Dennis N. GriffinBesprekingen

The biography of a man who may or not have been a member of one of the New York mafia families. If he isn't/wasn't, he certainly skirted the edges his entire life.
Silvestri led a somewhat interesting life as an employee at the Copacabana, as a "fixer" and enforcer, and as someone who had his hand in many different businesses. This led to his meeting many celebrities and mafia figures.
I enjoyed his stories about Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, and Dean Martin. I could almost feel myself in the club, listening to them as they performed.
However, that was about it as far as interesting for to. Three years at the Copa, then several decades of "jobs" that "skirted" the law.
The author reminded me very much of my career working in prisons, listening to the inmates bragging to each other, trying to impress how important they were on "the outside". Somewhat interesting stories, a lot of name dropping, mostly just petty crooks overly impressed with their own sense of importance. No real contributions to the greater good of society, or to their families.

With a potential best seller completed and a lucrative film deal on the cards, the authors do not want Fat Vinny to queer the deal. Out of options, it is decided that the only solution is to bump off Fat Vinny. OK, so the plot is a little lame in general. Bump off Vinny, really? The need is hardly clear as at times as it seems a deal can be made that works for all without the need for murder. There is enough humor throughout to keep you interested and the last chapter is a real jaw dropper that more than makes up for any minor plot shortcomings along the way. A light easy read you won't regret buying.

Delightful story of ordinary folk who find that the obnoxious Vinny is standing between them and publishing success and fortune. The plot is far fetched in the extreme, but is executed with a light touch and has sufficient comedic elements to allow the reader to forgive the author easily.

I'm not going to rush to find more from this author but I am pleased to have read this one work.

A short, quick read, with a good twist at the end. While I wouldn't call this high-brow literature, and was a fun story. I certainly did not see the end coming.

I’m sure most of us have been there. You’ve worked really hard to get a project completed, within the agreed parametres, only to have the wind taken our of your sales by a bully of a boss who tell you that they wanted something different all along.
Meet Margaret and Danny, two authors, who have entered into a dodgy publishing contract with local con man Vincent Vitali. Not thrilled by the mafia-widow “tell-all” he is presented with, Fat Vinny sends the authors out to re-write the manuscript, and discover and name the murderer of mafia kingpin, Tony the Nose.
With a potential best seller completed and a lucrative film deal on the cards, the authors do not want Fat Vinny to queer the deal. Out of options, it is decided that the only solution is to bump off Fat Vinny.

An easy, fun read.

I received this book from Marina Publishing Group in exchange for a fair and honest review

• Bumping Off Fat Vinny is a great story book about publishing and plotting murder with good main characters and a bad guy that you just don’t like. It was well wriiten and a pager turner that I read in a day. I would recomeend as a pleasing distraction to everyday life.

Dennis Griffin’s new book, Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness, tells readers exactly what the book is about. Simply put, it takes readers inside the life of Frank Cullotta. Unite this tell all title with the mug shot on the cover, and I expected the book to be void of humor. It wasn’t. In fact, Mr. Griffin allowed Frank Cullotta’s colorful personality to shine throughout with astonishing candidness.

In the book’s forward, Nicholas Pileggi says an actual murder committed by Mr. Cullotta in 1979 was recreated for the movie, Casino, starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci. Also, Mr. Cullotta was hired as a technical advisor during the production. Knowing Joe Pesci’s character was based on the real-life mob-enforcer Anthony “Tony” Spilotro is the perfect opening for the book. Tony and Frank Cullotta were childhood friends and he plays a huge roll in Mr. Cullotta’s life.

Mr. Griffin’s easy, entertaining writing style will interest readers who aren’t true crime buffs as well. By the end of the book, I had greater comprehension regarding the mob; and my question about how much of The Sopranos was fictionalized had been answered.

This book also gives readers raw insight into Frank Cullotta’s father, his childhood, early beginnings into crime, his success as a full-blown criminal, his time in prison, him trying to go straight, the set up at Bertha’s, witness protection and the end of Tony Spilotro and his brother, Michael.

Mr. Griffin spent over 20 years in investigations and law enforcement in New York State, retiring in 1995 as Director of Investigations for the New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center. Shortly after retirement, he began to write his first novel, The Morgue, which is a fictionalize story of Mr. Griffin’s real life investigation of a Medical Examiner's office in upstate New York by the New York State Department of Health.

I enjoyed Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness so much, I plan to order The Morgue as well.

Note: This review orginally posted on http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/