Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 11 ratings · 1 review

July 12, 1979: The fearsome Bonanno family boss, Carmine Galante, is gunned down in a gruesome ambush at a Brooklyn restaurant. The hit launches an FBI investigation that soon becomes the largest in the bureau'shistory, as agents uncover a trail leading to a clandestine arm of the Sicilian Mafia. Evidence points to an all but unknown criminal franchise at work in the U.S....more July 12, 1979: The fearsome Bonanno family boss, Carmine Galante, is gunned down in a gruesome ambush at a Brooklyn restaurant. The hit launches an FBI investigation that soon becomes the largest in the bureau's history, as agents uncover a trail leading to a clandestine arm of the Sicilian Mafia. Evidence points to an all but unknown criminal franchise at work in the U.S. within the strife-torn Cosa Nostra.

The mystery deepens. Surveillance photos snapped secretly from FBI vans and lookouts in Queens and Brooklyn show a cast of characters the bureau's mob experts cannot identify. What is in the cartons these Sicilians are loading into the trunks of their Mercedes? Who is trying to spirit $60 million out of the country and why? And where is the mountain of money coming from?

The FBI has stumbled across a billion-dollar drug pipeline that is funneling tons of Turkish morphoine base to Sicilian labs and heroin into the United States through pizza parlors, cafes, and boutiques. Where the French Connection ends, the Pizza Connection begins.

This is the dramatic inside story of that historic case and the struggle of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Customs Service, and New York Police Department to deal the Mafia a crippling blow. The early 1980s are a crucial time for the FBI. It is emerging from the debacles of J. Edgar Hoover's administration, which long refused to acknowledge traditional organized crime, and is about to take on a new assignment policing anti-drug laws alongside the DEA.

The exploding case is assigned to an unlikely pair of agents: the intense, Sicilian-born Carmine Russo and the laid-back Charlie Rooney. Together with an expanding army of investigators in the U.S. and abroad, they follow a trail that leads from sidewalk pizzerias and pay phones in Long Island, New Jersey, and rural Illinois, to bank vaults and hideouts in Miami, the Bahamas, Zurich, Palermo, Rio, Madrid, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Thousands of hours of wiretapped conversations and surveillance photos reveal a deadly, shadowy world of coded messages, midnight dropoffs of heroin packed in paper bags and shirt boxes, and vast fortunes laundered through some of America's biggest brokerage firms.

But the crimelords Russo and Rooney stalk are not their only nemesis; they must also fend off jealous and impatient bureaucrats, and more than once crooked cops come close to blowing the case.(less)

ebook, 354 pages

Published April 18th 2012 by Crown (first published August 12th 1988)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-24 of 24)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 22, 2010 Walt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: organized-crime

The prose is leans away from mass audience and towards legalese. The Sicilian drug peddlers in America do not readily fall into classification types for organized crime and thereby create a complex nexus of personalities and shifting alliances.

like · see review

May 18, 2013 Luisa marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Mar 13, 2013 David added it · review of another edition

Shelves: gangsters

Mar 09, 2013 NT marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Feb 09, 2013 Chad Baker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jan 06, 2013 Jo marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Nov 09, 2012 Marsmannix rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oct 07, 2012 Daniel Yabu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jul 24, 2012 Lee added it · review of another edition

May 21, 2012 Desiree marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Oct 27, 2011 e marked it as to-read-nonfiction · review of another edition

Shelves: la-cosa-nostra-and-co, nonfiction

Jul 26, 2011 Evan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: books-u-cant-refuse-moms-mob-shelf, gangstas, crime-for-real

Jul 26, 2011 Christian Cook added it · review of another edition

Jul 12, 2011 Michael Rizzo added it · review of another edition

Mar 01, 2011 Nisá rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Feb 11, 2011 Bbsteph marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: not-read

Apr 25, 2010 Fred marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jul 14, 2009 Ken Ficara added it · review of another edition

Shelves: mafia, nyc, shelf-nonfiction

Apr 26, 2008 Astevens13 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jan 28, 2008 Bfett25 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oct 29, 2007 Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: true-crime

Oct 26, 2007 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: true-crime, history

Oct 25, 2007 Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aug 05, 2007 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

See top shelves...

Books by Ralph Blumenthal

The Stork Club: American's Most Famous Nightspot and the Lost World of Cafe Society

Miracle at Sing Sing: How One Man Transformed the Lives of America's Most Dangerous Prisoners

THE GOTTI TAPES (Sammy the Bull Gravano)

Stork Club: America's Most Famous Nights and the Lost World of Cafe Society

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Last Days of the ...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia
avg rating	preview: Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia Goodreads rating: 3.73 (11 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13572960-last-days-of-the-sicilians?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360571402l/13572960.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13572960-last-days-of-the-sicilians?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia by Ralph Blumenthal[/url]

Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Books by Ralph Blumenthal

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Last Days of the ...

Last Days of the Sicilians: At War with the Mafia

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (3)

Genres

Books by Ralph Blumenthal

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Last Days of the ...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)