āRivetingā¦an electrifying true crime story of the Mafia-smitten eighties and nineties. Suspenseful and multifaceted, The Gotti Wars canāt be missed.ā āEsquire, The Best Nonfiction Books of the Year
A āmeticulous chronicle of good triumphing over evilā (The Washington Post) from the determined young prosecutor who, in two of Americaās most celebrated trials, managed to convict famed mob boss John Gottiāand ultimately took down the Mafia altogether.
John Gotti was without a doubt the flashiest and most feared Mafioso in American history. He became the boss of the Gambino Crime Family in spectacular fashionāwith the brazen and very public murder of Paul Castellano in front of Sparks Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan in 1985. Not one to stay below law enforcementās radar, Gotti instead became the first celebrity crime boss. His penchant for eye-catching apparel earned him the nickname āThe Dapper Don;ā his ability to beat criminal charges led to another: āThe Teflon Don.ā
This is the captivating story of Gottiās meteoric rise to power and his equally dramatic downfall. Every step of the way, Gottiās legal adversaryāJohn Gleeson, an Assistant US Attorney in Brooklynāwas watching. When Gotti finally faced two federal racketeering prosecutions, Gleeson prosecuted both. As the junior lawyer in the first caseāa bitter seven-month battle that ended in Gottiās acquittalāGleeson found himself in Gottiās crosshairs, falsely accused of serious crimes by a defense witness Gotti intimidated into committing perjury.
Five years later, Gleeson was in charge of the second racketeering investigation and trial. Armed with the FBIās secret recordings of Gottiās conversations with his underboss and consigliere in the apartment above Gottiās Little Italy hangout, Gleeson indicted all three. He āflippedā underboss Sammy the Bull Gravano, killer of nineteen men, who became historyās highest-ranking mob turncoatāresulting in Gottiās murder conviction. Gleeson ended not just Gottiās reign, but eventually that of the entire mob.
A spellbinding, page-turning courtroom drama, The Gotti Wars ātells us in electrifying detail how the good guys finally won, how justice triumphed over evil, and how Gleeson himself was transformed by his long warā (Nelson DeMille).