The shocking true story of the most ruthless and deadly mob boss in
the annals of the American Mafia.
In the golden age of organized crime, Carmine "The Snake" Persico was
the King of the Streets. The defacto boss of the Colombo Mafia family
since the 1970s, he oversaw gang wars, murders, and major rackets, even
from prison. He is suspected of personally murdering as many as 60
people and ordering the hits of hundreds more. Sentenced to 139 years in
the fed, he continued to exert power over a vast criminal empire from
behind bars. His brutal rise and bloody reign is the stuff of legend.
In this blistering street-level account, "Mafia survivor" Frank Dimatteo
teams up with true-crime master Michael Benson to take down one of the
most notorious figures in the American La Cosa Nostra. This is the real
inside story of Carmine "The Snake" Persico, from his crime-filled
childhood on the streets of Brooklyn to the long-term jail sentences
that didn't stop him from controlling his criminal empire with the help
of his brother, the equally kill-crazy Alphonse Allie Boy Persico**.**
His deadly teen years as leader of the fearsome Garfield Boys. His
recruitment into the Profaci--later the Colombo--crime family. His
bloody betrayal of the Gallo brothers. His role in the hair-raising
ambush-slaying of Albert Anastasia--the Lord High Executioner of Murder,
Inc.--as he sat in a barbershop chair getting a shave. The terror he
struck into the hearts of the New York Mafia's other families, and even
his own crews. And the many courtroom trials where Persico walked after
witnesses came down with sudden cases of amnesia
Today, Carmine "The Snake" Persico schmoozes with Ponzi king Bernard
Madoff behind bars where at age 84 his legend, packed as it is with
coldblooded brutality, continues to inspire goodfellas everywhere.
