“No one wins in a war, the only one that will is the government”

This a true statement and a quote in this book that unfortunately came true. This book is about Mob boss Victor “Little Vic” Orena who at the time was the crime boss of the notorious Colombo family. This book talks of his rise and fall within the crime family. The war that came due to other people within the family not to happy with him being boss. Thus begins a civil war that leaves no one a winner, but the government.

This book was fast paced and something written from a Hollywood movie script. I read this book and said this is too real it has to be fake somewhere. I did like how the author was able to articulate this story so well from the crime in the streets to the courtroom cases there was no stone unturned.

Although, I consider myself a mob guru I’ve heard all the stories but reading this book is the first I’ve heard of Little Vic and him being the boss of a family. Which is shocking this story should be a movie. I would say what helped me along with this book is I love the mob and their stories I was able to reference the names. For someone that isn’t familiar with the mob scene keeping up with the names would be a challenge.

This book was action packed , hard to put down and all fact based. A book doesn’t get any better than that. Definitely give this book a read it’s worth it.

Thank you to Larry McShane, NetGalley, and
Kensington Publishing for providing me with an ARC! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Colombo Crime Family was no stranger to wars. In fact, the family had gained notoriety amongst the other Mafia families in New York for their power struggles. The Gallo Brothers rebelled against previous family head Joseph Profaci in the early 1960s and the war resumed against Joe Colombo in the 1970s. By war’s end, one of the few winners who emerged relatively unscathed was Carmine Persico. The one-time Gallo loyalist proved his nickname of “The Snake” was apt as he doublecrossed the brothers in the 1960s and played a role in the attempted murder of Larry Gallo. Persico would become the family boss shortly after the shooting of Joe Colombo in 1971.

The Commission trial decimated the leadership of New York’s five families. Carmine Persico was sentenced to 100 years in prison along with Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo of the Lucchese Family, Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno of the Genovese Family and other high echelon Mafia members. Persico planned to rule from behind bars but needed a loyal and reliable man to run things on the street. Persico would eventually turn to Victor “Little Vic” Orena. Vic Orena was a stalwart member of the Colombos who could be counted on to bring in money and get his hands dirty when required. The transition in power seemed harmonious until Carmine Persico’s paranoia kicked in and Orena was viewed as a rival to be eliminated.

The war commenced in the Summer of 1991 with an abandoned hit on Orena carried out by one-time friend Carmine Sessa. Orena huddled with his sons who were also members and associates of the Colombos. A battle plan would need to be considered as the Orenas knew that the Persico faction wouldn’t halt their aggression due to one failed attempt. Battle lines were drawn and soon the bullets would fly over the five boroughs and Long Island as the Colombos warred yet again. One of the deadliest actors in this destructive drama was Persico loyalist Gregory Scarpa. Scarpa was a Capo in the family and had collected more than a few notches on his belt during his decades-long association with La Cosa Nostra. While Scarpa was prowling the streets of Brooklyn and various other areas, no one knew his secret: Scarpa was a longtime informant for the FBI.

The Colombo War would end in 1993, but not until after a dozen people were killed, including innocent bystanders. The Orena Faction was on the short end of the war, despite inflicting sporadic wounds on the Persico side. Vic Orena and his sons would be arrested and charged for their roles in the conflict, but they would soon discover the truth about Greg Scarpa and his more than unusual relationship with the FBI. The war was over, but a new battle had begun.

“Little Vic & the Great Mafia War” thoroughly explores the turbulence that resulted in the last true mob war in the New York Mafia along with the intriguing personalities on both sides of the campaign. While the story’s focus is primarily on Vic Orena and his family, the role of Greg Scarpa and his FBI handler Lin DeVecchio looms large. Scarpa and DeVecchio’s relationship bears a striking resemblance to Whitey Bulger and his handler John Connolly in that both informers’ crimes outstripped the benefits of their cooperation. When DeVecchio was implicated in aiding Scarpa in the Persico-Orena war, prosecutions of various Colombo members became precarious. Author Larry McShane (Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante) has done a stellar job in chronicling both the war and the dramatic trials that followed. McShane pens a true crime saga for the ages.

We have a tendency to romanticize stories of the MOB in and around the great City of New York. Little Vic and The Great Mafia War is nothing more than the brutal no holds barred recounting of a power struggle between reprehensible men who make a living in organized crime.
Although the author provides new details from Little Vic's son Andrew the story is one we have all heard a dozen times before.
I typically find this type of book fascinating however, Little Vic was at times hard to follow and often repetitious.

For years I have enjoyed reading books about the Mafia and their exploits. Probably have read a couple dozen of them. Unfortunately, this particular book I just cannot recommend. It's written in a hard to follow format, jumping all over the place. I had a very hard time pulling all the information together into a coherent order.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book.
I was constantly in a state of confusion. All of the similar sounding Italian names and places just got the better of me & rather than being able to relax into it and enjoy it, I found it to hard going and had to give in way before the end, which is, something I very rarely do.
I can only give it two stars.

This is a comprehensive narrative of the machinations of the mob and the story of Victor “Little Vic” Orena, a prominent mob boss of the Colombo crime family. The book details the ruthlessness and depravity of mob thugs who turn on themselves to gain control of the “ family” by any means necessary, including testifying against each other as the once close-knit mob community implodes from self-inflicted wounds. This is quite an interesting and intriguing read, detailing numerous mob hits, prosecutions, and a possible rogue FBI agent. A must read for mob aficionados. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn’t my favourite mafia book, unfortunately. It was all over the place and you need to have a significant amount of knowledge about the New York mafia before reading in order to keep up, IMO. It felt like it jumped around from event to event with very little cohesion. I found many stories within the book interesting but with little explanation or context, it fell flat for me overall.

This really worked as a biography of a mob boss that I really didn’t know anything about. It was written well and was engaged with the story being told. Larry McShane has a great writing style and thought it researched well.