King of the Godfathers

Praise for Anthony M. DeStefano

JIMMY THE GENT

“At last! Anthony M. DeStefano’s Jimmy the Gent explains the mystery behind Jimmy Burke being the only Irishman at the Mob’s Italian table.” —Nicholas Pileggi, bestselling author of Wiseguy and Casino

“With his trademark meticulous research, Anthony M. DeStefano looks beneath the smooth veneer of James ‘Jimmy the Gent’ Burke, the criminal mastermind behind the Lufthansa heist, to explain what made him tick. He takes you back to the beginning of his tumultuous childhood, through various foster parents and early crimes, to the apex of his career as one of the top Irish gangsters in New York City. A fascinating story about a complex man.” —S. J. Peddie, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Sonny and co-author of The Lansky Legacy and Bugsy and Flamingo

BROADWAY BUTTERFLY: VIVIAN GORDON

“Mob expert Tony DeStefano tells the little-known story of Vivian Gordon, one of Prohibition’s most notorious racketeers, who, along with the corrupt cops and politicians of her day, set New York on a crooked path that is often followed today.” —Nicholas Pileggi, bestselling author of Wiseguy and Casino

“DeStefano wrangles the sprawling implications of Gordon’s still unsolved murder into an entertaining package. DeStefano paints an alluring portrait of Prohibition-era New York and the mobsters and millionaires who ran it.” —Publishers Weekly

GOTTI’S BOYS

“In this solid true crime account, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist DeStefano explores the inner machinations of the New York Mob and John Gotti’s rise to the head of the Gambino family . . . DeStefano does a fine job capturing the essence of New York . . . Aficionados are sure to relish the finer, exhaustively researched details.” —Publishers Weekly

TOP HOODLUM

“DeStefano vividly recalls the crime boss whose wounding by an assassin in 1957 got a bigger headline in the Daily News than the death of Senator Joseph McCarthy.” —The New York Times

“Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist DeStefano draws from recently released FBI documents, family testimony, and court records to construct an engrossing chronicle of the life of notorious Mafia boss Frank Costello, a ‘reluctant prince of the Mafia’ . . . The book provides ample historical background, including a fascinating historical twist in which Costello’s quest for legitimacy plays out during WWII when Costello and cohort Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano supplied the military with vital information on Sicilian geography just before the Allied invasion in 1943. DeStefano’s canny insight into the don’s mind and motivations set this biography apart from others on Costello.” —Publishers Weekly

“Biography of a low-profile ‘original gangster’ who connected the Prohibition era and the Five Families. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist DeStefano creates another readable, well-researched take on organized crime . . . Will appeal to readers of criminal histories and tales of New York’s political underworld.” —Kirkus Reviews
THE BIG HEIST

“Terrific. DeStefano finally gives us a fitting end to the murderous and fabled story of the 1978 Lufthansa heist.” —Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino
“A comprehensive account of the legendary 1978 heist . . . impressive.” —Publishers Weekly
“A longtime journalist, DeStefano writes clearly about the case . . . Readers also know when they are in capable hands. DeStefano knows gangsters and Mob history.” —The Star-Ledger

VINNY GORGEOUS

“A dark, informed, and effective bio, and DeStefano is a master at cutting through the secrecy of the Mafia hierarchy.” —Publishers Weekly

“Dramatic . . . thrilling . . . tantalizing.” —Kirkus Reviews

KING OF THE GODFATHERS

“No one breathes life into his subjects like Anthony M. DeStefano does. The reissue of this seminal Joe Massino biography, replete with a new foreword by the legendary undercover agent Joe Pistone, unearths decades of Mafia history—and the scores of bodies—with aplomb.” —Louis Ferrante, internationally bestselling author of the Borgata Trilogy

“Much of my work served as the underpinnings of extensive FBI investigations that are fully recounted in King of the Godfathers: Joseph Massino and the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family . . . In a way, Massino followed my example and decided to become a secret cooperating witness against the Bonanno family, a shocking development that no one expected.” —Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, former undercover FBI agent and author of Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia and The Bonannos: A Century of Murder

“Riveting.” —Nicholas Pileggi, bestselling author of Wiseguy and Casino

“The best and last word on the subject . . . DeStefano brings the story to life.” —Jerry Capeci, bestselling co-author of Murder Machine and creator of GangLandNews.com

“Thrilling American crime writing.” —Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Good Rat

“Tracks the downfall not only of Massino himself but all of the old organized crime families . . . DeStefano gives us unique insights.” —New York Law Journal