First published 2012
Karen Gravano knew something was different about her father by age twelve. Sammy Gravano ran construction companies and nightclubs, hosted mysterious meetings at their house, and whispered constantly with business associates. He sometimes disappeared for days. What Karen discovered was that her loving, ever-present father was also Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, a Gambino Crime Family underboss who confessed to nineteen murders and served as John Gotti's right-hand man. While her friends worried about school and clothes, Karen faced the reality of crime and violence. At nineteen, her world shattered when her father became the highest-ranking gangster ever to cooperate with federal authorities and testify against his own crime family. Their community instantly rejected them. Karen must reconcile two impossible truths: the devoted father who sat at their dinner table and the killer who destroyed lives. Her journey toward healing requires forging a new identity from the wreckage of her family's past.
Genres: crime, non-fiction, biography-memoir, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, redemption
Setting: United States
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
256 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: violence