Steel City Mafia: Blood, Betrayal and Pittsburgh’s Last Don

by Paul N. Hodos

Pittsburgh's small but lucrative Cosa Nostra mafia family was on the rise in 1985 with a newly crowned Don... The men who came to dominate the rackets in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia opened the family to massive profits from drug trafficking and a street tax on other criminal activities. At the same time, the Youngstown, OH faction of the family launched a brutal mob war against the weakening Cleveland mafia and the Altoona, PA crew violently clamped down on their city. Discover gritty stories of a made member who controlled who a local police department hired, an informant who betrayed his own mafia grandfather and father, numerous unsolved murders and a mob mole in the Pittsburgh office of the FBI. This is the tale of a mafia family at the pinnacle of its power, willing to do anything to hold on to that power and its downfall in the criminal underworld.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook

176 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2023

Reviews

[Lorien Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know the area, this is an interesting, albeit dry read. I wish there were more Pgh centric stories instead of so many about Ohio/Altoona.

[Natalie Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really interesting as my mom and her siblings all suspect that my grandpa was involved with the Pittsburgh mafia. Their family name is Testa, and distant relatives are supposedly tied to the Philli "Chicken Man" Testa. My great grand parents were Italian immigrants. They lived in NY, OH, and then settled in PA. They lived and died in Hazelwood. My grandfather worked for J&L Steel and had 8 children, my mom being the youngest. She actually ended up being one of only two homecare nurses that Genevese allowed to take care of him before he passed away. She enjoyed her time and chats with him which got her digging into her family history and hiring someone to look into our family line. Fun stuff. I enjoyed all the familiar names and places in this book. Also, I had no clue I was mispronouncing "Mancini" all this time!

[Gina H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read for those who have knowledge on/are interested in this topic already; however, this could be a tough read for someone without any background knowledge of the area.

[Levi Marasco · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read that gives you a lot of information and stories about the Pittsburgh mafia from mid 1900s years to the end of Pittsburgh family.

The only reason this book is a bit of a tough read is that it doesn’t feel like it has a true beginning or end. There is a lot of retelling of stories and background into member’s lives. However, Steel City Mafia just feels like a collection of those stories. By the end of the book you get a good picture of how everything ties together, but there is a lot of location and time hopping throughout.

If you want to learn more about the Pittsburgh mafia, I recommend this book.

[Alex Nigida · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the other reviews. This really did lack any sort of narrative or timeline, which made it difficult to remember players and context. It was still fun to listen to and hear familiar names and identify some local places.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories of the mob in Pittsburgh and the tri-state area from the 1930's to early 2000's. Each mobster's story is told in their own chapter from Pittsburgh to Altoona to Cleveland to Wheeling and Steubenville.

I liked that each story focused on one person and their actions. Others in the book may have been in the story. I liked getting the background on each person as they rose through the ranks. I remember some of the stories in the news from the later years. There was a lot of mob activity through this area. The FBI and DOJ got together and came down hard on the mob in this area beginning in the 1980's through the early 2000's when the mob's influence was broken by them turning on each other. There were some colorful characters.

This book was written in a "just the facts" style. I would have liked to see more of a story format.
One of the best stories was when the FBI had to get a warrant to get back their bugging equipment.
A good read of a past time in the Steel City.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is originally from near the Pittsburgh area, I was a bit surprised to come across this book which has parts of history that I did and didn't remember about an era of the mafia in Pittsburgh. Paul N Hodos explains the origins of this notorious family & their dealings that stretched from Youngstown to Pittsburgh to Wheeling to Morgantown as an underground that some may or may not have been aware of is revealed in "Steel City Mafia: Blood, Betrayal and Pittsburgh's Last Don". The book itself almost at times feels a bit surreal as the explanations behind some of these events & how the mafia was well entrenched in this region for decades. What is most fascinating as well is how well hidden at times these operations were as well as the lengths that people even in this part of the country would go to accomplish things. A book that will stun, amaze & surprise anyone who reads it & is a must read for anyone with an interest in the Mafia or that part of the US.

[Carlos Dragonné · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una especie de recorrido sin mucho drama sobre lo que sucedió con la Mafia en Pittsburgh. Desde LaRocca hasta Genovese lo que Pittsburgh tiene en particular con otras ciudades es que muchos de sus grandes líderes murieron de edad o enfermedad, no en prisión como sucedió con otras familias. Michael Genovese pudo sortear incluso las traiciones de Charlie Porter, su segundo al mando, que se convirtió en testigo del FBI para reducir su condena.

El libro no se altera mucho en dramas narrativos, sino que parece una colección de artículos biográficos sobre la mafia de la ciudad, desde el final de la era de la prohibición hasta la muerte de Genovese y el consecuente ascenso de John Bazzano Jr. Después de Bazzano hay otros líderes, pero la familia de Pittsburgh está muy debilitada. Buena lectura para un avión.

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow the most phenomenally boring nonfiction book I've ever read, and I live in Pittsburgh! After about twenty minutes of this audiobook, I could tell this wasn't going to end well — for being under 200 pages/less than five hours long, it reads like the most dense academic textbook you've ever picked up. No real in-roads to understanding the material being thrown at you, just a list of names and crimes that are about as interesting as reading the phone book. Add local names being frequently mispronounced by the narrator, and I almost didn't finish it.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with some of the other reviews. This is a good read if you are familiar with the area but if not I can see how it would be hard. It was interesting but I felt that for it stating that it was supposed to be a Pittsburgh book, it dealt too much in Ohio. There are so many neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh and suburbs that I’ve heard urban legends about in the news, newspapers, websites and other books that I wished this book would have touched on. There could have been more.
Still a good read and 3 stars.

[AshleyKantorski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book. Not fully based in Pittsburgh as a lot of it takes place in Ohio and Altoona. Growing up I remember hearing about a lot of the names in the book from my Grandfather and his friends which makes me wonder at times. A lot of the places in the book are no longer around but you can find information online. It was very interesting to learn about how the mob functioned in Pittsburgh. Especially when you think of the Mob or Mafia you think of bigger city’s

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pretty dry recitation of events without any kind of narrative form. I can't see why anyone would ever pick up this book without having an existing knowledge of the Pittsburgh area, but even if they do they'll be disappointed and baffled at how much of Steel City Mafia is actually about Youngstown, Altoona, and various other places that are very much not Pittsburgh.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio. I wish this had a clearer timeline and more stories centered in Pittsburgh, but overall this was interesting. I think you’d have to be into Pittsburgh history or the history of organized crime in order to enjoy this one.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m working on reading more non-fic, so this worked well enough since I knew most of the locations referenced. But this isn’t something I would blindly recommend. It would have to be for someone genuinely interested cause otherwise it’s not particularly engaging. Intriguing as a local, though.

[Laura Soller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical account of the evolution of the mafia in Pittsburgh. The reader gets a front row seat to observe and learn the extensive impact the mafia had on Pittsburgh and the northeast. I recommend to true crime lovers.

[Tony Pisano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool read, lots of facts but not as much embellishment of stories. Seemed to have tons of inside knowledge of the incidents. Especially cool if you’re from Western PA, Eastern OH, and WV area. Been to some of the places discussed in the book.

[Jelaina Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. But a lot thrown at you if you're not very familiar with Pittsburgh.

[Alycia Bencloski · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about all the people and places I heard about growing up. I had no idea how my grandparents rubbed elbows with these mobsters. Unbelievable

[Barrett Gough · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was such a badly written book that it obscured what might have been an interesting story.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting piece of Pittsburgh area history that deserves being told.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't appreciate the multiple uses of the domino effect metaphor, but other than that the book was an easy and informative read.

[Arianna Posa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting dive into the Pittsburgh mafia

[Anthony Angotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have never known how much organized crime was in Pittsburgh before I was born. Glad it’s mostly gone.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

good was interesting to hear about what happened in pittsburgh. Overall small group, though names hard to keep up on.

[Jeff Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts out great but about halfway through gets repetitive and dry. Still though, interesting to lean about the 20th Pittsburgh mafia

[Jeff Ortenzio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Not very detailed, more of an overview than a history.

[Jenny (Miss Jerek) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Read 48%, but read too much like a textbook and there were way too many people mentioned to follow along.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Insight

Book was good, not great and was all over the place at times. Regardless, I learned about a family I knew little of.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it very interesting since I am from the Pittsburgh area.