• The Brotherhoods

  • The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia
  • By: Guy Lawson, William Oldham
  • Narrated by: Dick Hill
  • Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (275 ratings)

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The Brotherhoods  By  cover art

The Brotherhoods

By: Guy Lawson,William Oldham
Narrated by: Dick Hill
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Publisher's summary

The Brotherhoods is the chilling chronicle of the shocking crimes of NYPD detectives Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, notorious rogue cops convicted in April 2006 of the ultimate form of police corruption-shielding their acts behind their badges while they worked for the mob. Their crimes included participation in the murders of at least eight men, kidnapping, torture, and the betrayal of an entire generation of New York City detectives and federal agents.

"One of the most spectacular police corruption scandals in the city's history," proclaimed the New York Times in its front-page coverage of the verdict. This gripping, true-life detective story is remarkable for its psychological intrigue, criminal audacity, and paranoid, blood-soaked fury. Written by prize-winning journalist Guy Lawson and William Oldham, the brilliant detective who quietly investigated the rogue cops for seven years, The Brotherhoods provides unparalleled access to the secretive workings of both the NYPD and organized crime-their hierarchies, rituals, and codes of conduct. Sprawling from Brooklyn to Las Vegas, this incredible story features wiseguys, informants, hit men on the lam, snitches, cops on the take, a crooked accountant, flamboyant defense attorneys, and many other colorful characters. Destined to rank with such modern crime classics as Serpico, Donnie Brasco, and Wiseguy, this quintessential American mob tale goes to the heart of two brotherhoods-the police and the mafia-and the two cops who belonged to both.

©2006 Guy Lawson and William Oldman (P)2006 Tantor

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

AMAZING!

Overall, this is probably the best researched account of post-John Gotti Mafia history that I've ever read. Talk about learning "where all the bodies are buried"!!! That's the easy part. This book tells us about murders that no one even knew had occurred! Along with all manner of criminal acts - some of which I'd never even heard of. When I was attending law school at UC-Davis, in Criminal Law class we were given the acronym "MR (and) MRS LAMB" to help us remember the 9 felonies derived from English common law: Murder, Rape, Manslaughter, Robbery, Sodomy, Larceny, Arson, Mayhem, Burglary. But, to keep up with Mafia, the legal system would need to use the entire English alphabet from A to Z and throw in some Chinese and Arabic characters! The scope of acts perpetrated by a bunch of Italian, Irish and Jewish hoodlum is unbelievable. And this is during the DECLINE and subsequent fall of the hold that the Cosa Nostra has had on the United States since the beginning of the 20th century. Based on this massive account, it seemed like more crimes were committed AFTER the 5 Mafia families had ceased to have America in its murderous clutches. The sheer amount of crimes and the brutality involved can be a bit much, making this book too long and rather exhausting. However, if you like true crime, this is the book for you!

This book is supposed to about two NYPD detectives who are the most corrupt officers ever on the force! Or, at least, the worst that have been caught! However, the author went far and beyond the investigation, arrest, and trial of NYPD Detectives Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito. Maybe because one of the authors, former NYPD Organized Crime Det. William Oldham, spent years and years building a meticulous case in order to exact some kind of Justice for the families of the 8
victims murdered by men who had taken an oath "protect and serve".

That said, I have to let it be known that this story really ticked me off. This book is less of an indictment against two corrupt cops than it is on the New York Police Department, City of New York, State of New York, FBI, DEA, ATF, Department of Justice, numerous Attorneys General, and several Presidents who allowed crime on such a massive and overt level to exist for DECADES without doing a damn thing! And I don't want to hear any excuses about cops being overworked and underpaid! Especially since it was the same NYPD (with the backing of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program) that created, maintained, and shared with other jurisdictions a 500 page "Hip-Hop Dossier" on rap artists and executives like Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Cam'ron, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim, Eve - AND EVERY ARTIST WHO EVER RELEASED A RAP RECORD! (Eminem was included only because he hangs out with black people, making money on an art form that WE created. I have nothing against Em since I helped break his debut album.). The file was so comprehensive that it included not only the names of hundreds of black artists but also their Social Security numbers, home addresses, car makes and models, drivers license numbers, auto tag numbers, spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, friends of friends, where they ate, partied, shopped, and even the names and tag numbers of anyone who parked outside the house! For what? For being a black American multi-millionaire who RAPS and MAKE MUSIC? Yet the city let Italian-Americans RAPE, ROB and MAKE MURDER for decades! With the assistance of dirty cops whom the city paid a salary, decorated with awards, and then let them retire in Vegas with a pension of $70,000 a year! C'mon, America! This book exposed the sad fact that this country co-signed on the wholesale murders of hundreds of people - many of them law-abiding citizens - by the Mafia in the 1980s and 90s, then we discover around 2005 that the NYPD has been using tax dollars for round-the-clock surveillance on rap businessmen like Jay-Z, a black man on Forbes' list of the richest men in America - on the justification that since he raps about growing up around violence he is predisposed to shooting someone in the back of the head and leaving the body in the truck of the car with a canary in its mouth! "Racial profiling" isn't even close to the egregious level of harassment perpetrated by the NYPD! And former white NYPD cops like the ridiculous Lou Savilla still believe that this form of violating a person's Constitutional rights is justified for "those people", when the truth is that "them cops" aren't good enough to carry Diddy's luggage! Having worked in the music industry for 45 years, 25 in rap and hip-hop, and the mother of a police officer, I am appalled by the waste of resources used on musicians while REAL organized crime and rogue NYPD cops were given a license to kill by the state.

Thank you, Det. Oldham, for exposing the NYPD for the racist hypocrites that they are. I respect you for writing this book in spite of your "brothers in blue" who tried to ostracize you and hush this thing up when all you wanted from your investigation was JUSTICE. A job well done! And I'm glad you were smart enough to get a book deal to tell this amazing story since New York and the government refused to send those killer cops to jail.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Blind Justice

This story is about two highly placed New York City police detectives who did more work for the Mafia than they did the Police. Theft, murder, spying on the police for the mafia, contract assassination, they did it all. One wonders who the bad guys are if these are supposed to be the good ones. The cop that broke the case was the co-author, Detective William Oldham. It took him fifteen years and well into his retirement to gather enough evidence for a conviction. An amazing tale which proves again that crime dooesn't pay (in the long run anyway)

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

This is a great companion to "Gaspipe confessions of a mafia boss". The author of that book presents a skewed and too kind picture of Anthony Casso. "The Brotherhoods", gives a more accurate picture. The 2 main characters are horrible human beings,but the story is a great listen. I just wish the narrator would pronounce Casso's name correctly. Drove me nuts! Get it,you won't be dissapointed.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The Brotherhoods.

An interesting book, but alot was repeated. This book could have been half the length it was. I would still recomend it to others.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

FANTASTIC

There is only one word to describe this book...GREAT!!! I even purchased the hard cover so I would be able to follow along while listening. If you read only one book about the Mafia...THIS IS IT. I want to give special credit to William Oldham. He is the author that had the passion and drive to create a true story I could not believe.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Ok a lot a repeating and jumps around

First I love True crime but this one jumps around and doesn’t stay on subject it’s hard to follow a real disappointment

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

really interesting story performed by a bad reader

I had listened to this book prior to purchase. This is a very interesting true crime book. I found the story compelling enough to overlook my dislike of the reader. I am not a fan of Dick Hill as a narrator. Listen to the sample before you buy. If this is a genre that you are into I highly recommend this book.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

"I" problem

What did this NYPD Detective do????? He continually tells us how great he is and how incompetent everyone else. He complains the "incompetent" Feds are always going for the "glory" but he goes on tilt when another NYPD officer tries to steal the glory from him.
Det Oldham was so good that after his big case his employer (Federal Prosecuting Attorney) told him to stay away from Mafia cases. He admits his own NYPD detectives had no respect for him.
For the most part his book is made up of newspaper articles and court records from cases developed by the "incompetent" feds. This guy is a petty, self promoting, glory seeking leech.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just Okay

I agree with a lot of the other reviewers: this book needed a solid editor. Some of the seemingly extraneous information is pertinent, but his telling of it is too roundabout, giving it the impression of being superfluous. He circles around a point for too long and it's easy to forget the point he was even trying to make. It's a decent story, but hits rather softly. This could have been a pared down, heavy-hitting story, but instead was bloated, turgid, and often boring.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Chief

What did you love best about The Brotherhoods?

The story was based on facts, being a boss in Law Enforcement this was the worst case in the history of the NYPD. Two Murdering scum of the earth low lives disgrased the worlds greatest Police Department in the country. I hope the public knows this not the action of law enforcement officers, these were two cops we all thought were good cops. Thank god for the the police officers that never gave up and worked this case for years, and finally got us justice. They should get the Death Penalty.This book was fantastic.All

Who was your favorite character and why?

All the characters were intresting but I can't give them praise, because this is murder not a movie. When they make a movie I'm sure with the wright cast it will be a great movie. Sad to say but that's what we see everyday in police work and try to protect the public the best we can thats why we all join the force.No

Have you listened to any of Dick Hill’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No but he is great.no

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no th

Any additional comments?

the writers did a great job they should get an award.

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