-
The Life We Chose
- William “Big Billy” D’Elia and the Last Secrets of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Family
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
“The Life We Chose—an unforgettable story. A really great read.” —Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino and screenwriter of Goodfellas
From Matt Birkbeck—investigative journalist and executive producer of Netflix’s #1 movie Girl in the Picture—a revelatory father/surrogate son story that takes readers deep inside the inner workings of the mob through the eyes of William “Big Billy” D’Elia, the right-hand man to legendary mafia kingpin Russell Bufalino, who ran organized crime in the US for more than fifty years.
William “Big Billy” D’Elia is Mafia royalty.
The “adopted” son of legendary organized crime boss Russell Bufalino, for decades D’Elia had unequaled access to the man the FBI and US Justice Department considered one of the leading organized crime figures in the United States. But the government had no real idea as to the breadth of Bufalino’s power and influence—or that it was Bufalino, from his bucolic home base in Pittston, Pennsylvania, who reigned over the five families in New York and other organized crime families throughout the country.
For nearly thirty years, D’Elia was at Bufalino’s side, and “Russ’s son” was a witness and participant to major historical events that have stymied law enforcement, perplexed journalists, and produced false and wild narratives in books and movies—not the least of which being the infamous disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa. In addition, their reach was illustrated by their relationships with Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Michael Jackson, Suge Knight, and many other celebrities and personalities.
D’Elia became the de facto leader of the Bufalino family upon Russell Bufalino’s imprisonment in 1979, and he officially took control upon Bufalino’s death in 1994 until his arrest in 2006, when he was charged with money laundering and the attempted murder of a witness. He pled guilty to money laundering and witness tampering and was released from federal prison in 2012.
Candid and unapologetic, D’Elia is finally ready to reveal the real story behind the myths and in so doing paints a complicated, compelling, and stunning portrait of crime, power, money, and finally, family.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Quiet Don
- The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
-
-
Important But Edited By Lawyers?
- By Ted on 04-03-14
By: Matt Birkbeck
-
For the Sins of My Father
- A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life
- By: Albert DeMeo, Mary Jane Ross - contributor
- Narrated by: Andrew J. Andersen
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Al DeMeo will never forget the day in 1992 when a coworker taunted him with a copy of the hot new book Murder Machine, chronicling the horrific criminal life of DeMeo's father, Roy, the head of the most deadly gang in organized crime. The moment sent DeMeo into a psychological tailspin: How could he have spent his life looking up to, and loving, a vicious killer?
-
-
Worth a listen
- By robert l. on 01-13-23
By: Albert DeMeo, and others
-
The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
-
-
Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
-
The Cigar
- Carmine Galante, Mafia Terror
- By: Frank Dimatteo, Michael Benson
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan's Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York's Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the "errands" he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob's top enforcers-a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams.
-
-
Lazy Attempt; Awful Narrator
- By Rich on 05-05-23
By: Frank Dimatteo, and others
-
Animal
- The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Jim Goad
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Barboza knew that there were two requirements for getting inducted into the Mafia. You had to be Sicilian. And you had to commit a contract killing. The New Bedford-born mobster was a proud Portuguese, not Sicilian, but his dream to be part of La Cosa Nostra proved so strong that he thought he could create a loophole. Barboza’s legacy, buried for years thanks to the murders or deaths of its participants, is finally coming to light and being told in its unvarnished brutality by one of America’s most respected true crime writers.
-
-
Well done. 5 stars.
- By robert price on 03-03-19
By: Casey Sherman
-
The Five Families of New York
- 5 Books in 1: The Complete History of America's Notorious Mafia Organizations
- By: Mafia Library
- Narrated by: John Raynar, Lee Sterry, Daniel Winski, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In "The Five Families of New York," Mafia Library presents a gripping account of the ascension and decline of New York's foremost crime syndicates, from the legendary Lucky Luciano to the notorious Paul Castellano and John Gotti, and beyond. Through vivid storytelling, the book chronicles the relentless assault waged against these five families over two decades, a campaign that stands as the most successful law enforcement effort of the last century.
-
-
What stood out was some of the narrators were better than others
- By Jamie Abbott on 10-02-24
By: Mafia Library
-
The Quiet Don
- The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
-
-
Important But Edited By Lawyers?
- By Ted on 04-03-14
By: Matt Birkbeck
-
For the Sins of My Father
- A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life
- By: Albert DeMeo, Mary Jane Ross - contributor
- Narrated by: Andrew J. Andersen
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Al DeMeo will never forget the day in 1992 when a coworker taunted him with a copy of the hot new book Murder Machine, chronicling the horrific criminal life of DeMeo's father, Roy, the head of the most deadly gang in organized crime. The moment sent DeMeo into a psychological tailspin: How could he have spent his life looking up to, and loving, a vicious killer?
-
-
Worth a listen
- By robert l. on 01-13-23
By: Albert DeMeo, and others
-
The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
-
-
Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
-
The Cigar
- Carmine Galante, Mafia Terror
- By: Frank Dimatteo, Michael Benson
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan's Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York's Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the "errands" he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob's top enforcers-a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams.
-
-
Lazy Attempt; Awful Narrator
- By Rich on 05-05-23
By: Frank Dimatteo, and others
-
Animal
- The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Jim Goad
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Barboza knew that there were two requirements for getting inducted into the Mafia. You had to be Sicilian. And you had to commit a contract killing. The New Bedford-born mobster was a proud Portuguese, not Sicilian, but his dream to be part of La Cosa Nostra proved so strong that he thought he could create a loophole. Barboza’s legacy, buried for years thanks to the murders or deaths of its participants, is finally coming to light and being told in its unvarnished brutality by one of America’s most respected true crime writers.
-
-
Well done. 5 stars.
- By robert price on 03-03-19
By: Casey Sherman
-
The Five Families of New York
- 5 Books in 1: The Complete History of America's Notorious Mafia Organizations
- By: Mafia Library
- Narrated by: John Raynar, Lee Sterry, Daniel Winski, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In "The Five Families of New York," Mafia Library presents a gripping account of the ascension and decline of New York's foremost crime syndicates, from the legendary Lucky Luciano to the notorious Paul Castellano and John Gotti, and beyond. Through vivid storytelling, the book chronicles the relentless assault waged against these five families over two decades, a campaign that stands as the most successful law enforcement effort of the last century.
-
-
What stood out was some of the narrators were better than others
- By Jamie Abbott on 10-02-24
By: Mafia Library
-
Murder Machine
- A True Story of Murder, Madness, and the Mafia
- By: Gene Mustain, Jerry Capeci
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were the DeMeo gang - the most deadly hit men in organized crime. Their Mafia higher-ups came to know, use, and ultimately fear them as the Murder Machine. They killed for profit and for pleasure, following cold-blooded plans and wild whims, from the mean streets of New York to the Florida Gold Coast, and from coast to coast. Now complete with personal revelations of one of the key players, this is the savage story that leaves no corpse unturned in its terrifying telling.
-
-
stop browsing and just get it.
- By Patrick on 04-20-21
By: Gene Mustain, and others
-
The Gotti Wars
- Taking Down America's Most Notorious Mobster
- By: John Gleeson
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Gotti was without a doubt the flashiest and most feared Mafioso in American history. He became the boss of the Gambino Crime Family in spectacular fashion—with the brazen and very public murder of Paul Castellano in front of Sparks Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan in 1985. Not one to stay below law enforcement’s radar, Gotti instead became the first celebrity crime boss. His penchant for eye-catching apparel earned him the nickname “The Dapper Don;” his ability to beat criminal charges led to another: “The Teflon Don.”
-
-
Corrupt prosecutors and Defendant
- By Mark on 12-13-23
By: John Gleeson
-
Cosa Nostra
- A History of the Sicilian Mafia
- By: John Dickie
- Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed in Italy as the best book ever written about the mafia in any language, Cosa Nostra is a fascinating, violent, and darkly comic account that takes us deep into the inner sanctum of this secret society. John Dickie uses startling new research to reveal the inner workings of this secret society with a murderous record. He explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges, and introduces us to the real-life characters that inspired the American imagination for generations, making the mafia an international, larger than life cultural phenomenon.
-
-
Required reading for any mafia buff.
- By Amazon Customer on 12-23-23
By: John Dickie
-
The Bruno-Scarfo Mafia Crime Family
- A Complete History of a Philadelphia Criminal Organization
- By: Mafia Library
- Narrated by: Christopher J. Orlando
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over a century, the Bruno-Scarfo crime family reigned over Philadelphia before a series of internal and external events led to their downfall. Such was the power that the family possessed that they had close connections with the Five Families of the New York Mafia.
-
-
GREAT STORY
- By Carlos A Hickman on 09-11-24
By: Mafia Library
-
A Man of Honor
- The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno
- By: Joseph Bonanno
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Joseph Bonanno found his future amid the whiskey-running, riotous streets of Prohibition America in 1924, when he illegally entered the United States to pursue his dreams. By the age of only 26, Bonanno became a don. He eventually took over the New York underworld, igniting the "Castellammarese War", one of the bloodiest Family battles ever to hit New York City.
-
-
A must read
- By E. Orlando on 05-03-17
By: Joseph Bonanno
-
Steel City Mafia
- Blood, Betrayal and Pittsburgh's Last Don
- By: Paul N. Hodos
- Narrated by: Justin Price
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pittsburgh's small but lucrative Cosa Nostra mafia family was on the rise in 1985 with a newly crowned Don . . . The men who came to dominate the rackets in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia opened the family to massive profits from drug trafficking and a street tax on other criminal activities. At the same time, the Youngstown, Ohio, faction of the family launched a brutal mob war against the weakening Cleveland mafia and the Altoona, Pennsylvania, crew violently clamped down on their city.
-
-
Tell the facts. small sketches of their actual lives.
- By jenny on 09-14-24
By: Paul N. Hodos
-
Sonny
- The Last of the Old Time Mafia Bosses, John "Sonny" Franzese
- By: S.J. Peddie
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John "Sonny" Franzese reportedly committed his first murder at the age of fourteen. As a "made man" for the Colombo crime family, he operated out of his Long Island home specializing in racketeering, fraud, and other illicit deeds he would deny to his dying day. His career in organized crime spanned over eight decades - and he was sentenced to fifty years in prison for robbery. This is the true story of an old-school Mafioso as it's never been told. Newsday reporter S. J. Peddie interviewed Franzese in prison and uncovered a lifetime of shocking secrets from the legend himself.
-
-
Absolute BS
- By Brianicole on 04-20-22
By: S.J. Peddie
-
Paddy Whacked
- The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Paddy Whacked, best-selling author and organized crime expert T. J. English brings to life nearly two centuries of Irish American gangsterism, which spawned such unforgettable characters as Mike "King Mike" McDonald, Chicago's subterranean godfather; Big Bill Dwyer, New York's most notorious rumrunner during Prohibition; Mickey Featherstone, troubled Vietnam vet turned Westies gang leader; and James "Whitey" Bulger, the ruthless and seemingly untouchable Southie legend.
-
-
First Half - 4 Stars - Second Half - 2 Stars
- By Lulu on 08-29-16
By: T. J. English
-
Wiseguy
- By: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese - introduction
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Corey Brill, Hillary Huber, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the true crime best seller that was the basis for Martin Scorsese’s film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds...with Henry Hill’s crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action.
-
-
Finally unabridged
- By Rodney on 12-16-19
By: Nicholas Pileggi, and others
-
Giovanni's Ring
- My Life Inside the Real Sopranos
- By: Giovanni Rocco, Douglas Schofield - contributor
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Giovanni's Ring is the story of "Giovanni Rocco," a New Jersey police officer, known undercover as "Giovanni Gatto," who was the mysterious agent at the epicenter of Operation Charlie Horse, a federal undercover operation that ultimately brought down ten members and associates of New Jersey's DeCavalcante Mafia family, the criminal organization known as "the real Sopranos." The book is not simply a chronicle of Giovanni Rocco's adventures in the murky and dangerous Mafia world he inhabited, but also a fascinating window into the psychological struggles that such a life entails.
-
-
Second tier in every sense
- By Nicholas on 11-25-22
By: Giovanni Rocco, and others
-
Gaspipe
- Confessions of a Mafia Boss
- By: Philip Carlo
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, the boss of New York's Lucchese crime family, was a Mafia superstar, responsible for more than 50 murders. Currently serving 13 life sentences at a federal prison in Colorado, Casso has given journalist and New York Times best-selling author Philip Carlo the most intimate, personal look into the world of La Cosa Nostra ever seen.
-
-
The author fails the objectivity test
- By William on 11-29-08
By: Philip Carlo
-
The Sixth Family
- The Collapse of the New York Mafia and the Rise of Vito Rizzuto
- By: Lee Lamothe, Adrian Humphreys
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
The most boring book I ever read
- By D. G. on 01-15-20
By: Lee Lamothe, and others
Related to this topic
-
The Last Godfather
- The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino
- By: Simon Crittle
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As head of the Bonanno clan, Joey Massino was the last don, and ran his world with an iron hand - until he got hit with a murder rap, and turned on his own people. Here, for the first time, is his shocking true story - a glimpse inside the world of organized crime that we may never see again.
-
-
the 6th family
- By chris torkelson on 05-16-20
By: Simon Crittle
-
The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
-
-
Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
-
Gotti's Rules
- The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The notorious Gotti family is the stuff of mob legend. The "Dapper Don", John Gotti Sr., and his son John A. "Junior" Gotti ran New York's powerful Gambino crime family and were well known for their flamboyant style and brutal ways, an image perpetuated in popular Mafia mythology. John Alite, a mob hit man, associate, and close friend of the Gottis, has a very different story to tell.
-
-
Garbage read
- By Ray on 09-02-15
By: George Anastasia
-
Operation Family Secrets
- How a Mobster's Son and the FBI Brought Down Chicago's Murderous Crime Family
- By: Frank Calabrese Jr., Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman, and others
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Calabrese family of Chicago is a close-knit, middle-class, multi-generational Italian-Irish-American clan. They operate family businesses. They work day and night striving for the American Dream. All three sons forge a bond with their controlling father, Frank Sr., and their soft-spoken favorite uncle, Nick. As a boy, the oldest son, Frank Jr., realizes that his father and uncle are also "made" members of another close-knit family: the outfit.
-
-
Riveting Listen!
- By ahippieadventure on 02-06-13
By: Frank Calabrese Jr., and others
-
The Vapors
- A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice
- By: David Hill
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Back in the days before Vegas was big, when the Mob was at its peak and neon lights were but a glimmer on the horizon, a little Southern town styled itself as a premier destination for the American leisure class. Hot Springs, Arkansas was home to healing waters, Art Deco splendor, and America's original national park - as well as horse racing, nearly a dozen illegal casinos, countless backrooms and brothels, and some of the country’s most bald-faced criminals.
-
-
If you don’t live in Arkansas…
- By JohnFern0813 on 08-14-20
By: David Hill
-
Making Jack Falcone
- An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family
- By: Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, Michael Levin
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At six-foot-four-inches and 375 pounds, Jack Garcia looked the part of a mobster, and he played his part so perfectly that his Mafia bosses never suspected he was an undercover agent for the FBI. "Big Jack Falcone," as he was known inside La Cosa Nostra, learned all the inside dirt about the Gambino organized crime syndicate and its illegal activities---from extortion and loan-sharking to assault and murder.
-
-
interesting story--offensive narration
- By Mark on 03-17-12
By: Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, and others
-
The Last Godfather
- The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino
- By: Simon Crittle
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As head of the Bonanno clan, Joey Massino was the last don, and ran his world with an iron hand - until he got hit with a murder rap, and turned on his own people. Here, for the first time, is his shocking true story - a glimpse inside the world of organized crime that we may never see again.
-
-
the 6th family
- By chris torkelson on 05-16-20
By: Simon Crittle
-
The Last Gangster
- From Cop to Wiseguy to FBI Informant: Big Ron Previte and the Fall of the American Mob
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster, he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. Convinced that the honor of the "business" was gone, he became the FBI's secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob, operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld.
-
-
Beautifully done! Exceptional.
- By none on 12-15-23
By: George Anastasia
-
Gotti's Rules
- The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia
- By: George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The notorious Gotti family is the stuff of mob legend. The "Dapper Don", John Gotti Sr., and his son John A. "Junior" Gotti ran New York's powerful Gambino crime family and were well known for their flamboyant style and brutal ways, an image perpetuated in popular Mafia mythology. John Alite, a mob hit man, associate, and close friend of the Gottis, has a very different story to tell.
-
-
Garbage read
- By Ray on 09-02-15
By: George Anastasia
-
Operation Family Secrets
- How a Mobster's Son and the FBI Brought Down Chicago's Murderous Crime Family
- By: Frank Calabrese Jr., Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman, and others
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Calabrese family of Chicago is a close-knit, middle-class, multi-generational Italian-Irish-American clan. They operate family businesses. They work day and night striving for the American Dream. All three sons forge a bond with their controlling father, Frank Sr., and their soft-spoken favorite uncle, Nick. As a boy, the oldest son, Frank Jr., realizes that his father and uncle are also "made" members of another close-knit family: the outfit.
-
-
Riveting Listen!
- By ahippieadventure on 02-06-13
By: Frank Calabrese Jr., and others
-
The Vapors
- A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice
- By: David Hill
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Back in the days before Vegas was big, when the Mob was at its peak and neon lights were but a glimmer on the horizon, a little Southern town styled itself as a premier destination for the American leisure class. Hot Springs, Arkansas was home to healing waters, Art Deco splendor, and America's original national park - as well as horse racing, nearly a dozen illegal casinos, countless backrooms and brothels, and some of the country’s most bald-faced criminals.
-
-
If you don’t live in Arkansas…
- By JohnFern0813 on 08-14-20
By: David Hill
-
Making Jack Falcone
- An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family
- By: Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, Michael Levin
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At six-foot-four-inches and 375 pounds, Jack Garcia looked the part of a mobster, and he played his part so perfectly that his Mafia bosses never suspected he was an undercover agent for the FBI. "Big Jack Falcone," as he was known inside La Cosa Nostra, learned all the inside dirt about the Gambino organized crime syndicate and its illegal activities---from extortion and loan-sharking to assault and murder.
-
-
interesting story--offensive narration
- By Mark on 03-17-12
By: Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, and others
-
Being Oscar
- From Mob Lawyer to Mayor of Las Vegas
- By: Oscar Goodman, George Anastasia
- Narrated by: Oscar Goodman
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Being Oscar,one of America’s most celebrated criminal defense attorneys recounts the stories and cases of his epic life. The Mafia’s go-to defender, he has tried an estimated 300 criminal cases, and won most of them. His roster of clients reads like a history of organized crime: Meyer Lansky, Nicky Scarfo, and "Lefty" Rosenthal, as well as Mike Tyson and boxing promoter Don King, along with a midget, a dentist, and a federal judge. After 35 years as a defender, he ran for mayor of Las Vegas, and America’s greatest Mob lawyer became the mayor of its sexiest city.
-
-
Not as good as I expected
- By Eric Schurr on 11-16-14
By: Oscar Goodman, and others
-
The Brothers Bulger
- How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century
- By: Howie Carr
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This fresh account of Massachusetts' infamous Bulger brothers unveils a stunning criminal alliance, and with its dual biography format, goes deeper than the New York Times best-selling Black Mass. For the first time, journalist Howie Carr reveals the real story behind the infamous Bulgers, two brothers from South Boston who grew up to control a state.
-
-
ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
- By Tory on 11-18-06
By: Howie Carr
-
The Corporation
- An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the mid 1980s, the criminal underworld in the United States had become an ethnic polyglot; one of the most powerful illicit organizations was none other than the Cuban mob. Known on both sides of the law as "the Corporation", the Cuban mob's power stemmed from a criminal culture embedded in south Florida's exile community - those who had been chased from the island by Castro's revolution and planned to overthrow the Marxist dictator and reclaim their nation.
-
-
uncle joey approved
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-18
By: T. J. English
-
Gangster Squad
- Covert Cops, the Mob, and the Battle for Los Angeles
- By: Paul Lieberman
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gangster Squad chronicles the true story of the secretive police unit that waged an anything-goes war to drive Mickey Cohen and other hoodlums from Los Angeles after WWII. In 1946, the LAPD launched the Gangster Squad with eight men who met covertly on street corners and slept with Tommy guns under their beds. But for two cops, all that mattered was nailing the strutting gangster Mickey Cohen. Sgt. Jack O’Mara was a square-jawed church usher, Sgt. Jerry Wooters a cynical maverick....
-
-
Nothing Like the movie
- By KEITH on 02-21-13
By: Paul Lieberman
-
Mob Rules
- What the Mafia Can Teach the Legitimate Businessman
- By: Louis Ferrante
- Narrated by: Louis Ferrante
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As an associate of the Gambino family, Ferrante relied on his instincts to pull off some of the biggest heists in US history. By the age of 21, he had netted millions of dollars for his employers. His natural talent for management led Mafia bosses to rely on him. After being arrested and serving an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence, Ferrante went straight. He realized that the Mob's most valuable business lessons would allow him to survive and thrive in the real world.
-
-
Business Without Order Is A Business Doomed To Fail
- By Fabrice76718 on 05-15-24
By: Louis Ferrante
-
The Tangled Web
- The Life and Death of Richard Cain—Chicago Cop and Mafia Hitman
- By: Michael Cain
- Narrated by: Clinton Wade
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Reviews
- By G. D. Hoppe on 11-19-20
By: Michael Cain
-
Gaspipe
- Confessions of a Mafia Boss
- By: Philip Carlo
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, the boss of New York's Lucchese crime family, was a Mafia superstar, responsible for more than 50 murders. Currently serving 13 life sentences at a federal prison in Colorado, Casso has given journalist and New York Times best-selling author Philip Carlo the most intimate, personal look into the world of La Cosa Nostra ever seen.
-
-
The author fails the objectivity test
- By William on 11-29-08
By: Philip Carlo
-
Cullotta
- By: Dennis N. Griffin, Frank Cullotta
- Narrated by: Michael Taylor
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From burglary to armed robbery and murder, infamous bad guy Frank Cullotta not only did it all, in Cullotta he admits to it - and in graphic detail. This no-holds-barred biography chronicles the life of a career criminal who started out as a thug on the streets of Chicago and became a trusted lieutenant in Tony Spilotro's gang of organized lawbreakers in Las Vegas. Cullotta's was a world of high-profile heists, street muscle, and information - lots of it - about many of the FBI's most wanted.
-
-
Great story, silly narrator
- By Tom Mainella II on 04-20-15
By: Dennis N. Griffin, and others
-
Legally Dead
- A Father and Son Bound by Murder
- By: Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie
- Narrated by: Aven Shore
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Attorney Seth Bader and his wife, Vicki, moved to New Hampshire in 1992. Three tumultuous years later, their marriage ended and left Vicki a broken woman, driven to the edge as Seth seduced their teenage son, Joey, into a violent plot to kill her in cold blood. What followed was one of the most bizarre and harrowing crime stories in New Hampshire history.
-
-
Everyone is good at something…
- By Vickijeanne on 06-06-21
By: Kevin Flynn, and others
-
Pesos
- The Rise and Fall of a Border Family
- By: Pietro La Greca Jr., Rebecca Paley - contributor
- Narrated by: Tony Dalton
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pietro La Greca Sr. was an intimidating Napolitano con man dubbed “Mexico’s real-life Don Corleone”. He ran Mexico’s biggest money-laundering scheme during the worst economic period in the country’s history. His was a world of fast cars, mansions on the water, and VIP treatment at Las Vegas casinos. His exploitation of Mexico’s financial free fall made him a wealthy man. But while he was running his criminal empire, his son, Pietro Jr., a.k.a. Picho, was learning his father’s tricks—if only to bring the man down.
-
-
A Must Read Story
- By April Wells on 11-04-22
By: Pietro La Greca Jr., and others
-
Vegas and the Mob
- By: Al W. Moe
- Narrated by: Jason Sullivan
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Las Vegas was the Mob's greatest venture and most spectacular success, and through 40 years of frenzy, murder, deceit, scams, and skimming, the FBI listened on phone taps and did virtually nothing to stop the fun. This is the truth about the Mob's control of the casinos in Vegas like you've never heard it before, from start to finish.
-
-
From Bugsy to Binion
- By Patrick King on 08-20-14
By: Al W. Moe
-
Lethal Guardian
- By: M. William Phelps
- Narrated by: J. Charles
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A real-estate lawyer in Connecticut's moneyed seaside communities, Beth Ann Carpenter, 30, had beauty, brains, and success. But she wanted more - namely guardianship of her two-year-old niece, Rebecca, daughter of Beth's estranged sister, Kim.
-
-
Lethal Guardian
- By Tamara on 10-19-10
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Cigar
- Carmine Galante, Mafia Terror
- By: Frank Dimatteo, Michael Benson
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan's Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York's Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the "errands" he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob's top enforcers-a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams.
-
-
Lazy Attempt; Awful Narrator
- By Rich on 05-05-23
By: Frank Dimatteo, and others
-
The Five Families of New York
- 5 Books in 1: The Complete History of America's Notorious Mafia Organizations
- By: Mafia Library
- Narrated by: John Raynar, Lee Sterry, Daniel Winski, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In "The Five Families of New York," Mafia Library presents a gripping account of the ascension and decline of New York's foremost crime syndicates, from the legendary Lucky Luciano to the notorious Paul Castellano and John Gotti, and beyond. Through vivid storytelling, the book chronicles the relentless assault waged against these five families over two decades, a campaign that stands as the most successful law enforcement effort of the last century.
-
-
What stood out was some of the narrators were better than others
- By Jamie Abbott on 10-02-24
By: Mafia Library
-
Mafia Prince
- Inside America's Most Violent Crime Family and the Bloody Fall of La Cosa Nostra
- By: Phillip Leonetti, Scott Burnstein, Christopher Graziano
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mafia Prince is the first-person account of one of the most violent eras in Mafia history - "Little" Nicky Scarfo’s reign as boss of the Philly family in the 1980s - written by Scarfo’s underboss and nephew, "Crazy" Phil Leonetti. The youngest-ever underboss at the age of 31, Leonetti was at the crux of the violent downfall of the traditional American Mafia in the 1980s when he infiltrated Atlantic City after gambling was legalized, and later turned state’s evidence against his own.
-
-
Guilty pleasure.
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 03-28-14
By: Phillip Leonetti, and others
-
The Watchdog
- How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two
- By: Steve Drummond
- Narrated by: Steve Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Months before Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that the United States was on the verge of entering another world war for which it was dangerously ill prepared. The urgent times demanded a transformation of the economy, with the government bankrolling the unfathomably expensive task of enlisting millions of citizens while also producing the equipment necessary to successfully fight—all of which opened up opportunities for graft, fraud and corruption.
-
-
When Harry First Gave-Em Hell
- By Donald on 05-13-23
By: Steve Drummond
-
The Volunteer
- One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
- By: Jack Fairweather
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To uncover the fate of the thousands being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp on the border of the Reich, a young Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: intentionally get captured and transported to the new camp to report back on what was going on there. But gathering information was not his only task: he was to execute an attack from inside - where the Germans would least expect it. The name of the camp was Auschwitz.
-
-
It is impossible to hear of the atrocities of Auschwitz without being. Forced to consider man’s infinite cruelty
- By Marge Greenwald on 07-15-19
By: Jack Fairweather
-
The Shadow War
- Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America
- By: Jim Sciutto
- Narrated by: Jim Sciutto
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
CNN’s chief national security correspondent reveals the invisible fronts of 21st-century warfare and identifies the ongoing battles being waged - often without the public’s full knowledge - from disinformation campaigns to advanced satellite weaponry.
-
-
Informative and interesting, but incomplete.
- By ZenBowman on 05-25-19
By: Jim Sciutto
-
The Cigar
- Carmine Galante, Mafia Terror
- By: Frank Dimatteo, Michael Benson
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan's Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York's Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the "errands" he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob's top enforcers-a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams.
-
-
Lazy Attempt; Awful Narrator
- By Rich on 05-05-23
By: Frank Dimatteo, and others
-
The Five Families of New York
- 5 Books in 1: The Complete History of America's Notorious Mafia Organizations
- By: Mafia Library
- Narrated by: John Raynar, Lee Sterry, Daniel Winski, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In "The Five Families of New York," Mafia Library presents a gripping account of the ascension and decline of New York's foremost crime syndicates, from the legendary Lucky Luciano to the notorious Paul Castellano and John Gotti, and beyond. Through vivid storytelling, the book chronicles the relentless assault waged against these five families over two decades, a campaign that stands as the most successful law enforcement effort of the last century.
-
-
What stood out was some of the narrators were better than others
- By Jamie Abbott on 10-02-24
By: Mafia Library
-
Mafia Prince
- Inside America's Most Violent Crime Family and the Bloody Fall of La Cosa Nostra
- By: Phillip Leonetti, Scott Burnstein, Christopher Graziano
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mafia Prince is the first-person account of one of the most violent eras in Mafia history - "Little" Nicky Scarfo’s reign as boss of the Philly family in the 1980s - written by Scarfo’s underboss and nephew, "Crazy" Phil Leonetti. The youngest-ever underboss at the age of 31, Leonetti was at the crux of the violent downfall of the traditional American Mafia in the 1980s when he infiltrated Atlantic City after gambling was legalized, and later turned state’s evidence against his own.
-
-
Guilty pleasure.
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 03-28-14
By: Phillip Leonetti, and others
-
The Watchdog
- How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two
- By: Steve Drummond
- Narrated by: Steve Drummond
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Months before Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that the United States was on the verge of entering another world war for which it was dangerously ill prepared. The urgent times demanded a transformation of the economy, with the government bankrolling the unfathomably expensive task of enlisting millions of citizens while also producing the equipment necessary to successfully fight—all of which opened up opportunities for graft, fraud and corruption.
-
-
When Harry First Gave-Em Hell
- By Donald on 05-13-23
By: Steve Drummond
-
The Volunteer
- One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
- By: Jack Fairweather
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To uncover the fate of the thousands being interred at a mysterious Nazi camp on the border of the Reich, a young Polish resistance fighter named Witold Pilecki volunteered for an audacious mission: intentionally get captured and transported to the new camp to report back on what was going on there. But gathering information was not his only task: he was to execute an attack from inside - where the Germans would least expect it. The name of the camp was Auschwitz.
-
-
It is impossible to hear of the atrocities of Auschwitz without being. Forced to consider man’s infinite cruelty
- By Marge Greenwald on 07-15-19
By: Jack Fairweather
-
The Shadow War
- Inside Russia's and China's Secret Operations to Defeat America
- By: Jim Sciutto
- Narrated by: Jim Sciutto
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
CNN’s chief national security correspondent reveals the invisible fronts of 21st-century warfare and identifies the ongoing battles being waged - often without the public’s full knowledge - from disinformation campaigns to advanced satellite weaponry.
-
-
Informative and interesting, but incomplete.
- By ZenBowman on 05-25-19
By: Jim Sciutto
-
To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth
- The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship—and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War
- By: Tom Clavin, Phil Keith
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas.
-
-
description of battle
- By Amazon Customer on 10-26-24
By: Tom Clavin, and others
-
The Diary Keepers
- World War II in the Netherlands, as Written by the People Who Lived Through It
- By: Nina Siegal
- Narrated by: Nina Siegal, Maggi-Meg Reed, Nan McNamara, and others
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on select writings from a collection of more than two thousand Dutch diaries written during World War II in order to record this unparalleled time, and maintained by devoted archivists, The Diary Keepers illuminates a part of history we haven’t seen in quite this way before, from the stories of a Nazi sympathizing police officer to a Jewish journalist who documented daily activities at a transport camp.
-
-
Superior work!
- By Anonymous User on 02-24-23
By: Nina Siegal
-
The Last Yakuza
- Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld
- By: Jake Adelstein
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Makoto Saigo is half-American and half-Japanese in small-town Japan with a set of talents limited to playing guitar and picking fights. With rock stardom off the table, he turns toward the only place where you can start from the bottom and move up through sheer merit, loyalty, and brute force―the yakuza. Saigo, nicknamed “The Tsunami”, quickly realizes that even within the organization, opinions are as varied as they come, and a clash of philosophies can quickly become deadly. One screw-up can cost you your life, or at least a finger.
-
-
absolutely astounding work. you will not put this down.
- By I_am_Guts on 01-31-24
By: Jake Adelstein
-
Denial
- A Memoir
- By: Jessica Stern
- Narrated by: Suzie Althens
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jessica Stern is one of the world’s foremost experts on terrorism and post-traumatic stress disorder. She has interviewed some of the most feared terrorists in their own camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She has worked with the National Security Council and the FBI as an expert on what extreme trauma can do to a person. By her own admission, she feels no fear in these terrifying scenarios. On a fall night in Concord, a quiet Massachusetts suburb, in 1973, Jessica was 15. She and her sister were at doing their homework after ballet class when a serial rapist entered their bedroom.
-
-
Courageous and Relatable
- By Ade on 07-01-24
By: Jessica Stern
-
Wiseguy
- By: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese - introduction
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Corey Brill, Hillary Huber, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the true crime best seller that was the basis for Martin Scorsese’s film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds...with Henry Hill’s crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action.
-
-
Finally unabridged
- By Rodney on 12-16-19
By: Nicholas Pileggi, and others
-
For the Sins of My Father
- A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life
- By: Albert DeMeo, Mary Jane Ross - contributor
- Narrated by: Andrew J. Andersen
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Al DeMeo will never forget the day in 1992 when a coworker taunted him with a copy of the hot new book Murder Machine, chronicling the horrific criminal life of DeMeo's father, Roy, the head of the most deadly gang in organized crime. The moment sent DeMeo into a psychological tailspin: How could he have spent his life looking up to, and loving, a vicious killer?
-
-
Worth a listen
- By robert l. on 01-13-23
By: Albert DeMeo, and others
-
The Quiet Don
- The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Secretive - even reclusive - Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
-
-
Important But Edited By Lawyers?
- By Ted on 04-03-14
By: Matt Birkbeck
-
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
- A Memoir of Learning to Believe You’re Gonna Be Okay
- By: Sean Dietrich
- Narrated by: Sean Dietrich
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sean was a seventh-grade drop-out, a dishwasher then a construction worker to help his mother and sister scrape by, and a self-described "nobody with a sad story behind him." Yet he cannot deny the glimmers of life's goodness even amid its rough edges. Such goodness becomes even harder to deny when Sean meets the love of his life at a fried chicken church potluck, and harder still when his lifelong love of storytelling leads him to stages across the southeast, where he is known and loved as "Sean of the South."
-
-
Best I’ve heard in long time!
- By Pam H on 03-12-20
By: Sean Dietrich
-
The Real Lolita
- The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World
- By: Sarah Weinman
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is one of the most beloved novels ever. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of 11-year-old Sally Horner. Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner’s full story for the first time. Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita.
-
-
Meandering and tedious while never delivering the promised story.
- By Timothy McCarthy on 09-15-18
By: Sarah Weinman
-
The Slip
- The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever
- By: Prudence Peiffer
- Narrated by: Melissa Redmond
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For just over a decade, from 1956 to 1967, a collection of dilapidated former sail-making warehouses clustered at the lower tip of Manhattan became the quiet epicenter of the art world.
-
-
The narrator mis-pronounces everones name
- By Stephanie Laffont on 12-26-23
By: Prudence Peiffer
-
Riding with Evil
- Taking Down the Notorious Pagan Motorcycle Gang
- By: Ken Croke, Dave Wedge
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Longtime ATF agent Ken Croke had earned the right to coast to the end of a storied career, having routinely gone undercover to apprehend white supremacists, gun runners, and gang members. But after a chance encounter with an associate of the Pagan Motorcycle Gang created an opening, he transformed himself into “Slam,” a monstrous, axe-handle wielding enforcer whose duty was to protect the leadership “mother club” at all costs.
-
-
Hooked from the First Line
- By J.A.Vess on 03-23-22
By: Ken Croke, and others
-
Murder Machine
- A True Story of Murder, Madness, and the Mafia
- By: Gene Mustain, Jerry Capeci
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were the DeMeo gang - the most deadly hit men in organized crime. Their Mafia higher-ups came to know, use, and ultimately fear them as the Murder Machine. They killed for profit and for pleasure, following cold-blooded plans and wild whims, from the mean streets of New York to the Florida Gold Coast, and from coast to coast. Now complete with personal revelations of one of the key players, this is the savage story that leaves no corpse unturned in its terrifying telling.
-
-
stop browsing and just get it.
- By Patrick on 04-20-21
By: Gene Mustain, and others
What listeners say about The Life We Chose
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James Seibel
- 08-11-23
Absurdly Entertaining
I had heard from a few reviews that this was a pass. I could not disagree more - this is beyond entertaining!
Billy Delia is a funny guy. The entire book is essentially anecdotes from his crazy life, and focuses a lot on Russell Bufalino. So many times I’m laughing out loud and my wife is asking “What? What?” And then she had to also listen to the book. 5 stars A++ I expect this will be a movie soon.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alberto Zaragoza
- 03-11-24
Good listen!
Great to hear different perspectives and on events that actually happened. Overall a lot of the information is correct. Interest to hear its contrast of brandts I heard you paint houses and frank shereens story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Frantz
- 03-12-24
Interesting read about mafia
I liked the way the story was told, seemed very factual and honest. Also super interesting about how many ties the family had with well named public individuals
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- W. Hardwick
- 07-25-23
Big Billy
Very nicely done I really enjoyed it!
Will probably give it a second go!
Thank You
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jawnny
- 10-10-23
A must listen for mob enthusiasts!
ive read or listened to almost every mob book there is, this is well written and from the horses mouth, I recommend it highly,if you like true crime,you will like this! Good Job!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Josh
- 12-13-23
the quality and character of a real man.
this book spoke about real shit and how to be. you don't have to be doing anything illegal to speak up and stand respectfully. this book outlines all of that.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lakeem L. Mcallister
- 03-05-24
Very detailed…
I like that the story was very detailed and it feels like nothing was left out, except the violence of course.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philippe Hurrepain
- 02-21-24
One of best and acurate mob book i ve ever read … i ve read a few …
I liked everything about that book . Lots of details and even liked the narrative voices too .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous
- 10-23-23
Best one I’ve listened to yet
Rings of authenticity and really offers listeners an in-depth behind the scenes look at the human relationships in a crime family. The narration is top notch. The stories are fascinating. What a life. I truly hope Mr. Dalia trusts Christ for the forgiveness of his sins before he meets God.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rob
- 11-05-23
This is a great book about Russell Bufalino
This is one of the best books if your wondering about Russell Bufalino and it shows just how much power he had and also the power big billy had got cause of how close he was to Russell
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!