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Summary: A journey into one young man's Heart of Darkness
Review: I bought this book on the spur of the moment. It was in the sale and I thought, "What the heck, I've nothing else to read tonight!"The author Albert DeMeo pulls no punches as he chronicles not only his father's life, the Mobster Roy DeMeo and his steady rise to power in the Mafia in New York but also his own involvement from the tender age of five in a world that was seductively charming as it was dangerous. "For the Sins of my Father" is a brutal, candid, violent, tender portrayal of a life in a huge glass bubble in which escape is not an option for anyone. However Albert DeMeo is not an apologist for his father's actions, rather he pulls the reader in a world in which corruption is at the heart of everything. Just as you can't feel sorry Roy DeMeo for the choices he made in his life you also cannot feel anything for the Police, the FBI, the Government, the Court system because they were often as corrupt as the people they claimed they were trying to bring to justice. Albert's father knew many people and many considered themselves law abiding whilst at the same time asking and getting favours from the Mafia Capo who was their "neighbour" and "friend". In one chapter the young Albert helps his father's "crew" to work out how wipe clean some audio tapes that could send one of their members to jail; magnets the child tells them men can wipe clean magnetic tapes of all their contents. It is a corrupt police officer who puts a magnet next to the audio tapes so that they will be blank when they are played in court. It is also to Mafia owned drinking dens that many court officials, police officers and other city officials attend to drink, buy drugs and enjoy the company of Prostitutes. Roy DeMeo's murder in the early 1980s is a brutal wake up call for the teenage Albert and hounded by both the Mafia who want his silence and the FBI wanting him to turn State's evidence, Albert somehow manages to salvage his life out of the wreckage of violence his father has left behind. This is not a fairy tale, there is certainly no happy ending but Albert DeMeo is living proof that you can walk a way from organised crime and go on to live a legitimate life, all it takes is a lot of courage, the memory of how your father, a man you loved beyond all words, died in a hail of bullets, murdered by the very people who were supposed to be his friends and associates. This book is very different from the gratuitous Best Seller "The Murder Machine" which demonises Albert's father; this is a book that puts a life into perspective, warts and all. Violence, car crime, prostitution, gambling, protection rackets, corrupt officials, loan sharking, pornography are put on display and it is left up to the reader to judge where the line between right and wrong lies. There is no moving away from the fact that Roy DeMeo was a murderer, a Mafia Capo and a man with a criminal mind, but the world he worked in was a world providing services and commodities that people wanted and even the law was not above the stench of death, and corruption. Read this book with an open mind and remember a father's love can transcend even the most vile of crimes....
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Summary: I couldn't put it down--the story rings true to me.
Review: I couldn't put this book down as I rooted for Al all the way through. However, I think this book will be much more appreciated if you read MURDER MACHINE first. Al DeMeo describes his childhood as the only son of a high ranking mobster, and the double life he led as a kid at school and a wiseguy in training. I admire him for surviving all he describes and becoming a man of whom his father surely would have been proud. I wish him every success and happiness.
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Summary: Not your average "Mob" book (emotional memior, instead)
Review: I read this book at work during slow hours, and must admit it was more than I expected. This isn't your average mafia story, so for all of you mob fanatics out there...be prepared for something a little more sensitive and emotional than your time watching the Godfather and Goodfellas. This was an excellent read. It might not be written by a bestselling author, but it was written by a son that had to endure more than your average joe, or jane for that matter. I'll admit, I almost found myself tearing up, and that's not easy to admit. Just by this book, you won't regret it. Thanks to Albert DeMeo for sharing his memories and pain with us readers.
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Summary: Fascinating!
Review: I read this book in one day-couldn't put it down! I grew up in Massapequa, NY and went to school with Al DeMeo. It blew me away to read what he was going through, while attending high school and acting like a "normal" kid. We all knew that his father was "in the mafia" but it was presumed that most weathly Italian men in this area also had links to the mob. While I was drawn to it for my hometown connections, my husband, who is not from LI, also could not put it down! I have recommended it to many family and friends. Excellent story about the home life of a member of the mafia and the repercussions it has on his family, the ones he tried so hard to protect.
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Summary: TONY
Review: I THOUGHT THE BOOK WAS EXCELLENT IT JUST PROVES YOU LIVE BY THE SWORD YOU DIE BY IT. READ MURDER MACHINE NEXT IT FILLS IN ALL THE BLANKS
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Summary: The Other Side of Murder Machine
Review: I was fascinated with this book, as I was with Murder Machine. In Murder Machine, Roy DeMeo was presented as a human monster, a creature of almost hellish perversity. Albert DeMeo, his son, presents a different, more compassionate view. This book is a true rarity. Albert DeMeo gives a window into a world and a personality that most people never really see, much less understand. What I particularly liked is that Albert DeMeo talks only about those aspects of his father's life that he knew through personal experience. Although his distaste for the Murder Machine book is evident throughout the text, he never denies that his father was a murderer, or a criminal of the most repugnant kind. But he also demonstrates that Roy DeMeo was a husband and a father in addition to being a mobster. His words add a shade of complexity to a person who, if he is remembered by history at all, will be remembered as a parasite of unparalleled evil. Roy DeMeo shows himself as a man capable of love, kindness, and generosity. Albert DeMeo also tells about how his father's notoriety affected him and his family. All in all, this is a unique, praiseworthy addition to the genre of True Crime.
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Summary: not just another mafia book
Review: i've never read any so-called mafia books so when this one was given to me as a gift, i was hesitant to read it. it sat in my room for about two months before i actually decided to open it up. after the first few pages i was hooked. i found myself reading it late at night often until the wee hours of the morning. i had to finish it. albert is brutally honest and doesn't seem to withhold anything. he tells of his life from childhood to adulthood which is conveyed in the way his memories are written. i will admit that some wording is a bit redundant but overall it is really good. and although you may not have had a similar childhood, you can relate to the different emotions that albert goes through and has to overcome.
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Summary: Spellbound
Review: I've not read a book that absolutely kept me spellbound like this one did. What a life this author had to live. I'm sure everyone involved with Roy DeMeo has their own story. This just happens to be his son's. It is HIS story and I think readers have to accept that.
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Summary: Puts a human face on the mafia
Review: Mr.DeMeo write a great book of his beloved father.And about the way of life he chose.They are not all monsters that most books and movies have you believe.But men who go a diffrent and difficult path.He tells of the way he once wanted to be like his father but chose a diffrent road.
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Summary: A MUST HAVE, !! GREAT BOOK!!
Review: My Wife Bought This Book for Me for Christmas, And I Could Not Put it down! Awesome Book! A Must have If Your Into reading About The Mafia and the real events that Happened. 5 Stars!!
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