Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil's Deal

Whitey Bulger has long been a much feared notorious Boston gangster who had a unique position and more intelligence than other noted gangsters, especially the bumbling Mafia presence in north Boston led by brothers Angiulio, who despite being in such a large city, were subordinates of New York through Raymond Patriarca Sr. of Providence who laid down the law to them. Modern folklore has always been more fascinated with the Mafia through the excellent books, movies like "The Godfather", the first still by far the greatest mob picture ever, "Goodfellas" and "Casino". But outside the metro areas of interest, many didn't pay attention to the Irish gangsters, who easily dominated Boston and had their share in Manhattan. Now, thanks to the movie featuring a chilling Johnny Depp with gray contacts who makes you shiver involuntarily, such is the menace he conveys as James "Whitey" Bulger, people outside Boston are learning all about this infamous character whom, at the top of his game, literally had the local FBI in his pocket under the bulls*** "informant" tag. With fellow Southie Steve Flemmi, he managed to wrangle the support and protection of John Connolly, who is now known as the most corrupt FBI agent in history, and as the book asserts, was nothing but a gangster on the inside of the FBI, and for an astonishing two decades, did everything to cover Bulger's activities. This included murder, 11 counts, loansharking, numbers, horse race fixing, demanding a piece of the drug business, and shaking down every bookie or dealer who wanted to operate in his territory. Nobody turned him away, and those who pissed him off ended up dead. His partner Steve Flemmi was no saint, either, being part of damn near everything Bulger did, mixed with the Italians because he too was Italian, and after deciding a relationship with a woman he was seeing, elected to kill her. What is remarkable in this very well written book that offers a lot more of the corruption inside the FBI by Connolly and a host of co-conspirators is how long the charade went on between Bulger and them. In return for his "protection" he and Flemmi ratted out the Italians and helped bring the Boston mafia crashing down, not out of civic duty, but because he wanted it all for himself. Like other true crime sagas, we get lots of details the movie can't cover. It's sickening and maddening to read about the behavior of both parties, and because Connolly in particular passed on information about a possible rat to Bulger, he ended up being an accessory to murder by books' end, among a ton of other charges once investigators from out of town finally clamped down on this circus. It's a great read, full of tension and fascination. I consider this book worthy of Nicolas Pileggi's two great books, "Wiseguys", which became "Goodfellas" and "Casino." That's very heady company, and for those interested in learning more of the wild story of Bulger and Connolly, this book is strongly recommended. For those interested in the original five crime families of New York, "Five Families" by Sellwyn Raab is also a fine in depth look at the Mafia.

Written by two veteran Boston reporters, "Black Mass" is a story of crime and corruption that turns into a gripping tale of good intentions gone awry. Taking place on the mean streets of South Boston, a mere twenty miles or so from where I've lived my whole life, this book tells of a violent intersection of cultures: the tribal culture of Irish America, the often-closed culture of the Federal Bureau of investigation, and the violent culture of organized crime. And unfortunately, it's all true. At bottom, "Black Mass" presents a haze of divided allegiances and moral ambiguity, that may well shake your faith in our government-appointed protectors.Looming large over the whole story is the imposing figure of James J. Bulger Jr., or "Whitey Buljah" as he is more commonly known around these parts. Long before the Bloods and Crips were household names, Bulger emerged from a culture where street gangs were omnipresent and career options for adults were mostly restricted to the Armed services, politics, factory and police work, or crime. Unfortunately, Whitey Bulger never quite outgrew the gang culture of his youth, and he proved exceedingly skilled at the crime profession. As intelligent as he was soulless, Bulger graduated from street enforcer to bank robber (with a stint in Alactraz along the way) to organized crime kingpin with his hand in all things illegal as the head of the vicious Winter Hill Gang. Along for the ride was the aptly nicknamed Stevie "The Rifleman" Flemmi, a barbaric killer whose Mafia connections made him a perfect stoolie in the Boston FBI's war against the Mafia.It was in 1975 against the backdrop of the FBI's battle with La Cosa Nostra that FBI agent John Connolly, who emerged from the same projects as Bulger, crafted a plan to bring Whitey and Flemmi into the Bureau's fold as informants. It sounded like a sweet deal for all those concerned: Bulger and Flemmi got to take out the Winter Hill Gang's competition, and the FBI got a well-placed ally in its effort to bring down Boston's ruling Angiulo family. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. The FBI did manage to bring down the Angiulos, due largely to its now-legendary wiretapping operation at Gennaro Angiulo's headquarters, but Bulger and Flemmi remained connected to the FBI long after they had outlived their usefulness. In fact, as this book makes clear, the two gangsters greatly enlarged their stature in Boston's underworld during the 1980's, and they did it with the full knowledge and even collaboration of the FBI.As O'Neill and Lehr explain, the shared South Boston origins of Bulger and Connolly, which seemed like such an asset back in 1975 when Connolly was recruiting Whitey, ultimately became a liability. Coming from a tight-knit, tribal culture like Southie, Connolly couldn't exactly be counted on to maintain his objectivity in dealing with Bulger, whom he even came to refer to as a "good bad guy." An even deeper problem, though, was John Connolly himself: a smooth-talking lady's man who liked the high life a bit too much, Connolly eventually became virtually indistinguishable from his prized informants. Hanging out with Bulger and Flemmi and accepting their gifts, Connolly didn't just look the other way while Bulger, Flemmi & Co. enlarged their empire and the bodies piled up; he was an active assistant in their operation. Although they were frequently pursued by the Massachusetts State Police, local detectives, and even the DEA, the two gangsters were virtually untouchable.Perhaps even worse, O'Neill and Lehr make it clear that the FBI's mishandling of its two prized informants went beyond John Connolly's corruption to encompass a massive institutional failure. With Connolly corrupted and a series of supervisors compromised, the Bureau's guidelines for oversight of informants became essentially null and void. Falsified reports that exaggerated Bulger and Flemmi's usefulness while understating their criminal activities became the norm, and even those in other law enforcement agencies who suspected something amiss had their efforts blocked. One painful lesson to be drawn from this book is that the law is only as strong as those who enforce it. When those charged with stopping crime drift to the other side, where do we turn then?

It’s a great book details FBI corruption in boston

Amazon is: T H E B E S T ! In a rather inexpensive way one finds books of great interest, to my husband's (Andy) satisfaction because he almost gave up finding is version for private use. Libraries might carry it but, it came from the states in very quick fashion (to us here in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada). As a matter of fact I got twice (for a retired teacher friend- she is amazed as well!) the Evelyn Dick Crime (Hamilton, ON), 1946, to order, will give a review on that one. As for this, will tell you - Andy is more than happy to have received this version; will comply with detailed review once read. Thanks. Andrew & Heike Gregg

Los dos libros tano de marthian como black mass llegaron en perfecto estado, lls dos juntos y el dia que digeron, la tapa de los libros es como en la fotk, blanda y son nuevos. Todo perfecto :)

Super book and superbly written. Factual to the core with clever story telling to keep the reading engaged from start to finish. The Departed complements this book perfectly and visa versa.

When I first started reading this it became clear my preconceptions of this book and what is was about were wrong. This not about Whitey Bulger the gangster but about the FBI and their relationship. It wasn't until at least half way through that I came to terms with that and really came to enjoy this book. It is superbly researched and does come across that it was written by an experienced journalist. It is massive shame that some of the key players did not want there voice heard and I still would have liked more details on some of the goings on in bulgers empire but I am just being fussy. Overall, I recommend this especially if you are interested in conspiracies and corruption.

Terrific book for all those who love bios and true crime. I hope the movie will live up to this book. Read it, worth your time.