As a (as much as I dislike that locution, I find it necessary here) member of the Teamsters Union not in active service—I still have my withdrawal card almost 40 years later—with an ongoing interest in the history of corruption in the Brotherhood, this book connected a lot of diffuse dots for me. It’s very well-written and edited. I found it impossible to put down.

Not read! Netflix movie by Martin Scorsese

Charles Brandt spent a lot of time with Frank Sheehan (the Irishman), mob tough guy and union boss in the Teamsters union, as well as a close friend to Jimmy Hoffa (we all know who he was). and Russell Bufalino, Don of the Pittstone family, and one of the top five mob bosses in the Big Five consortium. Frank came from humble beginnings, and because he was always big, his muscle was always tested, first by his father, and then by the army and then by the mob as he was a main enforcer and he could be trusted to "take care of the thing", whatever "the thing" was. Frank enlisted in the army at the beginning of the war at the age of 17, and his main posting was in Sicily. He saw a lot of bad things, had to kill a lot of people, and saw some good friends die. Frank himself said that it was excellent training for a Mob enforcer. The book is written by Charles Brandt, who is a lawyer, and he usually worked with army medical cases in order to ensure they got a fair deal. That is how he met Frank Sheehan. Frank was suffering from crippling arthritis at the end of his mob career, and he had been in and out of prison a few times while he was doing Mob business. He was Jimmy Hoffa's right-hand man, and Jimmy was hand-in-glove with many mob bosses, so Frank worked for quite a few families Brandt does a great job of introducing his readers to big Frank Sheehan. The book reads like a fiction book, but everything in it is all true, corroborated by many other outside authorities and other mob guys who had been arrested. I could go on forever about this book and the people in its pages, but that would spoil the fun for new readers. I have to agree with one of my favourite television mob guys, Stevie Van Zandt, "This is one of the greatest Mafia books I've read, and I've read them all. It's so authentic." You will remember Stevie played Tony Soprano's consigliere, Silvio Dante, my most favourite "made man" in that series. If you love the Mafia folklore like I do, and if you would like to know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa, and President John F. Kennedyand why, read this book. You'll know the ins and outs of Mafia life in its hayday, the guys to be wary of, the rats, the bosses, the foot soldiers and the enforcers like you are part of the group. That's how realistic this book is! 5 bright, shiny stars for this one. ( )

Stunning confessions told as only the Mafia can. Tremendous insight into the reason and thought process behind every move they made. RIP Jimmy R. Hoffa. ( )

apparently a lot of the claims sheeran made (at least the most explosive ones) were probably false. still a good read and an excellent movie