes shocking secrets and troublesome truths about a city where a famous pizza parlor doubled as a Mafia center for multi-million-dollar heroin deals, where hit men carried out murders dressed as women, and where kidnapping a celebrity newsman’s son was deemed appropriate revenge for the father’s satirical novel.
Capeci and Robbins spent hundreds of hours in conversation with D’Arco, and exhausted many hours more fleshing out his stories in this riveting narrative that takes readers behind the famous witness testimony for a comprehensive look at the Mafia in New York City.
Alfonso “Little Al” D'Arco, the former acting boss of the Luchese crime family, was the highest-ranking mobster to ever turn government witness when he flipped in 1991. His testimony sent more than fifty mobsters to prison and prompted many others to make the same choice, including John Gotti's top aide, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano.
In Mob Boss, award-winning news reporters Jerry Capeci and Tom Robbins team up for this unparalleled account of D’Arco’s life and the New York mob scene that he embraced for four decades.
Until the day he switched sides, D’Arco lived and breathed the old-school gangster lessons he learned growing up in Brooklyn and fine-tuned on the mean streets of Little Italy. But when he learned he was marked to be whacked, D’Arco quit the mob. His defection decimated his crime family and opened a window on mob secrets going back a hundred years.
Speaking with unprecedented insight, D’Arco exposes shocking secrets and troublesome truths about a city where a famous pizza parlor doubled as a Mafia center for multi-million-dollar heroin deals, where hit men carried out murders dressed as women, and where kidnapping a celebrity newsman’s son was deemed appropriate revenge for the father’s satirical novel.
Capeci and Robbins spent hundreds of hours in conversation with D’Arco, and exhausted many hours more fleshing out his stories in this riveting narrative that takes readers behind the famous witness testimony for a comprehensive look at the Mafia in New York City.
496 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2013
188 people are currently reading
936 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
August 2, 2015
I really liked this book. Good detail, good background, and overall well put together in typical biographical form. This can be read by mafia enthusiasts and a passing novice as well. Does a solid job laying out the players along the way.
Pretty typical of the crumbling Mafia in the last 3 decades, I do not gove much (given the title) to outline the story of a key Mafia player in the Luchese crime family.
Interesting twists aand turns including perspective on recent turncoat/authors such as Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
This is clearly a guy who was in the guts of it and by all accounts a real player in the hierarchy (unlike several lower level associaates who have written books in the last decade or so)
I give this a solid 4 stars.
Pretty typical of the crumbling Mafia in the last 3 decades, I do not gove much (given the title) to outline the story of a key Mafia player in the Luchese crime family.
Interesting twists aand turns including perspective on recent turncoat/authors such as Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
This is clearly a guy who was in the guts of it and by all accounts a real player in the hierarchy (unlike several lower level associaates who have written books in the last decade or so)
I give this a solid 4 stars.
October 16, 2019
I LOVE this book. Such an incredibly rich and vivid piece of storytelling - you’re drawn in from the first page and the authors do an incredible job of setting the stage whilst reinforcing the credibility of the storyteller. In different stages you’re drawn into vividly painted scenes from working class immigrant life in NYC all the way through to the day to day of the acting head of one of the most powerful crime organisations in America. It will make you see things in a whole new light. Highly recommend.
November 23, 2021
Lots of interesting stories. I'm a huge fan of true crime and Mobster stories, and this book is loaded with them. Great insight into how the Families worked together (and against one another and themselves) over the years, too.
April 22, 2022
Among those of us who love mafia stories (both fiction and non-fiction), there’s been a constant discussion of what we’d do with a 4th Godfather movie. Would we continue the tale of Anthony Mancini? Find another story about Michael Corleone? Take another angle?
I recently rewatched the first two Godfather movies and was struck at how they’re less about the mafia and more about family (which is why I think they took the cheap route in III by giving Sonny a spawn from an extramarital affair). How do family dynamics, immigration, crime, etc. all come together?
My idea for IV was to move the focus from Mancini and completely de-glamorize the mob image given by its gaudy predecessor films. Both The Sopranos and GoodFellas do this with varying degrees of success. But I’d take it all the way, make almost an anti-film. It’s not a good life, especially when it impacts your family.
All that to say, you could probably take my ideas and apply them to the life of Al D’Arco, the diminutive gangster whose unlikely rise to acting boss of the Lucchese Crime Family whose brief reign coincided with the decline of New York’s Five Families at the height of their powers would be the perfect tale to tell.
Al doesn’t make for the most interesting of mob characters: he’s basically a career bureaucrat whose competence kept him afloat for many years. He doesn’t do drugs, barely drinks, doesn’t sleep around on his wife. He’s not that interesting except for the life he leads for his day job, in which case, he’s very interesting.
D’Arco briefly held the title of boss while his superiors Vic Amuso and Phil Casso were on the lam due to a major case that impacted all of organized crime in New York City. And he tried to placate their paranoia while sanctioning hit after hit until he finally realized that nothing would be good enough. In other words, the mob kept feeding him violence until he couldn’t take it. And he decided to protect his wife and kids by turning state’s evidence.
For me, this would make the perfect conclusion to the Godfather‘s narrative arc: a stark contrast from Michael Corleone (and to a lesser extent Vito) who put business ahead of family. D’Arco’s tale returns the story to what mob life has always been about as it meets its brutal end.
I recently rewatched the first two Godfather movies and was struck at how they’re less about the mafia and more about family (which is why I think they took the cheap route in III by giving Sonny a spawn from an extramarital affair). How do family dynamics, immigration, crime, etc. all come together?
My idea for IV was to move the focus from Mancini and completely de-glamorize the mob image given by its gaudy predecessor films. Both The Sopranos and GoodFellas do this with varying degrees of success. But I’d take it all the way, make almost an anti-film. It’s not a good life, especially when it impacts your family.
All that to say, you could probably take my ideas and apply them to the life of Al D’Arco, the diminutive gangster whose unlikely rise to acting boss of the Lucchese Crime Family whose brief reign coincided with the decline of New York’s Five Families at the height of their powers would be the perfect tale to tell.
Al doesn’t make for the most interesting of mob characters: he’s basically a career bureaucrat whose competence kept him afloat for many years. He doesn’t do drugs, barely drinks, doesn’t sleep around on his wife. He’s not that interesting except for the life he leads for his day job, in which case, he’s very interesting.
D’Arco briefly held the title of boss while his superiors Vic Amuso and Phil Casso were on the lam due to a major case that impacted all of organized crime in New York City. And he tried to placate their paranoia while sanctioning hit after hit until he finally realized that nothing would be good enough. In other words, the mob kept feeding him violence until he couldn’t take it. And he decided to protect his wife and kids by turning state’s evidence.
For me, this would make the perfect conclusion to the Godfather‘s narrative arc: a stark contrast from Michael Corleone (and to a lesser extent Vito) who put business ahead of family. D’Arco’s tale returns the story to what mob life has always been about as it meets its brutal end.
April 1, 2017
Mob Boss
The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia
Jerry Capeci has written about the American mob for a long time; Tom Robbins is an experienced crime journalist. Both of them sat in on D’Arco’s court testimony, and later took hundreds of hours of interviews down on tape. Neither of them was willing to negotiate with an individual of D’Arco’s moral fiber; they told him that if they wrote his story, he would not be able to declare any topic off-limits, and he would not get to proofread the book before it went to press. He agreed. Both writers note that unlike other mafia figures that have turned out of self-interest, this one actually told the truth about whatever he was asked, even volunteering information about crimes no one knew had been committed. And if a prosecutor was fishing for information about something he genuinely was clueless about, he would flatly state that he knew what they wanted, but he couldn’t help them.
So whereas there really is no honor among thieves, one thing D’Arco understands clearly is how to work by a set of rules. When his allegiance to the American mafia ended, he treated his job helping the FBI nail mob figures as if it were a job. His lack of ambiguity and complete frankness is apparently a rarity in that realm, and perhaps it is partly this that makes this is a compelling story by the masters of the genre.
Why do we read these things? Why are we fascinated by this unwholesome world that we would never want to have as part of our own lives? I was lucky, and received my copy as a Goodreads.com First Read, but I would have read it anyway, sooner or later. There is a peculiar draw, similar to the way one cannot look away readily when a snake unhinges its jaw in order to swallow an egg, or even a live mammal. The horror and ferocity is haunting.
But there’s something more, at least for me. Books like this one share a characteristic in common with other tales that excite prurient interest mixed with fear and/or distaste. When someone leaves a polygamous sect and rushes out to tell their story, the public eats it up. I know I do. And when a member of the Amish decides it’s time to go out and get a cell phone and an apartment with central heating, we can’t wait for them to spill the story.
What is it like to live in as vast a place as the USA, and yet operate under a strict, separate and Byzantine set of rules that is very, very different from the way other people, perhaps next door or across the street from you, live theirs? How does a subgroup of society exact the loyalty and obedience of people who can choose to walk away?
Of course, in a sense, we’ll never know. The people who tell us what it’s like are the ones who left. Nobody that is still inside organized crime, or inside a polygamous sect with full plans of remaining, or still living the Plain life into which they were born is going to talk to a journalist, and if they did, there would be such strict limits on what they were willing to give up that writers of Capeci’s and Robbins’ caliber would not stand still for it. Why waste their time?
After reading this story and a couple of others, I think that this particular subgroup filled a particular need for a finite time. They sure weren’t Robin Hoods; in fact, they stole from the poor—skimming government money that was designated for windows in public housing projects, even robbing the projects themselves, and setting up gambling scenarios that fed off the most vulnerable and desperate portions of the U.S. population.
But in New York City, cops would not even make a pretense of being interested in saving the lives or property of ordinary working people. The only law that Little Italy knew, at least for a generation or two, was that of the Mafia. D’Arco’s grandmother told him at night to be good and stay safe lest the Black Hand get them. And in fact, if some aspect of life within their own invisible yet distinct boundaries was becoming so unfair as to be unmanageable, a word from a resident not Mafia-affiliated with someone in a position of criminal power was often all it took to take care of that one specific problem. It was in the interest of organized crime to keep the level of chaos down to a dull roar lest pressure build for the cops paid by the taxpayer’s dollar to come in and clean house.
Because of this understanding, local political/criminal bosses initially made a point of not living large. They might have millions of dollars in cash parked somewhere (or more likely , distributed among many somewheres) but their own living standards would not rise above those around them. If everyone else had to walk up two flights of stairs and live in cramped quarters, they did it too. When others coming up the ladder of organized crime began to show their wealth with public arrogance, the whole thing began to fall apart.
D’Arco left when he knew he was marked for death, and his son was marked also. However, it was more than that: suddenly the rules had come undone. The structure into which he had so carefully been trained and inducted was no longer adhered to; treasured, absolutely sacrosanct rules were no longer being observed. And when the floor began to tilt and the ceiling was beneath his feet, D’Arco could no longer maneuver or find purchase.
Nobody lives without some sort of rules.
Capeci and Robbins have done a wonderful job of unwinding the spool at a pace that is absorbing, yet not hectic enough to keep the reader from being able to identify who each of a complex tree of characters is, and what their role in the story is. I can see why they were so insistent upon the protocol they used with this mobster; telling this story must have been a lot of work. But for the reader, it’s easy. Carefully documented, yet never slowing in pace, this well-told tale is worth your time and money. If you liked reading the fictional novel, The Godfather, this is your chance to read about the real thing.
The Life of Little Al D’Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia
Jerry Capeci has written about the American mob for a long time; Tom Robbins is an experienced crime journalist. Both of them sat in on D’Arco’s court testimony, and later took hundreds of hours of interviews down on tape. Neither of them was willing to negotiate with an individual of D’Arco’s moral fiber; they told him that if they wrote his story, he would not be able to declare any topic off-limits, and he would not get to proofread the book before it went to press. He agreed. Both writers note that unlike other mafia figures that have turned out of self-interest, this one actually told the truth about whatever he was asked, even volunteering information about crimes no one knew had been committed. And if a prosecutor was fishing for information about something he genuinely was clueless about, he would flatly state that he knew what they wanted, but he couldn’t help them.
So whereas there really is no honor among thieves, one thing D’Arco understands clearly is how to work by a set of rules. When his allegiance to the American mafia ended, he treated his job helping the FBI nail mob figures as if it were a job. His lack of ambiguity and complete frankness is apparently a rarity in that realm, and perhaps it is partly this that makes this is a compelling story by the masters of the genre.
Why do we read these things? Why are we fascinated by this unwholesome world that we would never want to have as part of our own lives? I was lucky, and received my copy as a Goodreads.com First Read, but I would have read it anyway, sooner or later. There is a peculiar draw, similar to the way one cannot look away readily when a snake unhinges its jaw in order to swallow an egg, or even a live mammal. The horror and ferocity is haunting.
But there’s something more, at least for me. Books like this one share a characteristic in common with other tales that excite prurient interest mixed with fear and/or distaste. When someone leaves a polygamous sect and rushes out to tell their story, the public eats it up. I know I do. And when a member of the Amish decides it’s time to go out and get a cell phone and an apartment with central heating, we can’t wait for them to spill the story.
What is it like to live in as vast a place as the USA, and yet operate under a strict, separate and Byzantine set of rules that is very, very different from the way other people, perhaps next door or across the street from you, live theirs? How does a subgroup of society exact the loyalty and obedience of people who can choose to walk away?
Of course, in a sense, we’ll never know. The people who tell us what it’s like are the ones who left. Nobody that is still inside organized crime, or inside a polygamous sect with full plans of remaining, or still living the Plain life into which they were born is going to talk to a journalist, and if they did, there would be such strict limits on what they were willing to give up that writers of Capeci’s and Robbins’ caliber would not stand still for it. Why waste their time?
After reading this story and a couple of others, I think that this particular subgroup filled a particular need for a finite time. They sure weren’t Robin Hoods; in fact, they stole from the poor—skimming government money that was designated for windows in public housing projects, even robbing the projects themselves, and setting up gambling scenarios that fed off the most vulnerable and desperate portions of the U.S. population.
But in New York City, cops would not even make a pretense of being interested in saving the lives or property of ordinary working people. The only law that Little Italy knew, at least for a generation or two, was that of the Mafia. D’Arco’s grandmother told him at night to be good and stay safe lest the Black Hand get them. And in fact, if some aspect of life within their own invisible yet distinct boundaries was becoming so unfair as to be unmanageable, a word from a resident not Mafia-affiliated with someone in a position of criminal power was often all it took to take care of that one specific problem. It was in the interest of organized crime to keep the level of chaos down to a dull roar lest pressure build for the cops paid by the taxpayer’s dollar to come in and clean house.
Because of this understanding, local political/criminal bosses initially made a point of not living large. They might have millions of dollars in cash parked somewhere (or more likely , distributed among many somewheres) but their own living standards would not rise above those around them. If everyone else had to walk up two flights of stairs and live in cramped quarters, they did it too. When others coming up the ladder of organized crime began to show their wealth with public arrogance, the whole thing began to fall apart.
D’Arco left when he knew he was marked for death, and his son was marked also. However, it was more than that: suddenly the rules had come undone. The structure into which he had so carefully been trained and inducted was no longer adhered to; treasured, absolutely sacrosanct rules were no longer being observed. And when the floor began to tilt and the ceiling was beneath his feet, D’Arco could no longer maneuver or find purchase.
Nobody lives without some sort of rules.
Capeci and Robbins have done a wonderful job of unwinding the spool at a pace that is absorbing, yet not hectic enough to keep the reader from being able to identify who each of a complex tree of characters is, and what their role in the story is. I can see why they were so insistent upon the protocol they used with this mobster; telling this story must have been a lot of work. But for the reader, it’s easy. Carefully documented, yet never slowing in pace, this well-told tale is worth your time and money. If you liked reading the fictional novel, The Godfather, this is your chance to read about the real thing.
April 19, 2023
Perfect in every sense.
January 15, 2022
A great way to begin my 2022 reading quest.
I’d read and loved Jerry Capecis great effort in “Murder Machine” about the DeMeo crew many years ago.
We’ll written by JC with text Included by Al himself.
He makes no apologies for anything, nothing is downplayed.
It does get tedious remembering names, who did what and where, that’s my only criticism.
I’d read and loved Jerry Capecis great effort in “Murder Machine” about the DeMeo crew many years ago.
We’ll written by JC with text Included by Al himself.
He makes no apologies for anything, nothing is downplayed.
It does get tedious remembering names, who did what and where, that’s my only criticism.
June 4, 2018
Same stuff. Wish they just stuck to the topic at hand instead of ALWAYS giving you these guys back stories to make us care more about them, even though they are GANGSTERS!
March 1, 2018
One of the most unfortunate things about America's education system is that if taught correctly a lot of these subjects could be very interesting. History for example is far more bizarre and stranger than anything even Tom Robbins (different one, not the author of this book but the good fiction author of Skinny Legs and All, Another Roadside Attraction, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Jitterbug Perfume, Still Life with Woodpecker, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and of course who can forget the wisdom of Chink from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues?) could write. However we are taught to memorize boring white dudes and dates and in a watered down Disney version of reality. We euphemistically refer to genocide of 20 million indigenous tribe women and children as Manifest Destiny. We like to play victims in all of our wars, but after reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich I realized just how Hitlerian we truly are. I mean Adolf blew up the Reichstag and blamed it on Russian terrorists which he used to justify a pre-emptive attack on Poland? We were attacked by Saudi "terrorists" according to the almost laughable US narrative that found no evidence at any wreck site save for a paper passport in the rubble of building 1? Anywho then the weaponized media and dare I say this word I hate "Fake News" fully supported Colin Powell's world tour holding court daily with scare tactics of fake intelligence regarding Iraq and yellah cake. Thus we were led into our first war using Pre-emptive strike just like Adolf did to Poland. Also Hitler created the Division of Fatherland Security and we started the Division of Homeland Security. Or how about how no war has been fought sans Opium so when we cut off Germany's supply they created the modern opiods like Methadone that ended up stringing out a whole rural nation on Oxycontin then cheap, hand delivered heroin from the Cartel. I mean this stuff of fascinating, not talked about and no dates have been mentioned yet. I could go on but I won't. This book was more like history taught at Eugene Field Grade School in St. Joseph, Missourah circa 1977. It was made worse by the fact that I did truly believe this was the great fiction author Tom Robbins on the mob, but trust me on this you'll know two pages in it decidely is not Tom Robbins. I'm sure there were great stories of debauchery , evil incarnate, and sorts of other realities that were probably wrapped up in some euphemism while telling the dates of every boring action Little Al did day to day. I'm going to have to wash this book out with something on Truthers or the one Stephen King piece I haven't read yet. After I shower off though because I feel so dirty reading this mediocre American style history.
June 16, 2022
Alphonse (Al) D'Arco was born in 1932. He missed World War II, but enlisted in the United States Army for the Korean War. He wanted to go to Korea, but was sent to Alaska to guard some things. He wound up with an honorable discharge after two years of service. After that, he went back to the streets. He got married, having five children, one of which, (Joseph), became a member of organized crime. Al D'Arco became an official made member of the Lucchese Family in 1982, right after he turned fifty. (I thought that was a long time to wait for that, considering he had been on the street pretty much all of his adult life.) He was involved in a number of criminal activities, much like all other organized crime guys. Loansharking, theft, drugs, robbery, arson, hijacking, and murder were his most often committed crimes. He was involved with ten murders, including the murder of Bruno Facciola. D'Arco was convinced that he was marked for death, which was confirmed by FBI agents later, and he decided he was going to become a government witness. His testimony was used against several organized crime members, including Vincent Gigante. He also testified against two corrupt officers with the NYPD, which is how I became familiar with his name. The police, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, were involved in all kinds of shenanagins. I also thought it was interesting that he was involved with the same people that are in the movie Goodfellas- Henry Hill, Jimmy Conway, and Tommy DeVito.
It took me absolutely ages to finish this book, no fault of the book. I kept falling asleep and having to go back to the last part I remembered. I think I have been listening to this book for about six days, which is abnormally long for me. I usually always enjoy a good organized crime book, and this one was no different. It is amazing to me how many irons these guys have in the fire, and how they are able to get away with things. I realize that this is covering a time period without all the technology we have now, but there are still organized crime families in operation and they are still managing to get away with activities. It is really amazing to me. I really liked the actual quotes from Al D'Arco. It gave the book a little more flavor.
It took me absolutely ages to finish this book, no fault of the book. I kept falling asleep and having to go back to the last part I remembered. I think I have been listening to this book for about six days, which is abnormally long for me. I usually always enjoy a good organized crime book, and this one was no different. It is amazing to me how many irons these guys have in the fire, and how they are able to get away with things. I realize that this is covering a time period without all the technology we have now, but there are still organized crime families in operation and they are still managing to get away with activities. It is really amazing to me. I really liked the actual quotes from Al D'Arco. It gave the book a little more flavor.
April 18, 2018
The short version is that this book is a magnificent example of investigative journalism and an insightful journey in the recent mafia history.
Going into details, the story of Alfonso "Al" D'Arco starts from the very beginning; from a family emigrated in US from a small town called Cava Dè Tirreni in the south of Italy. It describes how several Americans of Italian origin start the mob Life because of the environment, because of the Forrest of wiseguys you grow up into.
Alfonso starts with small crimes, economical struggles and friendships in the New York mafia and ends up Acting boss of the Lucchese family.
Names, streets and facts are precise and extensive (may be boring but do not forget this is investigative journalism not fiction .... and despite that, the book keeps a very high pace), every details of the Life is described meticulously.
To some extent the book is more interesting than the life of Gotti which is full of events but do not transmit the feeling of how you become a wiseguy, how your life smells like when you are young associate of mafia family, prisoner at sing sing , made man, husband, NewYorker, father, son and boss....
if you like this kind of literature you must read it.
Going into details, the story of Alfonso "Al" D'Arco starts from the very beginning; from a family emigrated in US from a small town called Cava Dè Tirreni in the south of Italy. It describes how several Americans of Italian origin start the mob Life because of the environment, because of the Forrest of wiseguys you grow up into.
Alfonso starts with small crimes, economical struggles and friendships in the New York mafia and ends up Acting boss of the Lucchese family.
Names, streets and facts are precise and extensive (may be boring but do not forget this is investigative journalism not fiction .... and despite that, the book keeps a very high pace), every details of the Life is described meticulously.
To some extent the book is more interesting than the life of Gotti which is full of events but do not transmit the feeling of how you become a wiseguy, how your life smells like when you are young associate of mafia family, prisoner at sing sing , made man, husband, NewYorker, father, son and boss....
if you like this kind of literature you must read it.
January 11, 2025
The story of Alfonso "Al" D'Arco starts from the very beginning; from a family emigrated in US from a small town called Cava Dè Tirreni in the south of Italy. It describes how several Americans of Italian origin start the mob Life because of the environment, because of the Forrest of wise guys you grow up into.
Alfonso starts with small crimes, economical struggles and friendships in the New York mafia and ends up Acting boss of the Lucchese family. Names, streets and facts are precise and extensive, every details of the Life is described meticulously. To some extent the book is more interesting than the life of Gotti which is full of events but do not transmit the feeling of how you become a wise guy, how your life smells like when you are a young associate of mafia family.
If you like Mafia stories, it's a great read.
Alfonso starts with small crimes, economical struggles and friendships in the New York mafia and ends up Acting boss of the Lucchese family. Names, streets and facts are precise and extensive, every details of the Life is described meticulously. To some extent the book is more interesting than the life of Gotti which is full of events but do not transmit the feeling of how you become a wise guy, how your life smells like when you are a young associate of mafia family.
If you like Mafia stories, it's a great read.
May 8, 2021
Let me start this with I don't read NonFiction, this is actually the first nonfiction book I have completed. I was torn between 2-3 stars. There were parts that were really interesting and that really pulled you in. However I felt that there were more parts of the book that I had to force myself to get through. I am not sure if I am just not cut out for nonfiction books. I really tired to give it my best effort. I will say when I was reading about some of the murders I was floored when I remembered that they were based on true facts. This book will give a "fly on the wall" feel of the '80s and '90s mobsters.
May 25, 2022
I found this excellent. Part guilty pleasure reading of the mob, part goodfellas, part informative as to how various aspects of organized crime work.
I should specify that I've read a number of books about the mafia, both American and Italian (hence the guilty pleasure), but much of this was new (or at least I didn't remember it). This is basically an inside look into the Lucchese family throughout the 80s and 90s, as well as a biography of a second generation Italian immigrant turned Acting boss of that family. And obviously it helps that it was written by Jerry Capeci, whose Gangland News I used to read pretty regularly (what ever happened to it?).
I should specify that I've read a number of books about the mafia, both American and Italian (hence the guilty pleasure), but much of this was new (or at least I didn't remember it). This is basically an inside look into the Lucchese family throughout the 80s and 90s, as well as a biography of a second generation Italian immigrant turned Acting boss of that family. And obviously it helps that it was written by Jerry Capeci, whose Gangland News I used to read pretty regularly (what ever happened to it?).
July 20, 2025
Mob guys are parasites. Typical story. Guy becomes a criminal be cause he doesn’t want to work and his neighborhood has mob guys who make it look glamorous to be a criminal. He does various crimes. Counterfeiting, garment industry hijinks, stealing fancy trash cans, etc. Eventually has to kill a guy and it’s super sloppy. Gaspipe and Vic Amuso turn on him so he turns state’s witness and goes into witness protection. It was kinda cool that he worked with the Vario crew of Goodfellas fame. These stories sort of run together for me now. Scumbag parasites do their thing and either flip, die or go to prison. A beep a deboop!
September 19, 2018
This book was ok. It is about Little Al D'Arco and how he went from just one of the guys in the neighborhood to one of the top mob guys. Its the story of how he went from the bottom of the ranks in the mob to one of the bosses. Al was the kind of guy who always wanted to be a made guy and told what was asked of him no questions asked until the end when he found out he had a hit on him then he turned. This is that story of how he went from avoiding the cops to turning himself into the FBI and telling his story to them.
September 8, 2017
An insightful book about D'Arco and the top of the Lucchese family, as well as the rackets and their business with the other families. He is a well-chosen protagonist and I liked his quotes. As they mention themselves, he provides straightforward insights. Even though you have to stay critical, it seemed like one of the most truthful books. I recommend it, although I didn't read it as fast as I expected.
April 4, 2019
NY Mob Encyclopedia
This work reads fast and easy, but students of the New York mafia will find it indispensable. Al D’Arco’s memory is impeccable: he knows where the bodies are buried, and he explains how they got there in dry detail.
Jerry Capeci is probably the dean of American mob writers. His website is an indispensable resource, and this book is surely a reference classic.
This work reads fast and easy, but students of the New York mafia will find it indispensable. Al D’Arco’s memory is impeccable: he knows where the bodies are buried, and he explains how they got there in dry detail.
Jerry Capeci is probably the dean of American mob writers. His website is an indispensable resource, and this book is surely a reference classic.
November 11, 2019
Scorsese's mobster epic"The Irishman" is available in the theatres (at least where I live) so I settled for second best and read Capeci's tale about Al D'Arco the mobster you've never heard about. A lurid but well written saga about the long reach of the mafia in 80/90's NY and beyond... if you think their the stuff of movies this book will change your mind.
January 19, 2022
I knew very little of Al D'Arco but it was great to hear how he knew Michael Franzese and talked about Gotti and Sammy the Bull and Greg Scarpa and others and reiterated some things I had already read about those incidents. But just another story about the treacherous world of the Mafia with the unfair killings and evil. Good content here.
October 10, 2025
Felt like it was going to be overly sympathetic to the protagonist and trying to portray him as a good guy despite his crimes, but the second half was quite blunt in the depths of evil he ended up descending into. Didn't feel like the book was pulling any punches by virtue of having the protagonist as the primary source. Great read
September 10, 2017
Very informative about the mafia life of Al D'Arco.
It starts slow with the details of his personal life growing up, but really picks up in the second half of the book when Al became closer to the leadership of the crime family.
It starts slow with the details of his personal life growing up, but really picks up in the second half of the book when Al became closer to the leadership of the crime family.
January 30, 2018
Good Read!!! Answers many Questions of the Reign of Casso & Amuso
Good Read!!! Answers many Questions of the Reign of Casso & Amuso along with the treacherous life lived by many mobsters
Good Read!!! Answers many Questions of the Reign of Casso & Amuso along with the treacherous life lived by many mobsters
March 5, 2019
Knitted it all together
Great book and really excellent detail in how all the crime families knit together. Very interesting to read about the deterioration of the code and how greed took over.
Great book and really excellent detail in how all the crime families knit together. Very interesting to read about the deterioration of the code and how greed took over.
April 2, 2024
It’s kinda interesting seeing how in the life you can do everything by the rules and still be put in a tough situation. Al really was a monster through and through but the life switched on him. Don’t blame him for turning on them right back.
February 10, 2017
Fantastic
A little heavy with all the names and dates but a fantastic true story about the mob. A real look behind the headlines of the Mafia.
A little heavy with all the names and dates but a fantastic true story about the mob. A real look behind the headlines of the Mafia.
May 26, 2018
One of the best mob bios going....really interesting, loved it...at times a little heavy on detail but that seems to chime with the reliability of D'Arco as a witness and as an interviewee
April 18, 2019
Fantastic read
Great book, in depth accounts of the life, is a must read for mob fans. Little Al’. True gangster until they shat on him.
Great book, in depth accounts of the life, is a must read for mob fans. Little Al’. True gangster until they shat on him.
May 28, 2019
So many characters, so many stories. Gets a little tedious.
August 9, 2019
An unflinching look at a true gangster. Raw and unsettling.
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