****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Though they don't get the publicity of the guys in New York or Chicago, Philly has its own expert named George Anastasia, who has written the most informative books on the Philly Mob that have or could be written. When I saw this book on the purchase list, I originally passed it up because Anastasia's name wasn't on the list, as the author, but then came back when I became intrigued by Phil Leonetti's story. Here's a CW who actually was better-and who actually WAS rehabilitated-than Salvatore Gravano. And he was telling a story I've wanted to read more than almost any other in OC history? Sign me up!First, the cons: There are none. There, that's over.As a mob scholar who has read something like 80% of the OC books ever written, (probably too high a number, but this is a subject I'm well versed in) I read Leonetti's book-written in his own words-intensively, looking for either self-congratulatory praise (see Underboss, by Gravano and Maas, or Gaspipe by Carlo) or half-assed justification for what he did. Leonetti freely admitted that he was wrong, which took me aback, because this is not something you'll see in mob biographies very often. Leonetti also takes us inside of the mind of the most evil man in the history of the Philly Organization, Nicky Scarfo, and it was a very unsettling experience. You never lose sight of the fact that Leonetti is a bad guy because Leonetti himself doesn't let you.He rarely makes the "I'm sorry I did this" excuse, because that reeks of phoniness, and PL doesn't seem like a phony guy. One of the only times he ever does is the killing of Salvie Testa. When PL talks about Testa, the pain he still feels comes off the page. The killing of Testa is one of the most unreadable paragraphs in organized crime books because the raw emotion is in every letter.His co-authors also do an incredible job of allowing Leonetti space to tell his story while they fill in the gaps. Burnstein and Graziano come off as very expressive and well versed in what I call the "Philadelphia Story." All in all, if you want my opinion-and maybe you don't, but trust me-this is a very, very good book. Most of what Leonetti talks about he's testified to in court. These are backed up by the federal government. If you're going through the reviews and asking "should I read this book?" I give you three words: Nicky Scarfo Unfiltered. Read the book. You won't be sorry.
