From the New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Honor and The Last Gangster—“one of the most respected crime reporters in the country” (60 Minutes)—comes the sure to be headline-making inside story of the Gotti and Gambino families, told from the unique viewpoint of notorious mob hit-man John Alite, a close associate of Junior Gotti who later testified against him.
In Gotti’s Rules, George Anastasia, a prize-winning reporter who spent over thirty years covering crime, offers a shocking and very rare glimpse into the Gotti family, witnessed up-close from former family insider John Alite, John Gotti Jr.’s longtime friend and protector. Until now, no one has given up the kind of personal details about the Gottis—including the legendary “Gotti Rules” of leadership—that Anastasia exposes here. Drawing on extensive FBI files and other documentation, his own knowledge, and exclusive interviews with insiders and experts, including mob-enforcer-turned-government-witness Alite, Anastasia pokes holes in the Gotti legend, demystifying this notorious family and its lucrative and often deadly machinations.
Anastasia offers never-before-heard information about the murders, drug dealing, and extortion that propelled John J. Gotti to the top of the Gambino crime family and the treachery and deceit that allowed John A. “Junior” Gotti to follow in his father’s footsteps. Told from street level and through the eyes of a wiseguy who saw it all firsthand, the result is a riveting look at a family whose hubris, violence, passion, and greed fueled a bloody rise and devastating fall that is still reverberating through the American underworld today.
Gotti’s Rules includes 8 pages of black-and-white photographs.
From “one of the most respected crime reporters in the country” (60 Minutes) comes a shocking and fascinating account of the violent rise and fall of the modern American mob, filled with eye-opening revelations and insider detail
The Gotti family’s startling story has never been fully told until now. In Gotti’s Rules, veteran true-crime writer and prize-winning reporter George Anastasia gains unprecedented access to the notorious Gotti crime family’s stories and secrets, including its fascinating “Gotti Rules” of leadership. Based on extensive FBI files and exclusive interviews with insiders and experts, particularly former insider and FBI informant John Alite—a mob hit man, associate, and close friend of the Gotti family—Anastasia’s page-turning account demystifies the infamous Gotti family and its larger-than-life legend and provides proof of shocking allegations against Gotti Jr. that have never before been confirmed.
“A fast-paced and compelling story that reads like a crime thriller.”—Philadelphia Inquirer
“George Anastasia [is] our most important chronicler of the decline and fall of Italian America’s dark glory, La Cosa Nostra.”—Bill Tonelli, former editor, Esquire and Rolling Stone
“This is the story of Alite—his crimes, flight from authorities, capture, prison experiences, extradition, and finally his testimony against Junior, whose trial ended with a hung jury. . . . Should appeal to true crime and mafia aficionados.”—Library Journal
There have been a lot of books about the mob but never one like this.