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Summary: It is a book for anyone interested in the John Gotti story.
Review: It opened up my eyes on the whole Gotti story. I can honestly say that I sort of have a new found respect for John Gotti. It is a first-rate crime story. It is very thrilling and fascinating
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic.
Review: It shows perfectly well what an egoistic fool Gotti was, and how the key to breaking him was his ego of a street fool who suddenly had his five minutes.Also, it tells the story from the real people's point of view, instead of justifying the murderers and drug dealers of Gotti's kind.
Rating: 
Summary: Accurate and fascinating, if a little biased
Review: More than an account of the rise and fall of one of the most charismatic Godfathers of all time, this is an intriguing insight into the artistry and complexity of surveillance and inter-departmental politics. It is the fascinating and accurate account of the slog, it can only be called, of Bruce Mouw and his FBI organized crime team over the years it took to finally bring the Teflon Don to justice. One could argue that the book is shamelessly biassed in favor of the FBI. The often competing fellow law enforcement agencies are often depicted with almost the same scorn as the gangsters themselves. One could also argue that the noble crusade to convict a notorious felon was really more like a foot race for bragging rights to his head. The book does not completely discard this notion but does appear to justify the FBI's behavior while criticizing that of the Organized Crime task force and the Police Department when essentially the motivation was the same. However, the book rightfully avoids glamorizing the criminals, and offers a fascinating account of the technology, logistics and economics of wire-tapping, surveillance and snitch recruitment. It is excellently written, detailed, yet economical, and meshes dramatic techniques with never-wavering factual accuracy seamlessly. One of the better true crime books written.
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Summary: FBI P.R.
Review: Reader beware: this book is told shamelessly from the law enforcement point of view, and therefore lacks credibility. Believe it or not, not all FBI agents are saints and heroes. they are, after all, human -- and like most humans they tend to engage in self-aggrandizement, which the author falls for hook, line and sinker. The only person who could enjoy this book is somebody who knows absolutely nothing about the subject, and will therefore believe anything.
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Summary: Classic story of the dedication to break the mob.
Review: This book has everything in it about the most colorful character the mob has had since Al Capone (which wasn't necessarily a good thing). It is a very detailed account of not just Gotti's world but the world of the FBI who was trying to bring him down, from dealing with lawyers, to wiretaps in homes, to wiretapping cars on the street, to dealing with members of the mob themselves (as when the FBI heard a hit order was put out on a couple agents, how SAIC Mowe went to Gotti's front door to confront him personally), etc. If there is a drawback to this book, it is that some of the FBI details were a little long winded, and at some points seemed to slow the book down. But better to err on the side of details than to leave a reader asking questions, which there weren't that many after reading this book. On a sidebar note, it gives the reader an idea of how the cards are usually stacked against the good guys and the obstacles that they have to overcome to get the bad guys.
Rating:
Summary: Classic story of the dedication to break the mob.
Review: This book has everything in it about the most colorful character the mob has had since Al Capone (which wasn't necessarily a good thing). It is a very detailed account of not just Gotti's world but the world of the FBI who was trying to bring him down, from dealing with lawyers, to wiretaps in homes, to wiretapping cars on the street, to dealing with members of the mob themselves (as when the FBI heard a hit order was put out on a couple agents, how SAIC Mowe went to Gotti's front door to confront him personally), etc. If there is a drawback to this book, it is that some of the FBI details were a little long winded, and at some points seemed to slow the book down. But better to err on the side of details than to leave a reader asking questions, which there weren't that many after reading this book. On a sidebar note, it gives the reader an idea of how the cards are usually stacked against the good guys and the obstacles that they have to overcome to get the bad guys.
Rating:
Summary: This book is horrible.
Review: This book is horrible. It is written from the perspective of the FBI. The author doesn't know a lot of the things in the book as it seems like he makes a lot of the information up. A lot of the events in the book did not really happen the way that Howard Blum says that they happen.
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Summary: Great Book
Review: This is a great book about the fall of mafia don John Gott
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Summary: Superb narration of how the teflon Don fell
Review: This is a refreshing account of how John Gotti and company were toppled. The FBI's intense seven year operation is finely detailed and brought full circle to complete a wonderful piece of journalism. This is not just another flyu-by-night true crime book, this is a piece of finely crafted journalism. Excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Where???
Review: This is an excellent book... except for the parts where they get the information about Gotti's uh - whaddya call them, Girlfriends! I mean, don't really need to know about his bedroom things also! And that was the most depressing part about this book. And of course, I don't blame Blum for the mobster's grammar, 'cause that's how they were speaking. Also loved the areas when SAIC Mouw came into contact with Gotti and threatened him more than once. And when the Task Force first came together, and how they actually met some of the made men for coffee and other stuff, and they let them actually take their photos. Of course, that was the 'nice' ones. Overall this is a good book good insight, sort of like Gravano's 'Underboss' except they are from two different sides of the law.
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