For the Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life
While it' s understandable that the publisher compares this  memoir of life in a Mob family to The Sopranos, the book stands  firmly on its own as one of the most searing volumes ever  written about the Mob. (Mafia cognoscenti will recognize the  DeMeo name, for the author' s father, Roy, gunned down by fellow  mobsters in 1982, has in recent years gained a reputation as one  of the most ruthless members of the Gambino family, responsible  for dozens of killings.) DeMeo' s coauthor, Ross (In the Company  of Men), probably deserves credit for the fluid, dark-hued prose  that surges throughout the narrative, but what really sets this  book apart, in addition to its brutal honesty, is its unique  perspective: that of a child drawn into a macho world of fear  and violence, money and power. Before Albert was a teen, he had  become the principal confidant of his father, who was a soldier  and then a made man with the Gambinos, picking up payoffs,  familiar with wise guys and guns; Albert' s involvement was such  that only a few years later he practiced, with his dad, at what  angle he would shoot Roy when and if Roy needed to fake his own  death. There' s the familiar other side of Mob life here, too,  the wide circle of eccentric acquaintances and the robust  celebrations centered around a nuclear family in which mom and  kids (other than Albert) floated unaware of the crimes of father  and son; but what eats through this book like acid is the  horror, mixed with undying love and loyalty, that Albert feels  as over the years he learns just what his father did for money a  horror that as an adult would send the author into a mental  hospital but which he has now assimilated sufficiently to write  this painful, intense, unforgettable memoir. (Aug. 20) Forecast: With the success of HBO' s The Sopranos, which will  begin airing again September 15, plus the recent death of  Gambino head John Gotti, expect much interest in, and many sales  for, this electrifying title.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.