NORTHERN CONNECTION Inside Canada’s Deadliest Mafia Family Author: Peter Edwards Type: True Crime Number of pages: 320 (including 16-page photo section) ISBN: 0-88890-245X Price: $27.95 CAN THEY CAME FROM CALABRIA. And by resorting to vicious ruthlessness, the Cotronis built the most powerful crime empire in Canada. Veteran crime reporter and author Peter Edwards tells the story of the rise and fall of the family that ruled the Montreal organized crime scene for decades and whose tentacles spread to Toronto, New York and around the globe. NORTHERN CONNECTION follows the Cotronis, their friends, their allies and their rivals as they fight for control of the illegal drug trade, gambling, prostitution and other lucrative criminal enterprises. The New York mob, the French Connection, corrupt politicians — all played their roles in the rise of the Cotronis. But the empire’s fall would come at the hands of the Hells Angels, the Bandidos and the Rock Machine — the biker gangs whose members have proved to be just as eager as the mob to murder anyone who stands in their way. NORTHERN CONNECTION is the shocking and definitive account of the Canadian mafia from its earliest days to the present. About the Author Peter Edwards is a reporter for the Toronto Star and the author of eight other non-fiction books including The Encyclopedia of Canadian Organized Crime (with Michel Auger), Blood Brothers and One Dead Indian which was made into a movie for network television. Research for NORTHERN CONNECTION took him to mobsters’ homes and haunts in Buffalo, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, New York, Marseilles, Rome, Calabria and Sicily. (1/2) optimum publishing international email: info@optimumbooks.com tel: (613) 527-2222 fax: (613) 527-3333 What they’re saying about Optimum Publishing International’s latest release NORTHERN CONNECTION Inside Canada’s Deadliest Mafia Family “A riveting job of detailing real Mafia life. Fascinating, prescribed reading.” –Antonio Nicaso, author and organized crime expert “…a unique book about crime by a journalist who understands the underworld…lively and direct style…Peter Edwards knows his craft…NORTHERN CONNECTION is extremely useful to everyone who wants to know what happens behind the scenes in the underworld.” –Michel Auger, crime reporter for Le Journal de Montréal From the pages of NORTHERN CONNECTION “...Papalia turned on his heels to walk away. That was when Murdock pulled out his .38 revolver and fired one shot to the back of Johnny Pop’s head...a woman screamed, ‘Keep your kids in the house! Someone was just shot!’” “...three bullets crashed into Robert Hétu’s skull... ‘I felt myself dying. It’s difficult when you see the guy who shot you is right there. You’re nervous.’” “…the French Connection had been broken and the Bonanno link had been frayed by problems in New York. Frank Cotroni was trying to move drugs out of South America, and he was experiencing the problems any businessman suffers when he launches a new venture in difficult times.” To order (or for more info), please contact us at: e-mail: info@optimumbooks.com Tel: 1-613-527-2222 Fax: 1-613-527-3333 mailing address: Optimum Publishing International, Box 524, Maxville, Ontario K0C 1T0 |