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Shots In The Dark: The Saga Of Rocco Balliro
On a frigid February night in 1963, petty thief and recent prison escapee Rocco Balliro embarked on an ill-advised rescue of his girlfriend Toby. She had set out that morning to seek a divorce from her husband, who hours before had gained release from jail. When he failed to hear from her, Rocco and a pair of associates armed themselves and launched a search to locate Toby whom he believed was held against her will by her estranged husband.
Storming the darkened apartment on the outskirts of Boston where he thought he’d find Toby, Rocco and his sidekicks were suddenly embroiled in an ambush. Searing bullets ripped through the tidy home, impacting with furniture where hours before, children had joyfully played. Unbeknownst to Rocco, he was not engaged in a gun battle with Toby’s husband but rather, several Boston Police officers, who had devised an unsanctioned sting operation to apprehend their wanted man.
Rocco and his gang took flight and a car chase commenced as additional police joined in. Rocco managed to elude his pursuers but before long discovered that his beloved Toby had been in the apartment and was killed, along with her toddler son. He gathered that she and little Mark had been caught in crossfire as the inept police resumed firing in the darkness, soon after Rocco had fled.
Distraught, Rocco surrendered to authorities to face charges. What followed was fifty years of incarceration, two escapes, two marriages, and Rocco’s exhaustive attempt to prove his innocence.
Storming the darkened apartment on the outskirts of Boston where he thought he’d find Toby, Rocco and his sidekicks were suddenly embroiled in an ambush. Searing bullets ripped through the tidy home, impacting with furniture where hours before, children had joyfully played. Unbeknownst to Rocco, he was not engaged in a gun battle with Toby’s husband but rather, several Boston Police officers, who had devised an unsanctioned sting operation to apprehend their wanted man.
Rocco and his gang took flight and a car chase commenced as additional police joined in. Rocco managed to elude his pursuers but before long discovered that his beloved Toby had been in the apartment and was killed, along with her toddler son. He gathered that she and little Mark had been caught in crossfire as the inept police resumed firing in the darkness, soon after Rocco had fled.
Distraught, Rocco surrendered to authorities to face charges. What followed was fifty years of incarceration, two escapes, two marriages, and Rocco’s exhaustive attempt to prove his innocence.
- GenresTrue Crime
482 pages, Paperback
Published September 10, 2018
26 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 17, 2018
This is the story of Rocco Anthony Balliro, a man who makes his living as a criminal, earning his money by breaking the law. Then he meets a beautiful woman named Toby and is instantly smitten with her, though she happens to be married with two children. But her husband is in jail a lot and doesn’t help her at all. Before long Rocco and Toby are living together, and Rocco begins to think of getting a job and going straight for this woman so that they can have a real life and a real family. He doesn’t want to keep risking being separated from her by going back to prison. Especially after a close call he has nearly getting caught by the police one night.
When Toby’s husband gets out of jail, they know she has to see him and get things straight about a divorce. She plans to only be gone a short while and when it takes much longer, Rocco goes looking for her, thinking she’s in trouble and needs help. When he goes to the apartment house to rescue Toby with his brother and a friend to help him, they end up in an unexpected ambush shootout and they hightail it out of there after returning fire. As they turn and run, they hear more gunfire coming from inside the apartment, which puzzles him. After a couple of days, and learning that his beloved Toby and her son Mark were both killed in that apartment and that it was police in there shooting, not the husband and his cohorts, Rocco turns himself in to police. He knows he hasn’t killed anyone and wants to clear his name. Police are trying to charge him with murder. The murder of Toby and little Mark. It results in nearly 50 years of incarceration, and escapes, 2 marriages, and Rocco doggedly working to clear his name.
Such a haunting tale of ruined lives and lost love that left me saddened by it all. I try not to read anything about the book beforehand, coming to it clean. I was so shocked when Toby and Mark were killed that I kept thinking, maybe hoping it was a police trick, and that it wasn’t really true. I finally had to accept that it was true, as much as I hated it. I can only imagine how Rocco felt. And being accused of killing them and serving all those years for it, can there be anything worse? What a story. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by #netgalley, author Daniel Zimmerman, and the publisher for my fair review.
WildBlue Press
Pub: Sept. 25th 2018
My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
When Toby’s husband gets out of jail, they know she has to see him and get things straight about a divorce. She plans to only be gone a short while and when it takes much longer, Rocco goes looking for her, thinking she’s in trouble and needs help. When he goes to the apartment house to rescue Toby with his brother and a friend to help him, they end up in an unexpected ambush shootout and they hightail it out of there after returning fire. As they turn and run, they hear more gunfire coming from inside the apartment, which puzzles him. After a couple of days, and learning that his beloved Toby and her son Mark were both killed in that apartment and that it was police in there shooting, not the husband and his cohorts, Rocco turns himself in to police. He knows he hasn’t killed anyone and wants to clear his name. Police are trying to charge him with murder. The murder of Toby and little Mark. It results in nearly 50 years of incarceration, and escapes, 2 marriages, and Rocco doggedly working to clear his name.
Such a haunting tale of ruined lives and lost love that left me saddened by it all. I try not to read anything about the book beforehand, coming to it clean. I was so shocked when Toby and Mark were killed that I kept thinking, maybe hoping it was a police trick, and that it wasn’t really true. I finally had to accept that it was true, as much as I hated it. I can only imagine how Rocco felt. And being accused of killing them and serving all those years for it, can there be anything worse? What a story. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by #netgalley, author Daniel Zimmerman, and the publisher for my fair review.
WildBlue Press
Pub: Sept. 25th 2018
My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
January 19, 2026
If you’re a local who wants to read some Boston-based true crime, it’s an interesting read. It drags up a lot of emotion and will make you question what you know about crime, love, and compassion.
While at times a bit biased and skewed in its perception, the overall narrative is engaging enough to keep you reading through the 300+ pages.
While at times a bit biased and skewed in its perception, the overall narrative is engaging enough to keep you reading through the 300+ pages.
May 9, 2020
Loved all the local Boston references.
June 10, 2025
As an author of true crime in the Boston area in the 1970's I found this an amazing account of the life of Rocco Balliro. Well written and a true page turner. I recognized all the names of the mobsters and knew every place mentioned in the book. As a former state cop and having interviewed several bad guys it was easy to relate to Rocco's dilemma. I found this account well researched and documented. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in true crime books.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews