I read this and then when it didn't my attention I would switch to something else, then finally just decided to move on. If I read again at a later date and change my mind I will change my review.

Joey the hit man is a book that originally came out in the 70’s, and the stories are all from that period. The man telling his story Joey tells his story but goes about it form first New York the Bronx then Los Angeles, sometimes Vegas and though some of the names are ones you have heard before the book itself is just average especially for today’s readers. Now back in the late 70’s not so much. He talks about gambling, how running numbers work, how real loan sharking works and not how it is portrayed on T.V. or in the movies, how he would need get a call to take care of someone, and how made men did not mess with the average joe. True, in all of the real cases where the mob was taken down some of the cases were started by hits made by men who hit the wrong person the average Joe. Two cops in New York a big case were working for one of the families and hit a guy with the same name, wrong guy were convicted in 2005 and books were written about them. Just one of many stories. Overall not a bad book just a little slow at times but I took in account for when it was written and the way he is telling the story. He is also telling people the facts that were wrong with the movie Godfather which was popular at the time when this book came out. Overall not a bad book.

What a fascinating read. This book to me gives information from the inside of the Mafia. What a tale he has to tell. Fascinating, shocking and just an all around good read. I guess due to the title of the book, I was looking for more information on the author's killings or killings he was privy to. Still a very interesting book.

This book was not at all what I expected. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just a different thing.

I was expecting something more along the lines of a tell-all book about all the murders or 'hits" that "Joey" had been involved in... not gratuitously violent or explicit exactly but with some of the gruesome details and circumstances. There is remarkably little of that in this book.

What 'Killer by Joey the Hitman with David Fisher' turns out to be more than anything else is a step-by-step run through of how different aspects of mob businesses are run. There are chapters devoted to explaining how betting the numbers works, how diificult or easy it can be to rig certain sporting events, dealing with a fence who sells stolen products, etc., etc.

While I will admit that I have never had the whole "running the numbers" scheme explained to me so thoroughly, at times the minute details of everything gets exhausting. There is a lot of detailed information on things like profit margin and the like on most all of the subjects offered up and it really gets a little dull at times.

Originally published in 1973, alot of the information in this book is pretty dated.. Not sure anyone is all that interested in how to bootleg 8-track tapes these days. I also believe - perhaps wrongly(?) - that the average American is a little more wise to some of the realities of organized crime than we were back then.

Co-author David Fisher, all these years later, has added an update at the end where he discusses the impact of the original release of this book - it was a best seller - as well as infomation he did and did not know at the time and what he has found out about "Joey the Hitman" in the years since. That, in my opinion, is one of the more interesting parts of the book even though it's not all that long.

Another part I enjoyed was "Joey's" opinion on things that the movie The Godfather (which was a blockbuster hit at the time) got wrong. He also drops a few big names here and there and aludes to some who can't be named but overall the book is all about the somewhat mundane business end of things.

I think if someone, as a writer or for whatever reason, was interested in an overview of how the mob took care of day-to-day business back in the '60's and '70's then they would get alot of good stuff from this book. Not sure the casual reader would get as much from it.

Very little graphic violence contained. Other than some strong language and a few racial and homophobic slurs there isn't much to offend anyone.

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this title.

Originally published in 1973, this book tells a lot about Joey's extreme poverty and how he grew up, and out of necessity fell into a life of crime in the mob. How from age 11 he learned how to run numbers game, and later on be a shylock. Also, when called upon, he'd provide muscle for other or for his own situations. The book really goes into many of the different types of things he did while working in that type of criminal life, including being a hitman. I felt it really just glossed over the hitman aspect of his career though. I kept waiting for it and was disappointed because everything else was so detailed. Overall, still a good mob read, I was just expecting more about his kills from the title.

(My thanks to Goodreads and Open Road Integrated Media for providing me with an ARC for review.)