Underboss - by Peter Maas (Paperback)

About the Book

The story of "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, second in command to John Gotti in the nation's most powerful crime family and the highest ranking member of "la Cosa Nostra" ever to defect. Illustrations.

Book Synopsis

"Brilliantly constructed and grimly fascinating. . . . The result is a terrific and important book. . . . It's important because it is a morality play on the subject of loyalty. To whom are you loyal, and from who should you be able to expect loyalty?" -- New York Times Book Review

Sammy the Bull Gravano is the highest-ranking member of the Mafia in America ever to defect. In telling Gravano's story, Peter Maas brings us as never before into the innermost sanctums of the Cosa Nostra as if we were there ourselves--a secret underworld of power, lust, greed, betrayal, and deception, with the specter of violent death always waiting in the wings.

From the Back Cover

In March of 1992, the highest-ranking member of the Mafia in America ever to defect broke his blood oath of silence and testified against his boss, John Gotti. He is Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano, second-in-command of the Gambino organized-crime family, the most powerful in the nation. Today, Gotti is serving life in prison without parole. And as a direct consequence of Gravano's testimony, Cosa Nostra - the Mafia's true name - is in shambles. In Underboss, based on dozens of hours of interviews with Gravano, much of it written in Sammy the Bull's own voice, we are ushered as never before into the uppermost secret inner sanctums of Cosa Nostra - an underworld of power, lust, greed, betrayal, deception, sometimes even honor, with the specter of violent death always poised in the wings. Gravano's is a story about starting out on the street, about killing and being killed, revealing the truth behind a quarter-century of shocking headlines. It is also a tragic story of a wasted life, of unalterable choices and the web of lies, weakness, and treachery that underlie the so-called Honored Society.

Review Quotes

"An absorbing, intimate, alluring tale of power, greed, and Mob intrigue." -- People

"A riveting job of detailing real Mafia life. . . . It's a quick, exciting reading and Maas deserves full marks for generally keeping the sharks of the mob from looking like dolphins. There's no chrome in the jalopy of Gravano's life." -- Detroit Free Press

"Breathtaking...Supremely stylish." -- New York magazine

"Brilliantly constructed and grimly fascinating. . . . The result is a terrific and important book. . . . It's important because it is a morality play on the subject of loyalty. To whom are you loyal, and from who should you be able to expect loyalty?" -- New York Times Book Review

"A page turner that Maas writes in Gravano's voice. It's one readers will hear in their heads for a long while." -- Booklist

"Underboss is fascinating for its anthropologically detailed portrait of a subculture some of us can't get enough of." -- Time