Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America (Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series)

Those who were expecting a detailed history of the capitulation of the mob will be sadly disappointed. This is more a story of the murders of bank robbers and only one mobster.

The mob wasn't "killed" after Donnie Brasco's infiltration into the Bonnano Family. It was "killed" much later. Looks like Bill O'Reilly decided he wanted to cut the book short and get it to press a.s.a.p. so he can make money. He could have done a much better job. He left out so much beyond 1982.

After reading "Killing Paton" I was eagerly awaiting the latest "Killing" book. After reading it, I was totally disappointed. First all too much space was waisted on thirties outlaws who have been done to death many times over. I found almost no new information about Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger, and the rest of them. In fact the first inaccuracy I found was the small item about Dillinger's escape from the Lima, Ohio jail in which Sheriff Sarber was murdered. The escape was described as being from a "Small Town" jail in which a deputy was murderer. As I am from that "Small Town" I was disappointed to say the least in this. I guess you could say that I am nit picking, but O'Relly prides himself on being accurate. The second really gross inaccuracy was describing the bullets that killed Bugsy Segal as "Steel Jacked". As an M-1 Carbine was used, and no "Steel Jacked" bullets were ever loaded for this gun, I must assume that the description was added for pure dramatic effect. I expected more on John Gotti, and the more modern "Mob" that is still in business yet today. It did not appear in this book. I would recommend that you watch God Fellas, the movie about Bugsy Segal, The Discovery Series about the Mob, or even the God Father Series. You will gain almost as much information as there is in this book. Sorry Bill, I truly hope your next offering is a better effort.

I find this book very disappointing. First of all when I read or hear the word Mob I think of organized crime figures. I do not consider John Dillinger or other bank robbers of that era organized crime figures, the Chicago Outfit mobsters didn't really want anything to do with the bank robbers. I didn't care for the section regarding Donnie Branco, it could have been more interesting to have a section on Carlo Gambino and his crime family up to John Gotti who was a big plus to actually Killing the Mob.

From John Dillinger to Donnie Brasco, Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard expound the stories behind the stories you know about famous gangsters from the 30’s and organized crime figures into the mid 80’s. Part 1 is titled: GUNSLINGERS and includes criminal like Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd and a few others. Also introduced as a young lawyer is J. Edgar Hoover. He’s a key character for the majority of this book and seeing the changes in him thru the years is quite a story in itself. He brings the title “Public Enemy # 1” into existence and turns the pursuit of criminals into a whole new genre of policing and politics. Part 2 is titled: THE CORRUPTORS which interestingly begins with German Field Marshal Rommel and his need for the Mafia. An interesting story between Hitler, Mussolini and the Sicilian Mafia ensues resulting in many Italian mobsters immigrating to NY as refugees, sidestepping the 1924 Immigration Act and avoiding the need to declare a reason for coming, job status, etc. Lucky Luciano is the first mob boss in this group and Thomas Dewey is the first corrupt politician tied to him. This is certainly not the last pair! I was stunned by the depth of connections, rather than the corruption itself. It includes Hollywood and Vegas, the entertainment industry in general, almost from day one. Others included in this section are: Joe Lanza, Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone and others. There’s one story in this section about a Federal Bureau of Narcotics director, Harry Anslinger, who did things in Cuba to rouse Lucky Luciano that made me nauseous. The fact that an unapologetically racist man was permitted to represent the government with his own criminal actions and did them with the knowledge of president Truman is enlightening and sickening. Part 3 is titled: THE DISRUPTORS and begins with a man I’d never heard of, Sidney Korshak, “ The Fixer”. It’s 1960, JFK is president and Korshak is the most powerful man in Hollywood and possibly far more reaching than that. The top mob guys, Tommy Roselli and Sam Giancana are both tangled up with the top stars in Hollywood. He’s an attorney who handles the day to day for mobsters and stars alike but is never seen or has his picture taken. He can fix a problem anywhere in the world with a single phone call and his client list is primo: Hilton, Hyatt, Knicks, Rangers, Dogers,Madison Square Garden. There’s a very interesting story about a hit on Desi Arnez! The Kennedy brothers, Frank Sinatra, Hoover, Giancanna, Carlos Marcelo and New Orleans are a large part of this section. The mob was intimately involved in securing JFK’s election and his execution. RFK is another tangled mess involving lots of players in this book; very interesting reading. Finishing off the book are Roselli, Giancann...