Recommended reading - Serpico (1973):

Serpico

By Peter Maas.

First published 1973.

Published by Harper Perennial.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0060738189

ISBN-13: 978-0060738181

Description:

THE CLASSIC TRUE STORY OF THE COP WHO COULDN'T BE BOUGHT.

With an Afterword by Frank Serpico.

The 1960s was a time of social and generational upheaval felt with particular intensity in the melting pot of New York City. A culture of corruption pervaded the New York Police Department, where payoffs, protection, and shakedowns of gambling rackets and drug dealers were common practice. The so-called blue code of silence protected the minority of crooked cops from the sanction of the majority.

Into this maelstrom came a working class, Brooklyn-born, Italian cop with long hair, a beard, and a taste for opera and ballet. Frank Serpico was a man who couldn't be silenced – or bought – and he refused to go along with the system. He had sworn an oath to uphold the law, even if the perpetrators happened to be other cops. For this unwavering commitment to justice, Serpico nearly paid with his life.

"I don't think anyone can come away from Serpico without admiration for one man's lonely integrity." – New York Times.

"A penetrating . . . exciting story." – San Francisco Chronicle.

"[A] raw and moving portrait." – Chicago Sun-Times.

"An absorbing story of what one angry, honest man can do." – Detroit News.

"Excellent." – Newsweek.

Recommended reading - The Valachi Papers (1968):

The Valachi Papers

By Peter Maas.

Published by Harper Perennial.

First published 1968.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006050742X

ISBN-13: 978-0060507428

Description:

“As fascinating as fiction, a bloody history of the Mafia as lived by one of its members." – New York Times Book Review.

The First Inside Account of the Mafia.

The Valachi Papers is a biography written by Peter Maas, telling the true story of former mafia member Joe Valachi, a low-ranking member of the New York based Genovese crime family, was the first ever government witness coming from the American Mafia itself. His account of his criminal past revealed many previously unknown details of the Mafia. The book was made into a film (The Valachi Papers), released in 1972, starring Charles Bronson as Valachi. In October 1963, Valachi testified before Senator John L. McClellan's congressional committee on organized crime, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations. In the so-called Valachi hearings he gave the American public a firsthand account of Mafia activities in the United States.

In the 1960s a disgruntled soldier in New York's Genovese Crime Family decided to spill his guts. His name was Joseph Valachi. Daring to break the Mob's code of silence for the first time, Valachi detailed the organization of organized crime from the capos, or bosses, of every Family, to the hit men who "clipped" rivals and turncoats. With a phenomenal memory for names, dates, addresses, phone numbers – and where the bodies were buried – Joe Valachi provided the chilling facts that led to the arrest and conviction of America's major crime figures.

The rest is history.

Never again would the Mob be protected by secrecy. For the Mafia, Valachi's name would become synonymous with betrayal. But his stunning exposé broke the back of America's Cosa Nostra and stands today as the classic about America's Mob, a fascinating tale of power and terror, big money, crime. . . and murder.

The bloody history of the Mafia as lived by one of its members.

“A highly readable narrative…. A story littered with bodies and unsolved crimes, betrayals and beatings, oaths, ritual, and revenge.” – Newsweek.

“A classic on crime.” – Life.

Born on this day – Peter Maas:

Peter Maas

Writer

June 27, 1929 – August 23, 2001

Credits:

Books:

The Rescuer (1967); The Valachi Papers (aka The Canary That Sang) (1968); Serpico (1973); King of the Gypsies (1975); Made in America (1979); Marie (1983); Manhunt (1986); Father and Son (1989); In a Child's Name (1990); China White (1994); Killer Spy (1995); Underboss (1997); The Terrible Hours (1999).

Movies and television:

90 Minutes Live (1976); Biography (2004–2005); Film '73 (1973); Frost on Saturday (1969); History's Mysteries (2000); Homicide: Life on the Street (1997); In a Child's Name (1991); King of the Gypsies (1978); Marie (1985); Mobsters (2007); Oz (2001); Pownews (2010); Robert F. Kennedy: A Memoir (1998); Serpico (1973); Serpico / TV show (1976–1977); Special Collector's Edition (2013); Submerged (2001); The David Frost Show (1969); The Dennis Wholey Show (1969); The Merv Griffin Show (1967–1973); The Mike Douglas Show (1967–1973); The Steve Allen Show (1969); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1973); The Valachi Papers (1972); Today (1968); Top of the Pops (1981).