Take A Shocking Look Inside the Scarfo Mob—One Of The Mafia’s Most Violent Families “Forget about it! This is the best gangster book ever written.” -- Jimmy Breslin “The best mob book ever.” --Penthouse Magazine 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 ($17.95 paper, Camino Books) is a firsthand account of murder, money, and corruption told from the perspective of wise guy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi. It was Caramandi who helped Nicky Scarfo get his hooks into the legitimate world of politicians, judges, unions, entertainment, casinos, and all the rest. In Caramandi’s words, “Wherever there’s money, that’s where we are. Wherever there’s power. You understand?” Author George Anastasia shows the world how well Scarfo understood those fatal words. A veteran Philadelphia Inquirer reporter who spent years researching some of the most notorious mob figures of all time, Anastasia begins this fascinating book in 1980 with the murder of boss Angelo Bruno. This single act of violence officially ended Bruno’s long, low-profile rule of the Philadelphia mob and unleashed a fierce struggle for its control. Anastasia then takes the reader through the bloodletting that ensued—years of carnage that eventually claimed the lives of twenty-eight members and associates of the city’s La Cosa Nostra and left Scarfo its undisputed head. Any notions a reader may have of a Mafia “code of honor” will crumble upon reading this chilling story of Scarfo’s rise to power and brutal reign. Caramandi’s testimony resulted in more than fifty convictions, bringing down Scarfo as well as launching 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. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: George Anastasia, a veteran reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is the author of four books of nonfiction, including three about the Philadelphia mob. He has won many awards for investigative journalism and magazine writing. To obtain a complimentary review copy of the book or to schedule an interview with the author, contact Barbara Gibbons, 215-413-1917, bgibbons@caminobooks.com. Available at bookstores or directly from the publisher, Camino Books, Inc., P.O. Box 59026, Philadelphia, PA 19102, www.caminobooks.com. $23.90 postpaid. BLOOD AND HONOR Inside the Scarfo Mob—The Mafia’s Most Violent Family $17.95 paperback 6” x 9” 368 pages 14 photographs ISBN 0-940159-86-4 |