The Big Heist
The Real Story of the Lufthansa Heist, the Mafia, and Murder
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“A comprehensive account of the legendary 1978 heist . . . impressive.”
—Publishers Weekly
The crime that inspired the movie Goodfellas.
The rest of story that couldn’t be told—until now.
One of the biggest scores in Mafia history, the Lufthansa Airlines heist of 1978 has become the stuff of Mafia legend—and a decades-long investigation that continues to this day. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony DeStefano sheds new light on this legendary unsolved case using recent evidence from the 2015 trial of eighty-year-old mafioso Vincent Asaro, who for the first time speaks out on his role in the fateful Lufthansa heist. This blistering you-are-there account takes you behind the headlines and inside the ranks of America’s infamous Mafia families—with never-before-told stories, late-breaking news, and bombshell revelations:
Praise for ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO and His Acclaimed Books
“Thrilling American crime writing.”
—Jimmy Breslin, author of The Good Rat and winner of the Pulitzer Prize
“DeStefano is a master at cutting through the secrecy of the Mafia hierarchy.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The best and last word on the subject . . . DeStefano brings the story to life.”
—Jerry Capeci, creator of GangLandNews.com
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Veteran Mafia chronicler DeStefano (Gangland New York: The Places and Faces of Mob History) serves up a comprehensive account of the legendary 1978 heist at New York's JFK Airport, including the recent indictment of Vincent Asaro, an elderly member of the Bonanno crime family, who was charged and acquitted in 2015, decades after the theft. DeStefano traces the arc of Asaro's Mafia career before delving into allegations made by his cousin Gaspare Valenti, a fellow organized-crime associate, who testified that Asaro took part in the robbery. Though the book melds an impressive amount of material into a coherent narrative, it's not all that suspenseful, especially for those familiar with the crime, which is documented in other accounts such as Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguys (1985). DeStefano's insights into the more recent material, such as the trial of Asaro, aren't enough to sustain interest.
