Born to the Mob : The True-Life Story of the Only Man to Work for All Five of New York's Mafia Families

Rating:
Summary: Engagingly excellent written book
Review: "Born To The Mob"
This Book held me in like a well constructed spider web.
A well written spiral of events.
A highly recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: Factual Suspense
Review: I am an avid reader of organized crime books and I have to admit I was taken back by one of the reviews written from Buffet of BS from Stamford,CT and researched his comment in reference to Benjamin "Lefty Guns Ruggerio" I thaught I remembered reading something about lefty's gambling problem, so I went back and skimmed through my "Donnie Brasco" book and sure enough on page 149 a similar statement to that of Frank Saggio's was made by FBI Agent Joseph Pistone and I quote "His problem was so bad that it had delayed his becoming a made guy. He told me that when I first met him, he wasn't made yet, and that was because he hadn't paid off his gambling debts. He whittled them down some, and because of that he was able to get made shortly after I met him, in the summer of 1977. But now he was in hock again for a huge amount." This book is obviously thoroughly researched; seems to me that Frank Saggio has his facts straight and CT doesn't know much about this subject. I found it to be a great read.

Rating:
Summary: the real story
Review: I read this in two days; it was that good and easy to read. "Born to the Mob" is a real-life Sopranos, much more realistic though. You can hear the wise guy's voice - he obviously can't resist bragging about the scams that have succeeded. What I'm interested in now is what happens next - the ending sort of implies that he's going straight, which seems a stretch given his past. If he DOES go straight, that would be an even better story.
I stumbled onto the book because Saggio's cowriter is a true crime author who wrote the cult class "Lobster Boy," a must-read if you're into crime, or the bizarre (or both).

Rating:
Summary: A Real Page Turner!
Review: This book was Astutely researched and engagingly written. I disagree with the gentleman from Kentucky's review I do not think he read the book at all or has read many books, there were some typos some information could possibly get mixed up with information being translated from one author to another especially while the guy is in W.P. and a publisher then re typing the info you have to allow for minor error give us a break KY. I am a criminal justice educator and have studied,read & have seen documentaries on many true crime stories obviously this book was well researched, and as far as Frank Saggio being who he says he is there are public record docs and family members verifying that information to be true in the book. Fred Rosen is an astounding veteran author in True Crime he is new to writing organized crime my applaud to him in writing a well written thouroughly researched book.
If you are interested in true crime and family this book had me in suspense, how much more can go wrong to this family right to the very end of the book. Two Thumbs up!