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Rating: 
Summary: Accurate, dramatic, chilling.
Review: George Anastasia got it right -- exactly right. Told from the point of view of a Mafiosi, Nicholas "Crow" Caramandi, a small time con man who rose through the ranks to become a "made guy," this book is right on target.I was a newspaper reporter for a New Jersey paper during the late 1980s and was assigned to cover some of the big organized crime trials in Philadelphia that are mentioned prominently in Anastasia's book. After reading his book, I don't think there's a better reporter in this country than Anastasia. Caramandi, the small time hood who gets his badge under Scarfo, is never a sympathetic character, but you can understand his motivations. Caramandi was doing fine as long as he kept within his abilities. He was a thief and a con man who lived by his wits. He only cheated others who had larceny in their hearts. However Caramandi was elevated in the Nicodemo Scarfo organization and he no longer had to be a con man, now he had the threat of violence of the mob behind him. And that led to his demise. Nicodemo Scarfo, the crime boss of Philadelphia from the time of his predecessor's murder to his own arrest and incarceration, a period of about seven years, was the most violent mob boss of the modern age. Nearly two dozen murders have been attributed to Scarfo. George Anastasia weaves a spell-binding tale. All the more spellbinding because every word of it is true. This book is a "must" read for anyone who wants to understand organized crime in America.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull and generic
Review: This book takes one of the most interesting Mafia sagas -- the rise and fall of the Scarfo mob -- and burries it with every cliche in the so-called true-crime mafia genre. Unless you're from Philly or a die-hard mafia buff (god forbid), this book will not engage.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read.
Review: This is the book which got me started reading mob books. If ever there was a book written from the street level perspective of organized crime this is it. Caramandi and Anastasia have it down, scam to scam, hustle to hustle, score to score that a mobster makes just to stay afloat when he's starting out. Then as the Crow starts to move up in the criminal ladder he launches into long stories about mafia politics and the power struggles and the jealousy and the double cross that was his every day life for 10 years.. It's absolutely fascinating stuff. It's worth every penny one pays for it. I've read it four times.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read.
Review: This is the book which got me started reading mob books. If ever there was a book written from the street level perspective of organized crime this is it. Caramandi and Anastasia have it down, scam to scam, hustle to hustle, score to score that a mobster makes just to stay afloat when he's starting out. Then as the Crow starts to move up in the criminal ladder he launches into long stories about mafia politics and the power struggles and the jealousy and the double cross that was his every day life for 10 years.. It's absolutely fascinating stuff. It's worth every penny one pays for it. I've read it four times.
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