True Organized Crime

In this blistering street-level account, "Mafia survivor" Frank DiMatteo teams up with true-crime master Michael Benson to take down one of the most notorious figures in the American La Cosa Nostra. This is the real inside story of Carmine "The Snake" Persico, from his crime-filled childhood on the streets of Brooklyn to the long-term jail sentences that didn't stop him from controlling his criminal empire, with the help of his brother - the equally kill-crazy Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico.

During Prohibition, while Al Capone was rising to worldwide prominence as Public Enemy Number One, the townspeople of rural Templeton, Iowa - population just 418 - were busy with a bootlegging empire of their own. Led by Joe Irlbeck, the whip-smart and gregarious son of a Bavarian immigrant, the outfit of farmers, small merchants, and even the church Monsignor worked together to create a whiskey so excellent, it was ordered by name: Templeton Rye.

Noted Mexican American journalist Alfredo Corchado refuses to shrink from reporting on government corruption, murders in Juarez, or the ruthless drug cartels of Mexico. One night, Corchado received a tip that he could be the next target of the Zetas, a violent paramilitary group - and that he had 24 hours to find out if the threat was true. Midnight in Mexico is the story of one man's quest to report the truth of his country - as he races to save his own life.

Wised Up is a true crime story of atonement for Charlie Wilhelm, a career criminal who ended his life of crime the year he turned 40. Going to the FBI with no lawyer – and no criminal charges against him – he went undercover, wearing a wire to catch his life-long friends for drug dealing, bribery, loan sharking and murder. This intimate story, told in Charlie’s voice, is the first to expose organized crime in Baltimore. It also reveals Charlie's friendship with a childhood friend, Bruce Hall, who became an FBI agent and helped Charlie leave his life of crime. The book unravels the ...

As the biggest criminal trial since the Boston Strangler draws nearer, the public’s fascination with the life and crimes of mob boss Whitey Bulger continues to heat up. Many stories have been told about the murders Whitey and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi committed, and the tacit permission they received from the FBI.

The astonishing story of Benny Binion - a rip-roaring saga of murder, money, and the making of Las Vegas. Benny Binion was many things: a cowboy, a pioneering casino owner, a gangster, a killer, and founder of the hugely successful World Series of Poker. Blood Aces tells the story of Binion's crucial role in shaping modern Las Vegas. From a Texas backwater, Binion rose to prominence on a combination of vision, determination, and brutal expediency.

Martin Scorcese’s The Departed barely touched his story, but radio talk show sensation, crime reporter, and Boston Herald columnist, Howie Carr, takes us into the heart of the life of Johnny Martorano. For two decades Martorano struck fear into anyone remotely connected to his world. His partnership with Whitey Bulger and the infamous Winter Hill Gang led to 20 murders for which Johnny would serve only 12 years in prison.

Imagine walking alongside a retired Chicago police officer as he recalls some of the most chilling, bizarre, and noteworthy true-life crime cases of his career. Author Frank Goff shares the inner workings of law enforcement and the politics involved, but also the realities of the streets. Sometimes humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching, these stories transport us into the shoes of real cops, real criminals, and real victims. The bottom line? Policing is a calling for the very few at great personal cost and sacrifice. Here's to the men and women of law enforcement who protect and serve. ...

When acclaimed mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers first began compiling anthologies of the best crime stories in the 1920s and ’30s, the genre was in the flush of its first golden age. While it is hard to imagine today - after every possible mystery plot has been told, retold, subverted, and played straight again by hundreds of writers over nearly a century - in Sayers’s day there were still twists that had never been seen, and machinations of crime that would shock even jaded Jazz Age fans.

The Tangled Web tells the dramatic story of detective Richard Cain's criminal career as revealed by his half-brother, Michael. Cain led a double-life—one as a well-known cop who led raids that landed on the front pages, and the other as a "made man" in one of Chicago's most notorious mob families.

There is a torture mom in this collection whom many true crime audiences still can’t forgive and forget even till today. Together with six other serial killers, they have done it all, from torturing to cannibalism to killing hundreds.

Author and historian Michael Esslinger spent seven years conducting interviews with Whitey Bulger following his capture in 2011. Their conversations captured Bulger's memories of an early life in crime, his years as a prisoner on Alcatraz, and his life as one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives. The Last Interviews is a collection of Bulger's own memories, transcribed directly from personal interviews that chronicle a lifetime spent in crime. It is a scrapbook weaved together from prison documents, personal letters, and candid conversations that offer intimate details about his life.

Drug Lord, a firsthand account of drug dealing, murder, and corruption, tells of drug kingpin Pablo Acosta, who smuggled up to 20 tons of cocaine each year into the United States before treachery brought about his downfall and grisly death.

When Olivia ‘Liv’ Carson is saved from a near death experience during a caving expedition in this true crime story by handsome, charming Gary Preston, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot. They soon marry, start a family, and have what appears to be a perfect marriage. But Liv soon discovers Gary’s dark side and her dream marriage quickly turns into a full-fledged nightmare. Isolation, abuse, and control leads to a sense of mounting danger in Liv’s life. When she musters up the courage to demand a divorce, Gary’s sinister side finally comes into full display. In a fit of violent ...

In this Very Short Introduction, Georgios A. Antonopoulos and Georgios Papanicolaou uncover the reality of organized crime in our world today. Shining a light on the people involved in organized crime, Antonopoulos and Papanicolaou question whether the term "organized" is used to evoke the image, the operations, and power of a legitimate organization, such as a corporation. Discussing whether there are particular crimes that the label "organized crime" applies to, or if any crime can be organized, they also consider what happens when organized crime extends beyond borders.

Dive into the raw, unfiltered world of motorcycle clubs and street life with Power and Betrayal—a gripping memoir by James "Hollywood" Macecari. From brotherhood to betrayal, love to loss, this true story exposes the brutal risks of the gangster lifestyle: death, prison, and shattered lives. Follow Macecari’s harrowing journey— and the brotherhood that turned toxic. With unflinching honesty, he reflects on the cost of power, sharing hard-earned wisdom for those drawn to the outlaw life. Perfect for fans of biker culture, true crime, and raw memoirs, Power and Betrayal is a must-read ...

On May 5, 1981, three rebellious members of New York's Bonanno crime family were gunned down in a Brooklyn social club. One of the gunmen was Vito Rizzuto, a man who would rise to the top of the underworld in Canada and then expand his reign across continents to become a global superboss. The Sixth Family, now revised and updated, reveals the hidden history of the rise of the Rizzuto clan, the alliances it forged around the world, and the bloody events that led to charges against Vito Rizzuto in the United States and Italy for racketeering and corruption.

Books about the Kennedys are legion. Yet missing until now has been the exploration of the bond between Jack and Bobby, and the part that it played in their rise and fall. Richard D. Mahoney gives us Jack and Bobby in all their hubris and humanity, youthfulness and fatalism. Here is American history as it unfolds. The Kennedy Brothers is a fresh and masterful account of the men whose legacy continues to hold the American imagination.

Detective Michael Palermo built his career on his unique ability to inhabit two worlds at once: the world of law enforcement and the underworld of New York’s crime family organizations. Palermo participated in over 2,000 arrests while maintaining close relationships with the kingpins of organized crime - ties that allowed him to stay one step ahead of the rest of the New York City Police Department. This true crime drama takes you inside the police force at its most corrupt.

From the award-winning author of Mafia Confession: "King of Bootleggers" Murder and City of Betrayal: The Genovese Family's Springfield Crew comes his most explosive true crime chronicle yet, Outlaw Bikers and the Mob. Montreal was always a city of shadows. The cobblestones told stories, but the real power pulsed beneath, in smoky backrooms, strip-club VIP lounges, and the hush of late-night meetings where names were never said out loud. This wasn’t fiction. It wasn’t a movie. This was the underworld’s frontline. And for a time, it was ruled by an unholy alliance: the Sicilian Mafia ...