by Kevin Cullen
First published 2013
Boston Globe reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy chronicle the extraordinary criminal career of James "Whitey" Bulger, who transformed from a housing project kid into America's most wanted fugitive. The authors trace his path from teenage theft and bank robberies through his nine years in Alcatraz to his emergence as a South Boston crime boss. After prison, Whitey reconnected with his politician brother Billy and childhood friend John Connolly, now an FBI agent. Connolly recruited Whitey as an informant against the Mafia, creating a corrupt partnership that allowed the gangster to operate freely while the FBI ignored his gambling, drug dealing, and murders. Cullen and Murphy reveal Whitey's dual family life, his paranoia rooted in CIA experiments, his IRA connections, and his role in Boston's busing crisis. The book follows the sixteen year manhunt that ended with his 2011 capture in Santa Monica, offering readers the complete story of government corruption and organized crime.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, government-conspiracy
Setting: Alcatraz, Boston, Santa Monica
Period: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
496 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton & Company