Last Days of the Sicilians

An expose of the intricate and far-reaching web of the Sicilian Mafia in America and of the concentrated FBI investigation that cracked open a billion-dollar drug racket

The Pizza Connection case is assumed to have begun with the murder of mob boss Carmine Galante at a Brooklyn restaurant in 1979. In 1987, after what is called the government's most effective assault on organized crime in its history, the case ended with the convictions of 18 defendants. What took place in those eight years is the basis New York Times reporter Blumenthal's book, a work impressive for its tying together of so many seemingly disjointed elements. Tracking down the participants in the Pizza Connection posed such problems because the group represented a new, secret franchise of the Sicilian Mafia in the U.S. and Italy, many aspects of whose operations are still a mystery. Blumenthal accentuates the tireless role of the post-Hoover FBI and the dedication of lawmen in general. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Picking up where the French Connection ended is the story of a previously unknown Sicilian mafia, which ruled over a multibillion-dollar global heroin and money-laundering network. Known as "The Pizza Connection," this drug distribution pipeline operated here through anonymous pizzerias and involved some of America's largest financial institutions. Blumenthal tells this intricate story incisively and entertainingly by focusing on the efforts of two FBI agents in what became the agency's largest criminal investigation, leading to the federal courts' longest trial. Shana Alexander's The Pizza Connection: Lawyers, Drugs and the Mafia (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988) is a best seller, but readers will do better with Blumenthal. Jerry Maioli, Western Lib. Network, Olympia, Wash.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.