King of the Godfathers

By Anthony DeStefano

He was the last of his kind-an old-world mob boss steeped in omert , the mob code of silence. While his arrogant friend John Gotti was being secretly recorded by the FBI, Joseph Massino, head of the Bonanno family, quietly became known as "The Ear" by ordering his men to point to their ear instead of saying his name out loud.

For more than twenty years Massino ran what was called the largest criminal network in the U.S., employing over 250 made men and untold numbers of associates. The Bonanno family was responsible for over 30 murders, even killing a dozen of its own members to settle scores. Massino ran a tight organization, obsessively checking his social club for bugging devices, frustrating FBI surveillance. But in the end Massino would be brought down from the inside, by the underboss who was not only his closest and most trusted friend—but a member of his blood family.

Based on exclusive interviews with Massino's family and closest associates, as well as law enforcement officials and confidential sources, The Last Godfather is an epic inside story from Pulitzer Prizewinning reporter Anthony DeStefano.

New York: Kensington Publishing, 2006. 351p.