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Summary
Summary
The story of a former FBI undercover task force officer who spent years penetrating New Jersey's DeCavalcante crime family, the criminal organization known to law enforcement as "the real Sopranos"
Giovanni's Ring is the story of "Giovanni Rocco," a New Jersey police officer, known undercover as "Giovanni Gatto," who was the mysterious agent at the epicenter of Operation Charlie Horse, a federal undercover operation that ultimately brought down ten members and associates of New Jersey's DeCavalcante Mafia family, the criminal organization known as "the real Sopranos."
Giovanni spent nearly three years working his way into the DeCavalcante hierarchy. He was so convincing in his role that capo Charlie "the Hat" Stango eventually assigned him the task of killing Luigi "the Dog" Oliveri, a troublesome made member of the crime family. That lethal assignment brought the undercover operation to an end in March 2015, and the resulting string of high-profile arrests eviscerated the criminal organization.
Giovanni's Ring is not simply a chronicle of Giovanni Rocco's adventures in the murky and dangerous Mafia world he inhabited, but also a fascinating window into the psychological struggles that such a life inevitably entails.
"Rocco conveys the frustrations of his double life poignantly throughout this revelatory read, a captivating true-crime thriller from start to finish and a new gem for Mafia book fans." -- Booklist
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Rocco, the alias for a New Jersey cop who infiltrated the Mafia in the 2010s, vividly conveys the challenges and perils of undercover work in this gripping if inadequately sourced memoir. Rocco, the son of a policeman, grew up in Bayonne, N.J., playing with kids whose relatives were in the mob. After he barely graduated from high school, his father's reputation enabled him to land a spot with the police. He quickly began undercover work, and his talent at dealing with people and the unexpected led to him being assigned to work with the FBI. In 2012, he was tapped to make a drug buy off a dealer named Jimmy Smalls, who was supplied by an associate of the DeCavalcante family (supposedly the inspiration for TV's Sopranos). Rocco's relationship with Smalls led to his gathering evidence against the DeCavalcantes and the Gambinos, and in 2015 to major arrests. Rocco had numerous close calls with exposure, and the strain on his marriage and family, he writes, was significant. The absence of any explanation of sources raises questions about the accuracy of the verbatim dialogue Rocco presents, and the reader is left to guess how he could remember what was said in such detail. Fans of FBI agent Joseph Pistone's Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia will want to take a look. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (June)
Booklist Review
Giovanni Rocco walked the tightrope of an undercover operative deftly for years, infiltrating the DeCalvacante crime family in New Jersey. Rocco grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey, where the presence of organized crime loomed. Despite some minor rabble-rousing in his youth, Rocco avoided going the way of the wiseguy. A career in law enforcement beckoned as an escape, and kept up family traditions. He succeeded as a street cop, maintaining a no-nonsense persona. His career would be made when he began an undercover assignment. Under the name Giovanni Gatto, he operated as a fence for stolen goods and soon had an "in" with the New Jersey crime family. The operation would take Rocco into the upper echelons of the DeCalvacante family, yet his work proved burdensome on his home life. His professional successes caused him to miss out on family time. Rocco conveys the frustrations of his double life poignantly throughout this revelatory read, a captivating true-crime thriller from start to finish and a new gem for Mafia book fans.
Library Journal Review
In this compulsively readable mix of memoir and true crime, former undercover FBI agent Rocco (a pseudonym the author is using to safeguard his identity) describes infiltrating a branch of an Italian American mafia syndicate in New Jersey and New York in the mid-2010s, leading to the arrest of multiple members. Better known to his mafioso friends as "Giovanni Gatto," Rocco rose through the ranks of the DeCavalcante family--the violent enforcer arm of the famous Gambino crime family, and supposedly an inspiration for The Sopranos. Rocco chronicles his years in crime, during which he became the right-hand man to the DeCavalcante capo and convicted murderer Charles Stango. Drawing on the street smarts he developed during his rebellious childhood, Rocco seamlessly inhabited the role of a mobster. Short chapters punctuate the page-turning narrative, cowritten by lawyer and novelist Schofield, and will keep readers rapt, though more information about Rocco's life after the undercover operation would have been welcome. Featuring strong language and violence, this book is not for the faint of heart. VERDICT Fans of the Netflix docuseries Fear City, the films Donnie Brasco and The Irishman, or Selwyn Raab's Five Families will enjoy this insider's update on of one of the original Italian American crime families.--Jessica Hilburn, Benson Memorial Lib., Titusville, PA
Table of Contents
| Note to Readers | p. ix |
| 1 A Day in the Life | p. 1 |
| 2 The University of Bayonne | p. 11 |
| 3 Accidental Cop | p. 19 |
| 4 Back on the Streets | p. 29 |
| 5 TFO | p. 33 |
| 6 Home Fires | p. 45 |
| 7 Small(s) Beginnings | p. 53 |
| 8 Jealous Mistress | p. 61 |
| 9 Lui the Dog | p. 67 |
| 10 Making the Jump: Gambinos | p. 77 |
| 11 Creeping Suspicions | p. 81 |
| 12 First Contact | p. 85 |
| 13 Operation Charlie Horse | p. 89 |
| 14 Planting the Flag | p. 93 |
| 15 Love and War | p. 97 |
| 16 Charlie's Waking Nightmare | p. 101 |
| 17 Las Vegas | p. 107 |
| 18 Too Close to Home | p. 113 |
| 19 The Dog Picks Up a Scent | p. 119 |
| 20 Game of Chairs | p. 125 |
| 21 On the Record | p. 129 |
| 22 Tested | p. 143 |
| 23 The Bonds of iniquity | p. 151 |
| 24 Building a Crew | p. 155 |
| 25 Cugine | p. 161 |
| 26 Unwired | p. 169 |
| 27 Whack the Dog, Act I | p. 173 |
| 28 Controlling the Crazies | p. 181 |
| 29 Whack the Dog, Act II | p. 189 |
| 30 Mobster Conclave | p. 195 |
| 31 Nut Job Augie | p. 205 |
| 32 Whack the Dog, Act 111 | p. 213 |
| 33 Hotsy-Totsy Shrimp | p. 219 |
| 34 Endgame | p. 229 |
| 35 Arrest | p. 233 |
| 36 Home Alone | p. 237 |