The Bronx-born son of a Jewish bootlegger, “Joey the Hit Man” was introduced to crime when he was just eleven years old. For the next thirty years he was a numbers king, scalper, loan shark, enforcer, and drug smuggler. He hijacked trucks, fenced stolen goods, and trafficked in pornography. But Joey really made his name as a Mafia assassin, racking up thirty-eight cold-blooded hits—thirty-five for cash, three for revenge.
In Killer, Joey tells the true story of life in organized crime. He exposes the reality of gang wars, discusses how he raised a family while living on the wrong side of the law, and documents the day-to-day business of crime—from making and breaking alliances to staying one step ahead of the cops. He reveals how he faced a grand jury seven times with no convictions (“never lie to your lawyer”) and kept a seven-figure fortune out of reach of the IRS. He lays out in graphic detail the difference between getting paid to kill and doing it for personal reasons. “People think because they saw [The Godfather] they know everything there is to know about organized crime,” Joey contends. In this no-holds-barred account, he reveals the brutal truth behind the Hollywood fantasy.
Forty-five years after this true crime classic shocked readers all over the world and set the standard for bestselling Mafia biographies including Joseph Bonnano’s A Man of Honor and Philip Carlo’s Ice Man, the new edition of Killer includes an afterword by coauthor David Fisher that unmasks Joey’s real identity—and the circumstances behind his death that add another layer of mystery to his complicated, colorful, and fascinating life.
In Killer, Joey tells the true story of life in organized crime. He exposes the reality of gang wars, discusses how he raised a family while living on the wrong side of the law, and documents the day-to-day business of crime—from making and breaking alliances to staying one step ahead of the cops. He reveals how he faced a grand jury seven times with no convictions (“never lie to your lawyer”) and kept a seven-figure fortune out of reach of the IRS. He lays out in graphic detail the difference between getting paid to kill and doing it for personal reasons. “People think because they saw [The Godfather] they know everything there is to know about organized crime,” Joey contends. In this no-holds-barred account, he reveals the brutal truth behind the Hollywood fantasy.
Forty-five years after this true crime classic shocked readers all over the world and set the standard for bestselling Mafia biographies including Joseph Bonnano’s A Man of Honor and Philip Carlo’s Ice Man, the new edition of Killer includes an afterword by coauthor David Fisher that unmasks Joey’s real identity—and the circumstances behind his death that add another layer of mystery to his complicated, colorful, and fascinating life.
PAT'S REVIEW
| Joey the hit man is a book that originally came out in the 70’s, and the stories are all from that period. The man telling his story Joey tells his story but goes about it form first New York the Bronx then Los Angeles, sometimes Vegas and though some of the names are ones you have heard before the book itself is just average especially for today’s readers. Now back in the late 70’s not so much. He talks about gambling, how running numbers work, how real loan sharking works and not how it is portrayed on T.V. or in the movies, how he would need get a call to take care of someone, and how made men did not mess with the average Joe. True, in all of the real cases where the mob was taken down some of the cases were started by hits made by men who hit the wrong person the average Joe. Two cops in New York a big case were working for one of the families and hit a guy with the same name, wrong guy were convicted in 2005 and books were written about them. Just one of many stories. Overall not a bad book just a little slow at times but I took in account for when it was written and the way he is telling the story. He is also telling people the facts that were wrong with the movie Godfather which was popular at the time when this book came out. Overall not a bad book. I got this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com |
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