La rata buena

With his inimitable New York voice, Pulitzer Prize winner Jimmy Breslin offers us a look at the people and places that define the mafia: characters like John Gotti, Sammy 'the Bull' Gravano, Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso ('Gas Pipe', named for his weapon of choice) and Jimmy 'the Clam' Eppolito, interwoven with the remarkable true crime saga of the good rat himself, Burt Kaplan of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, the star witness in the trial of two police detectives of New York accused of carrying out eight gangland executions. Through these unforgettable, real-life and long-forgotten Mafia stories, Jimmy Breslin captures the moments when the Mafia was formed and destroyed.