Double Deal: The Inside Story of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, and the Cop Who Was a Mobster - Hardcover

Giancana, Sam; Corbitt, Michael; Giancana, Bettina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060195851 ISBN 13: 9780060195854

Publisher: William Morrow, 2003

Synopsis

A provocative exposé of organized crime and its unholy alliance with world leaders, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement, Double Deal is a forty-year saga told with unflinching honesty by mob insider and former chief of police Michael Corbitt.

Growing up poor and angry, Michael Corbitt fought his way up the ranks of greasers and street gangs until he attracted the attention of Chicago crime boss Sam Giancana, who placed him on the Willow Springs, Illinois, police force. By the time he was appointed chief of police, he'd also moved up the Outfit's ranks and was living the high life of a respected mobster.

Corbitt's luck turned when he was indicted on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. Although there was a mob contract on his life and he was facing a twenty-year sentence, he refused to testify against organized crime figures under the witness protection program, maintaining instead the mafioso's code of silence -- omertà -- until his release from prison.

Now Corbitt breaks that silence, holding back nothing -- including the account of his personal involvement in the brutal murder of the wife of Chicago mob attorney Alan Masters. Making no excuses for his dual existence, Corbitt bares his soul, confessing in graphic -- sometimes horrific -- detail a life lived as both saint and sinner, a life that moved back and forth between the conflicting worlds of the police officer and the gangster with schizophrenic ease.

Delving deep into the shadowy underworld, Corbitt divulges -- for the first time ever -- the explosive story of organized crime's "mystery man," the brilliant Chicago mobster who has been the real power behind the Outfit's throne for almost thirty years. Corbitt paints a frightening picture of a man he knew all too well, a man who would do anything to control the Outfit's international gambling and money-laundering empire worth billions.

Corbitt's stunning revelations have been corroborated by FBI agents and court and government documents. From the murder of Chicago boss Sam Giancana to the myth of a "clean" Las Vegas, he tells it like it was -- and still is. From Noriega to the Shah of Iran, Israel and its deadly Mossad, drug running, arms deals, money laundering, murder, and intrigue, it's all here in Double Deal, making this as much the story of one man's amazing double life as it is of the mob's terrifying reach into our world today.

About this title

About the Author:

Sam Giancana is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Double Cross and the godson and namesake of Sam "Momo" Giancana, the notorious Chicago mafia boss.

From Publishers Weekly:

This is a fast-paced inside look at the workings of the Chicago-based organized crime syndicate and its national and international dealings, by a highly decorated former Illinois police officer who spent his entire law enforcement career working for the Mob. Co-author Giancana covered much of the same territory in Double Cross, his bestselling look at the U.S. Mafia, but here his obvious model is Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy, the classic insider look at the New York crime world through the words of ex-mobster Henry Hill. Surprisingly, Corbitt's story compares favorably to that earlier classic true crime tale as he narrates his rise from the ranks of an average Chicago gang to being a player with the likes of Sam "Momo" Giancana (his co-author's uncle) and Tony Accardo-perhaps the two most important figures in the history of post-WWII Chicago crime. Giancana captures Corbitt's eye for the sleazy details of Mob life, such as the time he sees "half a million in loose diamonds" wrapped in a brown paper bag on the front seat of Momo's car, "looking like a ham sandwich." But the heart of the book is Corbitt's description of the mysterious figure of Hy Larner, who, along with Meyer Lansky, controlled organized crime in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s. Corbitt's first-hand accounts of Larner's dealings with shady figures like Lansky, the Shah of Iran and Manuel Noriega, as well as with agents of the Israeli government, the Mossad and the CIA, provide some new evidence of the extent of organized crime's involvement with the government.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060195851
• ISBN 13: 9780060195854
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368