by Howie Carr
First published 2024
Jerry Angiulo and Larry Baione control Boston's underworld from their North End headquarters. They speak freely about their criminal enterprise, unaware that FBI agents have planted listening devices throughout their offices. For months in 1981, the bugs capture 850 hours of raw conversation between the mobsters as they conduct their daily business. The recordings reveal how these men operate, think, and speak when they believe no one is listening. Later, federal prosecutors play more than 150 of these conversations in court, exposing the inner workings of organized crime in Boston. Carr presents these transcribed conversations as free verse poetry, preserving the uncensored language and authentic voices of the wiseguys. The result captures the rhythm and reality of criminal life through the actual words of those who lived it.
Genres: american, crime, non-fiction, true-crime
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, true-story
Setting: Boston, North End
Period: 1981
225 pages · Paperback · Frandel
Content warnings: violence