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Hitman

The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano, Whitey Bulger's Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Brothers Bulger comes the story of Johnny Martorano, whom the FBI called "the most feared man in the underworld."

Martin Scorsese's The Departed barely touched his story, but radio talk show sensation, crime reporter, and Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr takes us into the heart of the life of Johnny Martorano. For two decades, Martorano struck fear into anyone remotely connected to his world. His partnership with Whitey Bulger and the infamous Winter Hill Gang led to twenty murders, for which Johnny would serve only twelve years in prison. Carr also looks at the politicians and FBI agents who aided Johnny and Whitey and at the vibrant city of Boston which they so ruthlessly ruled. But most of all, Carr depicts Johnny—the most fascinating crime figure Carr has ever encountered. A plethora of paradoxes, he was Mr. Mom by day and man-about-town by night. Surrounded by fast-living politicians, sports celebrities, and show-biz entertainers, Johnny was charismatically colorful—as charming as he was frightening. After all, he was, in the end, a hitman.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 15, 2011
      Between 1965 and 1982, Johnny Martorano murdered twenty people, most at the behest of famed Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger. In his latest, talk radio host Carr (The Brothers Bulger) carefully traces Martorano's life, from his middle-class upbringing in Somerville, Mass. to his eventual deal with the FBI. Unfortunately, the book becomes bogged down with its multitude of sordid details of hits and shifting alliances. Before Bulgerâwho formed the Winter Hill Gang and became one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted before he was arrested in southern California in June, 2011âMartorano worked independently, with ties to both Irish gangs and Boston's Italian organized crime (known as "In Town"). Carr wisely juxtaposes his research with excerpts both from his own interviews with Martorano and snippets of his testimony from the trial of corrupt ex-FBI agent John "Zip" Connelly. Forthright about the murders he committed (his deal with the FBI resulted in a 12-year sentence), Martorano justifies the hits as protecting his friends' and family's best interests. Ironically, when he finds out that Bulger has been a FBI informant for over 30 years, this strict adherence to loyalty compels him to testify. Carr leaves no criminal tie unexamined, but the sheer number of unsavory characters threatens to overwhelm the reader.

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  • English

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