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Mafia Prince: Inside America's Most Violent Crime Family And The Bloody Fall Of La Cosa Nostra (2012)

by Phil Leonetti(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0762445831 (ISBN13: 9780762445837)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Running Press

review 1: This book brought back many memories of the, seemingly, never ending newscasts. The happing live and at the scene broadcasts we are bombarded with every evening; when la Cosa Nostra were 'wacking' each other. It was a fun time.Like any guys belonging to a fraternity "Crazy Phil" repeats his tale over and over...but the conversational tone is enjoyable.During the War in the 40's, we rented our home in Philly to service families, an moved to Atlanctic City to stay with family there. S.Massachusetts Ave., 707 Pacific Ave., S. Tennessee Ave (we had The Flamingo Hotel - catering to mostly GI's on leave or visiting wounded buddies being cared for at hotels on the Boardwalk such as The Traymore, Claridge, Chalfont-Haddon Hall.) and S.Virginia Ave. down the street on the Boardwa... morelk was Steel Pier. But, alas, never in Ducktown.Mafia Prince mentions many restaurants, for good food such as the Knife and Fork. I remember it as having the reputation of being over priced and poor food. But, then I haven't written a book...I often had to re-read sentences just to get the names and nick names sorted out. I rather liked Salvie Testa.One foggy November night, I was walking on the Boardwalk, heading up town. Two guys were standing by the railing on the Oceanside. One of them reached to get a cigarette and I noticed a gun in a holster under his coat.....WOW were they Gangsters? ...and what were they doing around Albany Ave??? Back then (1960's) is thought all the Mafia were in South Philly. Although the barber in Ventnor was a bookie and we went to see him every day the AC track was opened during the racing season. The bookie must have been working with the Racketeers.We always spoke of Mafia, la Cosa Nostra wasn't familiar to us. What a group they were/are.This is a fun book. Sorta like a Who's on First in the Family.
review 2: This books tells a fascinating, thrilling story. Luckily, when the story -- which blends Leonetti's own words with the third-person reporting of the other writers -- gets really good, most of it is told in first-person accounts from Leonetti himself.That said, it's not a terribly well-written book, which tends to be a bit of a distraction for me. An easily surmountable hurdle, to be sure, but inelegant phrasing, ham-handed attempts at drama or foreshadowing, an unnecessary repetition of details gets to be a bit much. And the most surprising part: the poor writing came from the "real" writers, not the mobster!Still, a great book and a great read. Highly, highly recommended. less

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