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Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family
Documents the true story of an undercover FBI agent who assumed the role of a mobster in order to infiltrate the Gambino crime syndicate, in an account that describes how he was groomed within the mafia itself to understand its operations and attitudes. 75,000 first printing.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published October 13, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
June 30, 2015
Part of me wants to be a mobster. Part of me wants to be an undercover agent. Most of me is scared shitless to do either, so I'm happy to live vicariously through the exciting life of Joaquin "Jack Falcone" Garcia.
FBI Agent Garcia spent two and a half years undercover infiltrating the Gambino crime family, specifically targeting capo Greg DePalma, an old school mobster newly out of prison and on the rise within the regime.
Garcia relates his exploits in a conversational fashion that is jovial and engaging. You almost forget he's working alongside ruthless, violent criminals who would likely end him if they discovered the wire he wore to record their every word. However, the tension is often high and, as a reader looking for a thrill, I was happy to find my nerves rattled more than a few times.
The life of a mobster sounds not entirely unappealing at times, if you believe what Garcia has to say about it. He seemed to fit right in, as if he was made for the role. In fact, though it's never stated, one gets the sense that DePalma saw in "Jack" the son he wished he'd had, as witnessed by DePalma's desire to have "Jack" made. That is flat out amazing, to have an FBI agent not only be able to work incognito with the mob, but to fool them so thoroughly that they wish to make the agent one of them!
Garcia was clearly unhappy with the FBI. For its part, the FBI may have jerked Garcia around a bit because they felt he was enjoying his assignment a little too much. Whoever was in the right, the fact is that some readers may be turned off by the amount of sour grapes vented through out the book.
For me, that hardly dampened my enjoyment. I got the chance to learn about the modern day mob and it felt like I was getting to be a good fella for a couple hundred pages, and that to me is a good read I can't refuse.
FBI Agent Garcia spent two and a half years undercover infiltrating the Gambino crime family, specifically targeting capo Greg DePalma, an old school mobster newly out of prison and on the rise within the regime.
Garcia relates his exploits in a conversational fashion that is jovial and engaging. You almost forget he's working alongside ruthless, violent criminals who would likely end him if they discovered the wire he wore to record their every word. However, the tension is often high and, as a reader looking for a thrill, I was happy to find my nerves rattled more than a few times.
The life of a mobster sounds not entirely unappealing at times, if you believe what Garcia has to say about it. He seemed to fit right in, as if he was made for the role. In fact, though it's never stated, one gets the sense that DePalma saw in "Jack" the son he wished he'd had, as witnessed by DePalma's desire to have "Jack" made. That is flat out amazing, to have an FBI agent not only be able to work incognito with the mob, but to fool them so thoroughly that they wish to make the agent one of them!
Garcia was clearly unhappy with the FBI. For its part, the FBI may have jerked Garcia around a bit because they felt he was enjoying his assignment a little too much. Whoever was in the right, the fact is that some readers may be turned off by the amount of sour grapes vented through out the book.
For me, that hardly dampened my enjoyment. I got the chance to learn about the modern day mob and it felt like I was getting to be a good fella for a couple hundred pages, and that to me is a good read I can't refuse.
February 2, 2016
Joaquin 'Jack' Garcia spent 24 of his 26 year career undercover, the last part of it juggling multiple identities plus a young family in real life. Unfortunately, everything I could find in a brief search about this was from Garcia himself or his book. It would have been interesting to see the other points of view, that of his superiors. Perhaps they were paper pushers with no understanding of under cover work, but he sounded like he was wrapped pretty tight. Not surprising given how stressful a single, mundane assignment would have been. On top of that, he was overweight & had a heart problem. In any case, they pulled the plug & apparently treated him pretty poorly. This was a good book until the end when he rants & becomes quite repetitive, but I suppose that can be forgiven considering how it all ends.
While it mostly concerns his time with the Gambino family, he strays often into other cases. It was educational in many ways. The sorts of crime weren't any real surprise - very little was graphic & there was almost no violence. He's a big guy, but never busted heads. Instead, he was an affable giant who had no need to. The biggest surprise was his feelings toward it all. He's living in constant danger, keeping up an incredibly taxing schedule, & is actually friendly with those he intends to bring down. There's a lot there in the subtext. His conflicting emotions & attitudes were brilliantly read by Dick Hill. He really brought an additional feeling of reality to this memoir.
Thank goodness there are people like Garcia, but I'll be damned if I understand them. Highly recommended.
While it mostly concerns his time with the Gambino family, he strays often into other cases. It was educational in many ways. The sorts of crime weren't any real surprise - very little was graphic & there was almost no violence. He's a big guy, but never busted heads. Instead, he was an affable giant who had no need to. The biggest surprise was his feelings toward it all. He's living in constant danger, keeping up an incredibly taxing schedule, & is actually friendly with those he intends to bring down. There's a lot there in the subtext. His conflicting emotions & attitudes were brilliantly read by Dick Hill. He really brought an additional feeling of reality to this memoir.
Thank goodness there are people like Garcia, but I'll be damned if I understand them. Highly recommended.
December 9, 2012
This book is like sitting down with someone from the neighborhood over a beer. Garcia speaks casually, as if he's spewing his tales from the top of his head. It's a sort of a "day in the life of an undercover agent" who happens to be working more undercover cases at once than any agent in history. You get his colorful perceptions of all the dubious characters involved in the criminal enterprises he's slated to take down - from corrupt cops & politicians to drug pushers & mobsters. The majority of the book focuses on Garcia's most famed case that involved 2 1/2 years infiltrating the mafia to put away 32 members of 3 crime families. Garcia becomes a sort of right-hand man to Greg DePalma, a slimy older made member of the Gambino family who entrusts Garcia, who is known to mafia members as Jack Falcone, to the point of wanting to have him made. DePalma is as mafia as they come, an easy-to-hate cliche of a tough guy with close to zero morals.
All through his telling of the seedy world of the shysters he deals with on a day-to-day basis, you get to know the most colorful character, Garcia himself. As a gregarious 375-lb. Cuban-American, he simply doesn't fit the mold of an FBI agent - clearly an advantage in the undercover game he's playing. The mafia born-to-eat lifestyle doesn't help the poor guy, who at one point reaches 450-lbs.
Like many working as part of a large, bureaucratic organization, Garcia struggles with red-tape, budget issues and what he feels are illogical decisions of management. In one part of the book he's complaining that his higher-up is demanding he lose weight, dodging his weigh-ins, while later on he's complaining that the FBI didn't force him to go to much-needed health screenings due to budget cuts. Additionally, he's 100 percent pissed off that bureau cut his mafia sting short, because he really, really wanted to have a story to tell about "getting made." While I see some of Garcia's complaints about FBI management as legitimate - especially one where he explains how the FBI failed to inform him that there was a $250K hit out on him - I start to feel by the end of the book that Garcia is simply a winger. I was really disappointed that he exited the FBI in order to "leave at the top of his career" rather than having to do the sludge work of a regular agent. I was hoping the book would end with Garcia wanting to change FBI management, perhaps bringing all of his knowledge and experience to transform the bureau. Instead, he pretty much explains that he had a taste of the good life undercover and now would like to become an actor.
Despite feeling a little disappointed with the Garcia in the end, the book is entertaining and worth reading. I think the best part for me was that I could get a sense of the adventures Garcia experienced in the underworld without having to trudge through the gore, as Garcia was legally forbidden from being around when someone was being injured or killed.
All through his telling of the seedy world of the shysters he deals with on a day-to-day basis, you get to know the most colorful character, Garcia himself. As a gregarious 375-lb. Cuban-American, he simply doesn't fit the mold of an FBI agent - clearly an advantage in the undercover game he's playing. The mafia born-to-eat lifestyle doesn't help the poor guy, who at one point reaches 450-lbs.
Like many working as part of a large, bureaucratic organization, Garcia struggles with red-tape, budget issues and what he feels are illogical decisions of management. In one part of the book he's complaining that his higher-up is demanding he lose weight, dodging his weigh-ins, while later on he's complaining that the FBI didn't force him to go to much-needed health screenings due to budget cuts. Additionally, he's 100 percent pissed off that bureau cut his mafia sting short, because he really, really wanted to have a story to tell about "getting made." While I see some of Garcia's complaints about FBI management as legitimate - especially one where he explains how the FBI failed to inform him that there was a $250K hit out on him - I start to feel by the end of the book that Garcia is simply a winger. I was really disappointed that he exited the FBI in order to "leave at the top of his career" rather than having to do the sludge work of a regular agent. I was hoping the book would end with Garcia wanting to change FBI management, perhaps bringing all of his knowledge and experience to transform the bureau. Instead, he pretty much explains that he had a taste of the good life undercover and now would like to become an actor.
Despite feeling a little disappointed with the Garcia in the end, the book is entertaining and worth reading. I think the best part for me was that I could get a sense of the adventures Garcia experienced in the underworld without having to trudge through the gore, as Garcia was legally forbidden from being around when someone was being injured or killed.
January 18, 2009
Think Donnie Brasco, but in the 2000s.
I read Donnie Brasco and loved it. I've ready 10 or 20 mafia related books (fiction and non-fiction) and this is one my favorites. After a short description of his early days in the FBI and how he got into undercover work, it delves into his infiltration of the mob.
The book has that same stale ghostwritten feel, but the information and not the prose is what is attractive. Not only does it cover the several years he spent as part of the mob, but Garcia works several other undercover jobs simultaneously as he posed as a mobster, including a Chinese arms dealer, a corrupt cop case in Florida and a sting on the city council of Atlantic City.
Only complaint: there aren't any surveillance photos to put some faces to the names.
I read Donnie Brasco and loved it. I've ready 10 or 20 mafia related books (fiction and non-fiction) and this is one my favorites. After a short description of his early days in the FBI and how he got into undercover work, it delves into his infiltration of the mob.
The book has that same stale ghostwritten feel, but the information and not the prose is what is attractive. Not only does it cover the several years he spent as part of the mob, but Garcia works several other undercover jobs simultaneously as he posed as a mobster, including a Chinese arms dealer, a corrupt cop case in Florida and a sting on the city council of Atlantic City.
Only complaint: there aren't any surveillance photos to put some faces to the names.
June 19, 2016
What?
I enjoyed this book. Very interesting. Book was well written. If you're into the mob, give it a read. Hi Jessica and Jennifer!
I enjoyed this book. Very interesting. Book was well written. If you're into the mob, give it a read. Hi Jessica and Jennifer!
March 7, 2009
I've long had a fascination for how the underworld operates, and seems to get away with so much. This is a twist, in that it chronicles a primo undercover FBI agent in his many undercover roles, bringing down hordes of bad guys for many a violation. Most notably, and reflected by the name of the book, "Jack Falcone" (undercover name for his Mafia persona) comes up through the ranks of the Mafia, and is almost a made man when the FBI pulls the plug. I read this book rather fast compared to my usual pace.
April 25, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “A MAFIA SMACK-DOWN IN BLOOMINGDALE’S!”
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The author Jack Garcia has retired after twenty-six years as a special agent for the FBI. The preponderance of that time was spent undercover infiltrating every type of organized crime imaginable… drug distribution… weapon sales… jewelry theft… counterfeit money… counterfeit cigarettes… government corruption… police corruption… and in perhaps his greatest achievement of all… not only infiltrating the infamous Gambino Mafia crime family… but being next in line to be crowned a “MADE-MAN”… “A WISE GUY”… “A-KNOCK-AROUND-GUY… but then the FBI pulled the plug on the operation despite Jack’s vociferous objections.
Jack was only the second FBI agent to ever be accepted as a Mafia undercover “ASSOCIATE”. The first was the legendary Joe Pistone: aka Donnie Brasco. What helped Jack be so successful in his undercover status, in addition to ice cubes in his veins and a giant pair of “brass-ones” was the fact that he just DID NOT LOOK LIKE AN FBI AGENT. The FBI has strict physical guidelines that must be met including a certain height and weight ratio. It took Jack two tries to make it into the FBI because of his weight. Jack was originally six-feet-four and two-hundred-fifty pounds. Jack was told he had to lose forty pounds and come back. Jack lost the weight… came back and made the cut… but that weight class would be a forgotten memory down the road.
The FBI actually conducted a “MOB-SCHOOL” to teach potential undercover agents how to be a mobster. How to talk… how to walk… how to dress… proper slang… and… how to eat like a Mafioso. As Jack would learn firsthand, eating was almost a full-time job in the Mafia. So eat is what Jack did… and at one point his weight came very close to the FOUR-HUNDRED-FIFTY-POUND MARK! Like I said… he DID NOT look like an FBI agent. Jack’s undercover name “FALCONE” was selected in honor of a “courageous Sicilian judge who had been murdered by the Mafia along with his wife and three police bodyguards a few years earlier. The FBI had honored Judge Falcone with a bronze bust at the FBI Academy because of his fortitude in his fight against the Italian Mafia.” In addition to the sheer terror that Jack faced every day and night gaining influence in the Gambino family… additionally... it is an almost “IMPOSSIBLE-TO-BELIEVE” fact that he was *SIMULTANEOUSLY* working undercover in four other major cases… all with different persona’s… in different parts of the country from Florida to New York… involving among other things the counterfeiting of United States one-hundred-dollar bills in North Korea using the same ink and the same paper as the U.S. Treasury. “In the eyes of the Secret Service, they were as good as real.” “COUNTERFEIT MONEY POSES A GREATER THREAT THAN PRACTICALLY ANY OTHER CONTRABAND WHEN IT COMES TO NATIONAL SECURITY. IF NORTH KOREA FLOODED THE UNITED STATES WITH THESE FAKE BILLS, IT COULD TAKE DOWN THE ENTIRE U.S. ECONOMY. THESE BILLS WERE THAT GOOD.”
Meanwhile Jack “Falcone” was also attempting to win the trust of Gambino “Capo” Greg DePalma who was known to take “tough” stances with people he suspected of stealing from him. Such as putting a power drill to the head of someone he believed had stolen from him at a strip joint… “And on another occasion used a cattle prod on a guy’s scrotum.” For a little “light” work Jack would mix in setting traps to catch crooked cops in Florida… and expose Atlantic City politicians on the take. As Jack’s weight mushroomed he worried about his health… but for a number of years in a row the FBI cancelled his yearly physical due to budget constraints. In one of the “black-humor” life-is-stranger than fiction scenes in the story… the Mafia got Jack and the rest of their crew health insurance through a corrupt union official, and they all went to get a checkup… and they found that Jack had a serious heart problem and they kept him in the hospital. The FBI didn’t know where Jack was… he couldn’t call his wife… and after all the years worrying he’d be killed by a Mafia bullet… it turned out that his illicit Mafia “union” health insurance may have saved his life!
The stories are endless, and Jack’s a natural born raconteur. One story involves a visit with Greg DePalma to Bloomingdale’s because they knew that Petey Chops a Made-Man ate there. It turns out that Petey wasn’t “KICKING-UP” (Which means he wasn’t sharing his ill gained loot with the individuals above him in the Mafia food chain.) so “the crew” waited for Petey to show up at Bloomingdale’s… and when he shows… one of the boys grabs “a solid glass Kosta Boda candleholder, nearly a foot in length, from the nearest display and whacked Petey over the head with it. When it connected, I heard a “pop” like a broken cantaloupe. Bystanders gasped. Petey Chops dropped to the floor, unconscious, blood gushing from his head.” NOTE: The author provides a footnote with the exact description of the lovely product/weapon directly from Bloomingdale’s website. You will not put this book down… start to finish… and luckily Jack leaves us with an ending promise that he has many more stories to tell. I hope so, because I will be the first one to buy his next book!
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The author Jack Garcia has retired after twenty-six years as a special agent for the FBI. The preponderance of that time was spent undercover infiltrating every type of organized crime imaginable… drug distribution… weapon sales… jewelry theft… counterfeit money… counterfeit cigarettes… government corruption… police corruption… and in perhaps his greatest achievement of all… not only infiltrating the infamous Gambino Mafia crime family… but being next in line to be crowned a “MADE-MAN”… “A WISE GUY”… “A-KNOCK-AROUND-GUY… but then the FBI pulled the plug on the operation despite Jack’s vociferous objections.
Jack was only the second FBI agent to ever be accepted as a Mafia undercover “ASSOCIATE”. The first was the legendary Joe Pistone: aka Donnie Brasco. What helped Jack be so successful in his undercover status, in addition to ice cubes in his veins and a giant pair of “brass-ones” was the fact that he just DID NOT LOOK LIKE AN FBI AGENT. The FBI has strict physical guidelines that must be met including a certain height and weight ratio. It took Jack two tries to make it into the FBI because of his weight. Jack was originally six-feet-four and two-hundred-fifty pounds. Jack was told he had to lose forty pounds and come back. Jack lost the weight… came back and made the cut… but that weight class would be a forgotten memory down the road.
The FBI actually conducted a “MOB-SCHOOL” to teach potential undercover agents how to be a mobster. How to talk… how to walk… how to dress… proper slang… and… how to eat like a Mafioso. As Jack would learn firsthand, eating was almost a full-time job in the Mafia. So eat is what Jack did… and at one point his weight came very close to the FOUR-HUNDRED-FIFTY-POUND MARK! Like I said… he DID NOT look like an FBI agent. Jack’s undercover name “FALCONE” was selected in honor of a “courageous Sicilian judge who had been murdered by the Mafia along with his wife and three police bodyguards a few years earlier. The FBI had honored Judge Falcone with a bronze bust at the FBI Academy because of his fortitude in his fight against the Italian Mafia.” In addition to the sheer terror that Jack faced every day and night gaining influence in the Gambino family… additionally... it is an almost “IMPOSSIBLE-TO-BELIEVE” fact that he was *SIMULTANEOUSLY* working undercover in four other major cases… all with different persona’s… in different parts of the country from Florida to New York… involving among other things the counterfeiting of United States one-hundred-dollar bills in North Korea using the same ink and the same paper as the U.S. Treasury. “In the eyes of the Secret Service, they were as good as real.” “COUNTERFEIT MONEY POSES A GREATER THREAT THAN PRACTICALLY ANY OTHER CONTRABAND WHEN IT COMES TO NATIONAL SECURITY. IF NORTH KOREA FLOODED THE UNITED STATES WITH THESE FAKE BILLS, IT COULD TAKE DOWN THE ENTIRE U.S. ECONOMY. THESE BILLS WERE THAT GOOD.”
Meanwhile Jack “Falcone” was also attempting to win the trust of Gambino “Capo” Greg DePalma who was known to take “tough” stances with people he suspected of stealing from him. Such as putting a power drill to the head of someone he believed had stolen from him at a strip joint… “And on another occasion used a cattle prod on a guy’s scrotum.” For a little “light” work Jack would mix in setting traps to catch crooked cops in Florida… and expose Atlantic City politicians on the take. As Jack’s weight mushroomed he worried about his health… but for a number of years in a row the FBI cancelled his yearly physical due to budget constraints. In one of the “black-humor” life-is-stranger than fiction scenes in the story… the Mafia got Jack and the rest of their crew health insurance through a corrupt union official, and they all went to get a checkup… and they found that Jack had a serious heart problem and they kept him in the hospital. The FBI didn’t know where Jack was… he couldn’t call his wife… and after all the years worrying he’d be killed by a Mafia bullet… it turned out that his illicit Mafia “union” health insurance may have saved his life!
The stories are endless, and Jack’s a natural born raconteur. One story involves a visit with Greg DePalma to Bloomingdale’s because they knew that Petey Chops a Made-Man ate there. It turns out that Petey wasn’t “KICKING-UP” (Which means he wasn’t sharing his ill gained loot with the individuals above him in the Mafia food chain.) so “the crew” waited for Petey to show up at Bloomingdale’s… and when he shows… one of the boys grabs “a solid glass Kosta Boda candleholder, nearly a foot in length, from the nearest display and whacked Petey over the head with it. When it connected, I heard a “pop” like a broken cantaloupe. Bystanders gasped. Petey Chops dropped to the floor, unconscious, blood gushing from his head.” NOTE: The author provides a footnote with the exact description of the lovely product/weapon directly from Bloomingdale’s website. You will not put this book down… start to finish… and luckily Jack leaves us with an ending promise that he has many more stories to tell. I hope so, because I will be the first one to buy his next book!
May 14, 2017
Jack's story is very interesting, but the writing is terrible. I wish he had hired a ghost writer to write the book.
July 30, 2019
Fantastic! An epic accounting of real infiltration into the criminal world. I loved it.
November 8, 2020
Well written story. You really feel like you are there in the moment as he tells his amazing story of his time under cover in the mafia.
January 5, 2021
He was able to play multiple roles and take down the bad guys. One of the best deep cover books I've ever read.
February 24, 2021
Enjoyable book and well role story
I really enjoyed this book. Down to earth guy with a lot of guts taking on the New York mob. Highly recommended!
I really enjoyed this book. Down to earth guy with a lot of guts taking on the New York mob. Highly recommended!
August 18, 2024
Entertaining, but difficult to feel this is real and not a movie. Written in a very macho style which is hard to take seriously
March 7, 2025
I should stop buying books about articles I read on Wikipedia.
February 11, 2025
Bravo to Jack Garcia for both his work in law enforcement and for writing an enthralling book.
The FBI clearly has many different units of very talented agents and it was interesting to have a peek into their world. It is astounding to me the number of cases he juggled at once (I can sort of understand why his superiors worried).
What made this book particularly enjoyable to me was Jack sharing several of his cases - along with his infiltration into the Gambino family. He brought that world to life and really showed these mobsters for what they are; predators that victimize the public - and each other. His journey through this world is nicely written, factual, vivid and interesting. You feel like you're across a table having coffee with him as you read. I hope he is enjoying retirement and is busy writing another book about other cases.
August 10, 2021
I was excited when I picked up this book - I love a good crime story, especially true ones! And the story itself didn’t disappoint. How could the recollection of one of the greatest undercover FBI agents?? However, the writing left me less than impressed. Just based on structure and flow I would have given you he book an overall rating of 4 stars, but then there were the exclamation marks. I mean, there were A LOT of them. Probably as many as should be used in a whole lifetime of writing. It got to the point where I started wondering: can I really trust what you are saying? By the end I was just too annoyed. 5 stars for story, 4 for structure, but only 3 for the annoying habits of the author.
September 17, 2024
3.5*, rounded down
Memoir from an FBI agent about his time undercover in the Gambino crime family. I would love to know what percentage of this was exaggerated, but it was a very quick, bingeable read regardless of how much truth was played up. I enjoyed learning more about the mob, but more than anything, I was kind of fascinated to hear about FBI bureaucracy from this angle, particularly how much they end up fucking Garcia over. The writing style is extremely chatty, so it feels like getting a beer with your most outrageous mate and listening to him tell you stories into the wee hours of the night.
Also, Garcia’s shock and awe that there are corrupt cops (cops!! who are meant to protect us!! Imagine the horror that some could be bad!!, he cries) seems laughably naive.
Memoir from an FBI agent about his time undercover in the Gambino crime family. I would love to know what percentage of this was exaggerated, but it was a very quick, bingeable read regardless of how much truth was played up. I enjoyed learning more about the mob, but more than anything, I was kind of fascinated to hear about FBI bureaucracy from this angle, particularly how much they end up fucking Garcia over. The writing style is extremely chatty, so it feels like getting a beer with your most outrageous mate and listening to him tell you stories into the wee hours of the night.
Also, Garcia’s shock and awe that there are corrupt cops (cops!! who are meant to protect us!! Imagine the horror that some could be bad!!, he cries) seems laughably naive.
May 7, 2025
A fascinating read about a very unlikely, six foot something, three hundred pound man who worked as an undercover agent for the FBI, primarily about his stint in the New York mafia during the 2000s.
The writing style is very engaging and personable. I agree with other reviews that it feels like you’re talking with the author at the bar.
The story chronicles his rise through the FBI, how he worked his way into the mafia and accidentally found himself promoted through its ranks, and there are also interstitials of a few other cases he worked elsewhere.
The only criticism about the book isn’t about the author but about the final circumstances. He could have been promoted to a Made Man and facilitated an incredible sting operation, but his superiors and The Powers that Be pulled the plug right when things were getting really good and so the story ends rather abruptly and rather anticlimactically, which is a tragedy.
Despite this, I still really enjoyed the book among the ranks of other mafia autobiographies I’ve read.
The writing style is very engaging and personable. I agree with other reviews that it feels like you’re talking with the author at the bar.
The story chronicles his rise through the FBI, how he worked his way into the mafia and accidentally found himself promoted through its ranks, and there are also interstitials of a few other cases he worked elsewhere.
The only criticism about the book isn’t about the author but about the final circumstances. He could have been promoted to a Made Man and facilitated an incredible sting operation, but his superiors and The Powers that Be pulled the plug right when things were getting really good and so the story ends rather abruptly and rather anticlimactically, which is a tragedy.
Despite this, I still really enjoyed the book among the ranks of other mafia autobiographies I’ve read.
Read
October 20, 2021Great Mafia book written by some one who lived the life of an undercover agent for decades. His truth and color he brings to the stories rings true.
What is also evident is the over whelming evidence that the FBI at the management level is full of bureaucrats and weasels who don't think twice about putting the almighty dollar ahead of the safety of the agents.
The FBI at is core is organized crime at it's best.
What is also evident is the over whelming evidence that the FBI at the management level is full of bureaucrats and weasels who don't think twice about putting the almighty dollar ahead of the safety of the agents.
The FBI at is core is organized crime at it's best.
May 7, 2022
Strong non-fiction narrative of an undercover FBI agent who successfully infiltrated one of the Mafia's more notorious families. This book gives the kind of inside view that only a law enforcement official who works undercover can provide. If you like non-fiction, this is a well-written and compelling read.
September 12, 2023
Jack Garcia painted a unique picture of the New York mafia as an insider working for the FBI. The book was enjoyable, however I got the sense that it was written, in part, to justify his actions as the correct choice and denounce others that disagreed with him. At times, this felt preachy. Overall, it was a good book.
February 25, 2025
Not sure how to describe it. I enjoyed the content for the most part. I have the utmost respect for Agent Garcia for putting his life on the line. Definitely, not the best written novel I have read. With that said I was reading the book for entertainment and can look past the inadequacies in the text. I would recommend giving it a read.
May 25, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and super interesting. What a world to have infiltrated... and to put one’s life on the line like that. Wow.
September 5, 2020
Really interesting first hand account of an FBI agent who manages to join the mob in New York. My only gripe is that it jumps around in chronology a little. I enjoyed this despite that.
November 22, 2020
Engaging book.
February 24, 2021
Interesting story about an undercover FBI agent in the Mafia. The book tells the story with humor and some tension.
March 8, 2022
interesting
May 18, 2022
I'd like to meet this guy in person. Pretty sure I could listen to his stories for days.
January 24, 2025
Undercover agent almost gets made into the Gambino family. A great look into how an FBI agent infiltrated one of New York's biggest crime families.
March 7, 2016
Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family by Joaquin "Jack" Garcia with Michael Levin. I have had this book since 2008. I am trying to read through books that I have owned for years and have not read. This was an engaging story of an affable undercover agent in the FBI, who infiltrated the Gambino family in New York. Joaquin "Jack" Garcia was born in Cuba and moved to the United States when he was a young boy. He wanted to be an FBI agent at a time when the FBI was not recruiting people with ethnic backgrounds such as Jacks. He was able to fool the Italian Mob Families that he was Italian and almost was the second made man in the Mafia, after Joe Pistone who played Donnie Brascoe in the movie,
Jack became one of a few FBI agents that dedicated his whole career (26 years) as solely an undercover agent. Graduating from Quantico at 6'4 and 300 pounds, the FBI used Jack's intimidating stature to place him as a gregarious drug smuggler and money launderer in the Badlands of Philadelphia, to the streets of Miami where he moved stolen and illicit goods. In Newark, New Jersey where working as an undercover we learn that the Chinese factories in China can illegally export just about any fake product there is. In North Korea, counterfeit money with the same ink and paper as the United States Treasury. The money was so authentic looking that the Secret Service could not tell the difference, yet 300 million was seized by Jack which if ever got on the Streets of the United States could cripple the economy. I found this to be very interesting,
When Jack spent two and a half years under Greg DePalma, who cared for an ailing John Gotti in prison, Greg introduced Jack that the five New York Mafioso families are still thriving and running their schemes in New York. In this post John Gotti world construction companies, restaurants, many legitimate businesses are forced to kick up money to the five New York Families, With Jack's participation as Greg DePalma's underlings in the Gambino Family, fearlessly working undercover he was able to illuminate for the FBI the major players who were all eventually indicted. But sadly, as Jack says in this book when you take one out another one replaces him. A highly enlightening look into the underworld of organized crime, Not graphically murderous at all, But an interesting look into how this Mafia thrives today in a post John Gotti era,
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Jack became one of a few FBI agents that dedicated his whole career (26 years) as solely an undercover agent. Graduating from Quantico at 6'4 and 300 pounds, the FBI used Jack's intimidating stature to place him as a gregarious drug smuggler and money launderer in the Badlands of Philadelphia, to the streets of Miami where he moved stolen and illicit goods. In Newark, New Jersey where working as an undercover we learn that the Chinese factories in China can illegally export just about any fake product there is. In North Korea, counterfeit money with the same ink and paper as the United States Treasury. The money was so authentic looking that the Secret Service could not tell the difference, yet 300 million was seized by Jack which if ever got on the Streets of the United States could cripple the economy. I found this to be very interesting,
When Jack spent two and a half years under Greg DePalma, who cared for an ailing John Gotti in prison, Greg introduced Jack that the five New York Mafioso families are still thriving and running their schemes in New York. In this post John Gotti world construction companies, restaurants, many legitimate businesses are forced to kick up money to the five New York Families, With Jack's participation as Greg DePalma's underlings in the Gambino Family, fearlessly working undercover he was able to illuminate for the FBI the major players who were all eventually indicted. But sadly, as Jack says in this book when you take one out another one replaces him. A highly enlightening look into the underworld of organized crime, Not graphically murderous at all, But an interesting look into how this Mafia thrives today in a post John Gotti era,
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