Breaking the Mob: The Gripping True Story of a Dedicated Cop Who Led the Fight that Put an Entire Mafia Family out of Business

Traces the rise of the Scarfo crime family in the Philadelphia-Atlantic City area, and describes the special task force that was set up in response

A former Philadelphia police captain who rose through the ranks and headed his city's Organized Crime Task Force, Friel played a major role in the breakup of the Nicky Scarfo Mafia family. The Scarfo mob, originally based in the City of Brotherly Love, expanded its focus to include Atlantic City when legalized gambling was approved for the seaside resort. Scarfo, a violent and unpredictable man, had taken over after his two predecessors were murdered within a year; his ascendance set off a wave of killings. Collaborating with Guinther ( Brotherhood of Murder ), Friel tells how police work brought the don and dozens of his underlings to justice in 1989. The book also details Friel's own successful effort to free a wrongly convicted man from death row. But what makes the book especially noteworthy are the authors' insights into the psychology of mobsters and their recommendations for increased efficiency in fighting the drug war, especially interagency cooperation.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Friel led the Organized Crime Task Force which helped convict Philadelphia Mafia boss Nicky Scarfo and others of murder, extortion, and racketeering; Guinther is the author, with Thomas Martinez, of Brotherhood of Murder ( LJ 8/88). Scarfo, whose violence--excessive even by Mafia standards--led to his downfall, has been the subject of two previous books, Joseph Salerno and Stephen J. Rivele's The Plumber ( LJ 1/90) and Donald W. Cox's Mafia Wipeout ( LJ 2/15/90). While this is the most readable account, the book's focus on Friel's successful effort to free a man unjustly convicted of a mob murder, his battle with the police bureaucracy, and his suggestions for investigative reforms, detract from the main story of Scarfo and gang. The definitive account of their crimes has yet to be written.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.