Vinny Gorgeous
The Ugly Rise and Fall of a New York Mobster
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3.5 • 10 Ratings
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A vain man of good looks but no family ties to the Mob, Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano worked his way up to acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, becoming its leader when official boss Joseph Massino went to prison in 2003. When the Mafia was crawling with secret operatives and informants caving to government pressure to flip, Basciano steadfastly obeyed the code of La Cosa Nostra. “I got faith in one guy,” he said during a secretly taped meeting. That man was Massino, head of the Bonanno borgata. But for all his loyalty, Basciano was still a hot-headed, cold-blooded killer, which ultimately led to his arrest and downfall.
Then in a remarkable betrayal that rocked the Five Families to their foundations, Massino secretly cooperated with the FBI—the first head bossever to roll over. As a result, Basciano faced the death penalty, but a federal jury, disturbed by the prosecution’s use of deadly criminal informants, reached a surprising verdict. Here from veteran crime author Anthony M. DeStefano comes the riveting story of the last true believer in the Mob’s cult of brotherhood and his betrayal at the hands of the only man he ever trusted.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Newsday reporter working the criminal justice beat depicts the sensational trajectory of the flamboyant and lethal New York crime boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano from a neighborhood kid "who hung out with mobsters" to the pinnacle of the Mafia world. Hollywood handsome with the cold edge of a killer, Basciano loved the mob life and assumed the lead role of the Bonanno crime family when its former boss, Joseph Massino, wound up in federal detention. But then, in 2004, Massino turned informer the first boss of the Cosa Nostra's Five Families to do so and a wired meet-up between the two landed Basciano in court. Throughout the book, DeStefano (Mob Killer) describes his subject as smart, naturally charismatic, and lucky at least for a while. After managing to avoid conviction due to legal irregularities in his case, Basciano was finally found guilty of murder in 2011 and sentenced to life in prison. This is a dark, informed, and effective bio, and DeStefano is a master at cutting through the secrecy of the Mafia hierarchy. B&w photos.
