Underworld

by Roman Martin

"Accurately describes 'the Life, ' and the pros and cons of becoming a mobster . . . in a very unique manner that will no doubt have you in stitches." --Frank Cullotta, coauthor of The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness

For the first time in history, there is now an easy-to-follow self-help guide on how to join and rise in the most exclusive men's club in the world--the Italian-American Mafia (aka La Cosa Nostra). Learn everything from loansharking to leg-breaking to corpse disposal, all without leaving the comfort of your mobile home or prison cell.

Based on interviews with dozens of former high-ranking Mafiosi and many other hardcore mobsters from across the globe, true-crime auteur Roman Mart�n has risked life and limb to bring you this spellbinding tour de force. Whether you're a couch-surfing gangster-wannabe or simply someone who's watched The Godfather too many times, this breathtaking expos� of "the Honored Society" offers something for everyone.

Pushing the bounds of the First Amendment to their breaking point, Don Mart�n also reveals the FBI's most closely guarded secrets when it comes to "wiseguys" and "goodfellas." Wanna know the one surefire way to find out who in your crew is an undercover cop or fed? Or the best way to deal with those annoying witnesses? Then look no further, friends, for all your questions about the outlaw lifestyle shall be answered in Underworld.

"I laughed so hard at times that my jaws ached!" --Dennis N. Griffin, award-winning true-crime author of The Rise and Fall of a "Casino" The Tony Spilotro Story

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime

510 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Roman Martín was born the youngest of five quintuplets in Scottsdale, Arizona to a wealthy used-furniture manufacturer and his homemaker wife. Roman’s fascination with crime began shortly after his birth when an ex-con climbed a ladder to the second-story of his home, crawled into the nursery, and snatched him from his crib. As the kidnapper later told the local press after his arrest, “He was the best one of the litter. You could tell he was a little outlaw from the gleam in his eye.” As it turned out, the kidnapper had taken baby Roman for his own wife, a former local police officer, who was herself infertile. At her sentencing hearing, she told the judge, “They seemed like they had more than they could handle so we took one.”

Fortunately, a private investigator hired by Roman’s father was able to retrieve and safely return him to his parents. Wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the harsh memories, Roman’s parents sold their business at an obscene profit and moved to his mother’s ancestral home of Salzburg, Austria. Wasting no time, his parents hired the finest pianist in the country to train the nimble-fingered prodigy. Under his tutelage, Roman was able to compose his first piano concerto by age five, and first full-scale opera by age nine.

Unfortunately, both Roman’s restless nature and puberty kicked in, causing him to abandon classical music for ballroom dancing in Vienna. There, he fell madly in love with a famous ballerina, and together they toured the continent, delighting fans with their couple’s dancing. By age 18, the seemingly happy duo was engaged to be married and preparing to embark on a world tour. Alas, on the eve of their nuptials, disaster struck when Roman’s betrothed ran off with their mambo instructor.

After six months of intensive psychotherapy, Roman was not only able to dance again, but actually emigrated to New York City to pursue his Broadway dreams. To support himself in the meanwhile, he moved in with an Italian family in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where he worked both as an au pair and a clerk in a paint store. Although his dreams of stardom failed to materialize, it was in Bay Ridge – Ground Zero for the Italian-American Mafia (a.k.a. La Cosa Nostra) – where Roman’s obsession with true crime was reignited.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking to become a mobster in today’s La Cosa Nostra? Think you’ve got what it takes? Author Roman Martin has the guide for you to decide and help you be all that you can be. Based on decades of following and studying the real original gangsters, Martin has all kinds of advice to share to help you decide if the ‘made’ life is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed this take on the life, the players and the history, written with a bite as Martin gives his impressions of how the different mob guys stacked up through the years. He also shares a few insider details about different infamous things that I never knew before.

One of the people mentioned in the book also happened to be the subject of one of the shows on the Investigation Discovery channel later one evening, which was a great coincidence and it gave a lot of information on the notorious killer featured, Richard Kuklinski. You just gotta love when that happens. Martin dishes on many known mob figures and has up to date information on them. I’d recommend for true crime and mob book fans, for sure.

First published on my WordPress blog viewed here:
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[Mike Flugence Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A self help book for your inner mafiso

Excellent self help material. What to do and not to do in the world of organized crime, and some life lessons as well. Highly recommended for Mafia fans and dark sense of humors as well.

[Cynthia Landon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny but carried great info.

[Roman Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apologies for promoting my own book -- a "Gonzo-istic", narrative non-fiction, true-crime, gallows-humor book. The book is an outrageous, farcical "self-help" guide on how to become a successful mobster, coupled with an irreverent history of La Cosa Nostra in the U.S. Think of it as the literary equivalent of Pulp Fiction or Breaking Bad.

The work is based on my interviews with scores of high-level mobsters, including many former Mafiosi in WITSEC, other non-LCN organized-crime gangsters, hitmen, federal prosecutors, etc., as well as two-a-half years of extensive research that took me across the U.S. and Europe, including four weeks in Italy. It's also based on my top 50 favorite true-crime books about the Mob.

Here's one of the recent reviews I received, which I'm using as promotional blurbs (in case you're wondering whether this is worth your time and attention):

“I laughed so hard at times that my jaws ached! In his book UNDERWORLD, Roman Martín has hit a home run. It is amazingly well-researched and jam-packed with stories by sources whose names will be very familiar to Mob enthusiasts. While the stories and other matters addressed are accurate descriptions of serious things, such as murder and mayhem, they are told with humor and may often have you laughing hysterically. Congrats, Mr. Martín, on a job well done.” – Dennis N. Griffin, award-winning true-crime author of "The Rise and Fall of a 'Casino' Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story" and "Rogue Town"

[Dayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative (i.e. full of history & juicy scoops) & hilarious - I haven't laughed as much since El libro de buen amor in medieval lit class. What the 2 share is the simultaneous promotion of 'righteousness' & baseness, making both double how-to books; the reader gets to choose which path to follow. A side-splitting (w/o blood) read, Underworld will 'kill' anyone interested in organized crime. I received a Kindle edition from a Goodreads giveaway.

[Kasey]

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book as a giveaway recipient. I am excited to read it and will update my thoughts on this book soon!