The Godson: A True-Life Account of 20 Years Inside the Mob

A former Bostan gangster presents an account of his rise in the Mob and offers new information about the Brinks robbery, the attempted Castro assassination, and the "Pizza Connection"

This inconsequential crime book presents the life story of a career gangster from Boston who loomed large enough in his circles to become a money-laundering courier for Meyer Lansky. Otherwise, the memoir is a repetitious tale of bank and jewelry store heists and of attempts to avoid being killed. Writing with New York Post reporter Harney, Popiano makes a number of allegations: Albert DeSalvo was not the Boston Strangler; Joseph Kennedy had mob ties (a fact already documented in other books); and JFK was assassinated by a French hit team brought into the country by the Mafia. Now 48 and retired in Las Vegas, Popiano has turned religious and makes much of his growing faith in God. His book is jam-packed with action, but little of it seems to matter. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gritty memoir by a former Boston gangster, written with the help of New York Post crime reporter Harney. Fopiano begins with a bang, describing a recurrent dream of being shot in the head (``I collapse and roll into the wet gutter, bleeding and helpless''). The dream comes true in 1975, ending his underworld career--but not his life (he now lives in Las Vegas, a born-again Catholic, ``keeping out of trouble, and not doing too bad at all''). Time was when all he did was bad. Fopiano started out as a street punk in Boston's Italian North End, selling bootlegged cigarettes and pulling petty burglaries. The thefts escalated to shopping centers, banks, cargo trucks, armored cars; once, hiding out after a heist worth $740,000, he passed the time by playing Monopoly with real money. Fueling these crimes was a violent streak that culminated in ``wild, murderous rages''--but Fopiano's violence was part-and-parcel of the Boston mob scene, where a bloody turf-war littered the city with scores of bodies. Often the killer was free-lance executioner Joe ``the Animal'' Barboza (``he operated with a speed and precision that was almost mechanical''), one of the many mobsters whom Fopiano describes in gruesome detail. Others included Meyer Lansky, for whom the author worked as a courier; accused Boston Strangler Albert da Salvo (innocent, says Fopiano, who fingers another mobster as the real serial killer); Tony Pino, mastermind of the 1950 Brinks Robbery; and Johnny Rosselli, the suave Hollywood mobster who, before being bumped off, passed on to Fopiano the alleged secret of the Kennedy assassination (that the Mob threw the 1960 election to Kennedy by rigging the Illinois vote; when Kennedy responded with an anti- Mafia campaign, the Mob hit back with the help of Fidel Castro). Fast action in a moral vacuum: frightening and compelling. (Photos--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In yet another Wiseguy confession, Fopiano, now retired and living in Las Vegas, tells his life story. He begins in 1955, when as a 12-year-old street kid in Boston he was spotted by the Mob. From then on, he became their messenger, front man, and hustler. Like all the other Mafia books, this one has its "juicy bits"; in this case, it is the "true story" of President Kennedy's assassination. According to Fopiano, Kennedy won his election with the help of the Mob, but once in office, he turned on it and initiated investigations. To retaliate, the Mob hired two Sicilian hit men to kill him. Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby were mere props; the Sicilians did the job as agreed. The book has other inside information about Meyer Lansky, Fidel Castro, and the Pizza Connection, but even with these revelations, it is lackluster. Libraries can skip this one.
- Frances Sandiford, Green Haven Correctional Facility Lib., Stormville, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.