Product Description

This fresh account of Massachusetts+sinfamous Bulger brothers unveils a stunning criminal alliance, and with its dual biography format, goes deeper than the New York Times bestselling Black Mass.For the first time, journalist Howie Carr reveals the -real+ story behind the infamous Bulgers-twobrothers from South Boston who grew up to control a state. With political corruption on one side and deadly force on the other, the Bulgers shared a diabolic and destructive alliance for decades. James -Whitey+ Bulger, -the bad son,+ blazed a murderous trail to become Boston+s most feared mobster and remains one of the FBI+s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. William -Billy+ Bulger, -the good son,+ wielded the gavel as president of the Massachusetts State Senate and the University of Massachusetts, but was eventually forced from bothpositions. The parallel stories of these two brothers, rich in anecdote and shocking in their revelations, read like an unholy hybrid of All the King+s Men and The Godfather.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #117656 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Although superior to some other tellings of the incredible story of how two brothers came to dominate Boston's political and criminal underworlds for decades, this account by veteran Boston Herald reporter Carr still falls short of being the definitive version he intended. The stranger-than-fiction rise to power of Billy Bulger, the longtime Massachusetts senate president, kingmaker and consummate deal maker, and his brother Whitey, a psychopathic killer who took over the city's Irish mobs, is compelling, but despite Carr's closeness to the story, he fails to bring his protagonists' inner world to life. For those broadly familiar with the corruption scandal that indelibly tarred the FBI because of the active role some of its agents took in protecting Whitey and enabling his brutalities, the author gives a detailed, hit-by-hit description of his crimes. Most readers from outside the Bay State will be almost as appalled at the wheeling and dealing of his "respectable" brother, who crossed path with presidents and presidential aspirants, and who extended his patronage practices to his subsequent position as president of the University of Massachusetts. (Feb. 23)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
There's some intriguing history in this well-researched book and some transcendent lessons, like the synergy Carr notes between school desegregation busing of the 1970s and the ability of Mobsters to increase their reign. And there's the usual Irish and Italian Mafia goings-on to marvel at in disgust: adultery, alcoholism, bigotry, corruption, drugs, decapitations, fraud, homosexuality, money, murder, and sex. However, there's a problem with this production. It's like having Tom Brokaw reading the Sunday newspaper to you with a cold. Michael Prichard is flat and nasally throughout, a quality that takes some getting used to. But he's got the "ums" and "ers" of natural conversation down pat. D.J.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"Not since Chicago and Al Capone, has an American city had a relationship with a gangster like Boston had with Bulger...Howie is lucky his body is still above ground"

Customer Reviews

Bulger Bad Boys in Boston
As a resident in Boston in the mid 90s and listener to Howie Carr's show, I can't thank Howie enough for going forward on this book. Seeing the semmingly good (Billy) and evil (Whitey) being basically the same - evil, greedy and corrupt. It is a great story about how people in positions of power may be just as criminally minded as the ones behind bars, just with a bigger expense account and showcase (Billy's St. Patrick Day's annual breafast).

I confess I got a little lost with all of the characters in this true story. For future printings I would hope that there is a chart of some sort to show the different players in this real life drama of crime, corruption and politics in Boston.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in politics. Interesting at the end, Howie credidted Mitt Romney for the outsting Billy from the UMass Highly Paid Post. This drama seems to continue with Whitey still on the lam.

Oh my gosh.....
Absolutely jaw dropping. Reading this book made my hair stand up. Couldn't put the book down!

Excellent
Great take on one of the great true crime stories in America. A must read if you are interested in the story of Whitey Bulger, and how can you not be?