Blood And Honor
PRAISE FOR BLOOD AND HONOR-
"Best Mafia book of the year."
The New York Daily News
"Sure to become a mob-watcher's handbook."
The Philadelphia Daily News
"The best mob book ever."
Penthouse Magazine
Blood and Honor tells the inside story of the rise and fall of one of the most violent Mafia families in America, Philadelphia's notorious Scarfo organization. Blunt and unsparing, it is a first-hand account of murder, money, and corruption told by wiseguy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi, whose testimony put Scarfo and many of his associates behind bars for the rest of their lives. A prime target for hit men to this day, Caramandi continues to survive only under government protection.
Now in paperback, in an updated and expanded edition, here is the critically acclaimed inside story about the rise and fall of Philadelphia’s notorious Scarfo organization. Blunt and graphic, Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob—The Mafia’s Most Violent Family is a firsthand account of murder, money, and corruption told from the perspective of wiseguy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi. In his words, “Wherever there’s money, that’s where we are. Wherever there’s power. You understand?” With his help, Nicky Scarfo got his hooks into the legitimate world of politicians, judges, unions, entertainment, casinos, and all the rest.
Author George Anastasia, a veteran Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, has spent years researching some of the Mafia’s most notorious figures. He begins this chilling tale with the murder of boss Angelo Bruno, which abruptly ended his long, low-profile rule and unleashed a fierce struggle for control. In the bloodletting that ensued, twenty-eight members and associates of the mob were killed, leaving Scarfo its undisputed head. During his rise to power and brutal reign, any notions of a Mafia “code of honor” utterly crumbled.
Caramandi’s testimony resulted in more than fifty convictions, which brought down Scarfo and launched wide-ranging investigations into the broader Mafia underworld. A prime target for hit men to this day, Caramandi continues to survive only through the government’s Federal Witness Protection Program, while Scarfo and many of his associates spend the rest of their lives behind bars. In this new and updated edition, Anastasia picks up the story where he left off, filling us in on the fates of all the characters—major and minor—since first publication of Blood and Honor.