I found this book to be okay not anything that I had not known from other books that I have read. What I wish someone would write about is how he thought that he was so smart but in actuality was not. He botched so many things for the mob I am surprised he was still around even after the Appalchalin meeting that he set up but was busted which led to the fall of the mafia, they would have fallen anyway but he put it on the fast track. This book was mostly about his life.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to, given that the history of the Mafia isn’t a particular interest of mine, and I’m more interested in the personalities than their shenanigans. However, this turned out to be a good read, if a little too bogged down in detail on occasion (the court cases and so on). The research has obviously been thorough, but it was a fairly dry read, primarily fact-based (he did this, he did that, this happened, that happened) with little attempt to get inside Genovese’s head and thoughts. Perhaps this wasn’t the intention, or even possible given that there is no first-hand account to turn to. I wonder what a novelist’s imagination would do with the material – that would indeed be fascinating. Nevertheless, for what it is, the book gives a good overview of Genovese’s life and times, and is a good introduction to the history of the Mafia in the US.

I apprecitate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this a really interesting read and the characters are quite engaging. it kept me reading until the end. I highly recommend.

From enforcer to Godfather, Vito Genovese rose through the ranks of La Cosa Nostra to head of one of the wealthiest and most dangerous crime families in American history. This book was amazing! Perfect book for any Mobster fans! Definite buy!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. It was a little slow for my taste. I expected it to be more exciting. Sorry.

While the story and history are interesting, the narrative is not. The text is just slow, and this book often reads like a pretty dry college textbook. As much as I like the subject, the book is a slow read that drags at times.

A strength of the book is in the research. The author often discusses and even compares sources to establish facts or reach conclusions. He engages with the sources, at times affirming or debunking common lore of the mob. This is a good reason to read the book.

Overall I liked it, but I honestly wish the narrative was better, a bit more engaging. Still, it is well researched, and readers who enjoy this genre will want to read it. At this point, this is a good current resource on the life and times of Vito Genovese. Public libraries that collect true crime and Mafia books should add this one too.

(More detailed review on my blog).

The Deadly Don by Anthony M. DeStafano is a well researched book that looks at Vito Genovese. I don't get to read a lot about Mafia Bosses so I was not familiar with Vito Genovese. I was pulled into his story immediately and quickly learned how he was a bootlegger during Prohibition. This book is well written, and well researched. Vito was a ruthless boss and knocked off anyone that got in his way.

Great read if you like Mafia crime.

Thank you to Net Galley or allowing me to read this book.

I wasn’t aware of who Vito Genovese is, but quickly gravitated towards this book, The Deadly Don. Anthony M. DeStefano masterfully displays Genovese’s history in a way that easily kept me engrossed in his story. Although there was a lot of information, I enjoyed that DeStefano was able to produce it in a well written and engaging way. This can sometimes be difficult in investigative journalism due to the amount of research required.

Thank you to Kensington Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

THE DEADLY DON is well written, easy to follow, and does much to explain the man Don Vito Genovese.

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko for Fresh Fiction
Complete review: https://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=73991

I've read a LOT of books about La Cosa Nostra over the years, but somehow never read one about Vito Genovese. That has now been rectified with this excellent book. If you've read earlier books by Anthony M. DeStefano (emphasis on that middle initial - without that you'll seee a lot of Google results for books that are not quite on this subject), you'll enjoy this one covering one of the earliest big names in mafia history. Very good read.

Excellent book. For those of you fans of organized crime books and the people behind this organization, i highly recommend this book. The Deadly Don goes into great depth to explain this fascinating man and what he meant to the world of La Costra Nostra.

I was excited to see a biography of Vito Genovese up for review on NetGalley. I’ve studied gangsters from the 30’s-70’s since I was a teen, writing multiple papers on them for both high school and college assignments, but hadn’t researched Don Vito before. I saw that this was written by Pulitzer Prize Winner Anthony M. DeStefano and I knew I would get an in-depth and well-written biography.
What we get is a lot of facts thrown at us. Mostly in chronological order, he does do some backpedaling though, to add events that were left out and needed to be talked about. This is a very dry book, As I said, we do get a lot of facts thrown at us as we read. Since Mr. DeStefano is a journalist, he takes the journalistic approach of dispensing facts, no story, no buildup. You know the line from the old tv show, “Just the facts, ma’am”. That’s how this biography is written. Now, this isn’t bad, you definitely build a complete picture of just how Don Vito was, from the time he came to the USA, how he grew in the Mafia, his life in exile, his return, even his time in prison. He is one of the few men of the Mafia who was actually able to grow old. We know how rare that was during that period. It was more common to be struck down in you prime than it was to age.
I definitely enjoyed learning about Don Vito Genovese, from the time of his arrival, to the time of his death. I do thank the author for all of his hard work to find out everything he could on this elusive Don.

**I received an ARC of this story from the publisher and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I like true crime but this was a whole notha level. I didn't like nor dislike this book. I kind of found it boring.

Vito Genovese was head of the Mafia in New York and this excellent book tells you how he rose from his humble beginnings in Italy to be one of most feared mobsters of his time.Anthony M.DeStefano has obviously done his research on the man as you learn just how the Mafia was run and how many times Vito seemed to dodge justice.To anyone who is interested in this genre then this is an excellent read.A 5 star read.

An excellent look into the life and times of one of the original Mafioso's, Vito Genovese. The author seems to leave no stone unturned, as he delves deeply into Genovese's story. You will witness his coming up in the Mafia, as well as the tactics and strategies he employed to rise and to stay in power. A incredibly ruthless man!
I was impressed with the author's research. He even managed to unearth information about Genovese's history and duplicity in Italy during World War II. All in all, a very thorough biography.
If you are interested in the "golden age" of the Mafia, this would be a good book to read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author Anthony M. DeStefano presents the definitive book on Vito Genovese, the namesake of a crime family which still considered one of the most viable and dangerous in the U.S. today. From enforcer to Godfather, Vito Genovese rose through the ranks of La Cosa Nostra to head of one of the wealthiest and most dangerous crime families in American history.

Vito Genovese ran rackets as a member of Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria's gang in New York City before joining forces with Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel as bootleggers during Prohibition. As a soldier in the Castellammarese War, he helped orchestrate Masseria's death on behalf of Brooklyn crime lord Salvatore Maranzano, consolidating his position and power before ensuring Maranzano, too, was knocked off. For the next three decades, Vito Genovese--shrewd, merciless, and utterly savage--killed countless gangsters in his bid to become the capo di tutti di capi--boss of bosses--in the American Mafia. Genovese would betray some of the mafia's most notorious bosses, including Albert Anastasia and Frank Costello, to eventually seize control of the Luciano crime family, one that still bears the Genovese name today.

In The Deadly Don, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano presents the rise and fall of Vito Genovese in this first comprehensive biography of the legendary mafioso--from his childhood in Naples, Italy, and the beginnings of his bullet-ridden criminal career on lower Manhattan's mean streets, through his self-exile in the mid-1930s back to his homeland where he ran a black market operation under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and his return to New York where Genovese
made a fortune as the head of an illegal narcotics empire. DeStefano reveals the important and terrifying role Genovese played in the creation of the Mafia, detailing his bloody and ruthless lifetime of crime that would put him behind bars for his last fifteen years--and securing his infamous place in the history of organized crime.
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For some reason, I (like many other people) have long had a fascination with the Mafia, and especially with the New York families. I also have an interest in the history of New York City, so when this book came up for review, I knew it was perfect for me. Vito Genovese is certainly a well-known figure in the history of the New York Mafia, and I looked forward to learning more about him.

I found this to be a thorough, well-researched story of Genovese, from his life's advent in Naples, Italy, throughout his years in the highest ranks of organized crime, to the last days of his life in a federal detention center. Although only a little over 350 pages, this book did take me a long time to read because it was so heavy in detail, so it was not one I could really escape into for hours at a time. However, if you have any interest in how Genovese completed his rise to the top, set against a backdrop of a detailed history of the New York Mafia of the 1930s through the 1950s and 1960s, this book is certainly worth a spot on your bookshelf, Kindle or otherwise.

This is a comprehensive and gripping telling of the life of Vito Genovese. Anyone who has an interest in organized crime, particularly in the US, will likely learn a great deal from this book. It is helpful to read about his childhood and how that background prepared him to move into a criminal life. At times it is difficult to read in detail the vicious things Genovese did to move upward in the structure of the Mafia. This also gives a sense of the context of the Mafia in America in the twentieth century as it took advantage of the specific opportunities of each era. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a more detailed telling of the workings of various Cosa Nostra families and how they grew.

Pulitzer Prize winner Stefano comprehensively covers the history of the Mafia in the United States in his non-fiction novel on the life of Mob Boss, Vito Genovese. The reading is immersive so that one feels submerged in the lives and minds of this powerful band. This is a solid and engrossing read.

This book adds to my trove of knowledge about different mob men, and is another good mob book by the author. Well written and researched, it gives an in depth look at Vito Genovese from beginning to end. I never knew he was involved with Mussolini during the second world war. Pretty amazing stuff. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author , and the publisher.

I have always enjoyed stories of mob figures, probably because I am of Sicilian ancestry. This book was very informative without being just a dry recitation of facts. It gives you a good look at one of the most interesting times in crime history. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.