First published 2015
T.J. English takes readers inside the 2011 trial of Whitey Bulger, the notorious Boston crime boss who evaded capture for sixteen years. English covered the proceedings from the courtroom and spent evenings interviewing Bulger's associates, federal agents, lawyers, and jurors in the neighborhoods where Whitey once held sway. The book reveals how Bulger operated as both New England's mob leader and a top FBI informant, using federal protection to eliminate competitors while feeding prosecutors intelligence on rival criminals. English exposes the corrupt relationship between law enforcement and organized crime that allowed Bulger to flourish under FBI cover for decades. The author challenges popular perceptions of Bulger as a Robin Hood figure, instead showing how the brother of Massachusetts senator Billy Bulger manipulated a compromised system. Through trial testimony and extensive interviews, English reconstructs the culture of collusion between federal agents and Irish and Italian crime families that dominated New England since the 1970s.
Genres: crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Setting: Boston, New England
Period: 2011, 1970s
438 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow
Content warnings: violence