Review: Sonny: The Last of the Old Time Mafia Bosses, John "Sonny" Franzese

Sonny: The Last of the Old Time Mafia Bosses, John "Sonny" Franzese by S.J. Peddie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the true story of one of our longest-lived mobsters, John "Sonny" Franzese. It is about him and his rise in the Columbo family. However, this book is more than just about his criminal career; I found it to be so much more. Of course, his two marriages were something else, but you have to remember the time period that this book was most devoted to; the 1930s was the start, the 1960s took up a lot of this book, and then the downward spiral of the '90's to 2020.

I admit that this guy and his sons were criminals of the worst kinds, but I did manage to feel compassion for Sonny. Imagine having your beloved son testifying against you and your other son leaving the Mafia and leaving his father in the lurch.

So many informants. So many wearing wires. So much blood and shakedowns.

This was a fascinating read that I found I was unable to put down no matter what bloody coupe was taking place.

*ARC provided by the publisher Citadel Press - Penguin Random House Canada, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "Based on exclusive interviews before his death in 2020 at age 103, SONNY is the first and only authorized biography of legendary mob boss John "Sonny" Franzese, the head of the Columbo crime family and financier of the infamous film Deep Throat. An old school Mafioso, he kept silent on his nine decade career in organized crime, remaining loyal to the Mafia oath throughout 30 years in prison, until he finally agreed to talk to award-winning Newsday reporter S.J. Peddie for this groundbreaking, never-before-revealed account.

John "Sonny" Franzese reportedly committed his first murder at the age of fourteen. As a "made man" for the Colombo crime family, he operated out of his Long Island home specializing in racketeering, fraud, loansharking, and other illicit deeds he would deny to his dying day. His career in organized crime spanned over eight decades--and was sentenced to fifty years in prison for robbery charges. But even behind bars, Sonny Franzese never stopped doing business...

This is the true story of an old-school Mafioso as it's never been told before. Newsday reporter S.J. Peddie interviewed Franzese in prison--and uncovered a lifetime of shocking secrets from the legend himself:

* How Sonny became friends with celebrities Frank Sinatra Jr., Rocky Graziano, and Sammy Davis Jr.
* Why FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had a very personal interest in Sonny.
* How Sonny managed to juggle numerous affairs with women, including a famous model.
* How Sonny spent a third of his life in prison--and still managed to earn untold millions for the mob.
* How Sonny accidentally revealed some of his worst crimes--to a "friend" wearing a wire.

Through it all, Franzese refused to break the Mafia's code of silence. Authorities believe he may have murdered, or ordered the murders of, forty to fifty people. Yet he earned a grudging respect from law enforcement and an absolute reverence from his fellow gangsters. Eventually he managed to outlive them all--until his death in 2020 of natural causes, a rare event in the Mafia. Thanks to a series of exclusive first-hand interviews with Newsday reporter S.J. Peddie, the astonishing life story of John "Sonny" Franzese can be told in all its bold, brutal, and blood-spattered glory. This is a must-read for anyone fascinated with Mafia history--and a rare look inside a criminal mind that has become the stuff of legend"