Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss
(Libby/OverDrive eAudiobook)

*Starred Review* Anthony Gaspipe Casso was the boss of New York's Lucchese Mafia family. He worked himself to the top as a cold-blooded killer, responsible for more than 50 murders. He was also, for a while, the next-door neighbor of the author. Carlo's sister babysat for Casso; his mother was best friends with Casso's wife. That long and trusting relationship garnered Carlo, journalist and best-selling author (The Ice Man, 2006), unprecedented access to one of the most ruthless crime bosses in the history of the American Mob. Carlo portrays a man who is tender and loyal to his family but who ruthlessly killed or ordered the killing of scores of people, many of whom were former friends. Casso, who earned a handsome living selling drugs, robbing banks, and trafficking in stolen goods, became the reluctant leader of the Lucchese family as prosecutors moved in on the Mob bosses. When he, too, was finally captured, he eventually joined the ranks of the hated rats and gave prosecutors an earful, including the Mob's decision to hit John Gotti after he ordered an unapproved hit on Big Paul Castellano; how the Mafia controlled the unions; the truth behind the assassination of the Kennedys; and who killed Jimmy Hoffa. Readers interested in the inner workings of the Mafia will love this chilling look at a Mob boss.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2008 Booklist

One of the most dangerous, intriguing Mafia chieftains ever, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso served as an apprentice thief and killer before rising to boss of the infamous Lucchese crime family, according to Carlo, a childhood neighbor of the South Brooklyn native. Carlo (The Ice Man) depicts a violent teen doted on by his gangster father and his mob godfather, Sally Callinbrano, groomed in the art of the kill and Cosa Nostra values. As his enterprises in hot goods and drugs prospered, Casso became the chief enforcer and mob royalty, able to buy a stylish lifestyle as well as an assortment of crooked cops and FBI agents. Tucked away in this book's blood-drenched pages is a picture-perfect love story between Anthony and his wife, Lillian Delduca. And for Mafia-obsessed readers, there are fascinating tidbits from the now jailed Casso about mob bosses John Gotti and Paul Castellano, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Hoover's FBI, the Russian mob and several thug rubouts. This powerful story is required reading for anyone with a yen for the Mafia, the criminal underworld and a law enforcement system struggling to keep up. 8 pages of b&w photos. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, head of the Lucchese crime family, was one of the last "old-school" Mafiosi. A shrewd businessman, a gifted thief, and an ice-cold killer, he controlled a loyal army and a group of dirty cops and FBI agents--he called them his "crystal ball" because they gave him advance notice of raids and arrests. But after he himself was arrested in 1993, he rocked the law enforcement world by turning informant. Crime author Carlo (The Ice Man) lived next door to the Casso family in Brooklyn as a boy. From prison where he is serving multiple life sentences, Casso has told Carlo his life story, revealing details never divulged before. Carlo paints this feared and revered Mafia boss in a generous light, emphasizing his roles as loving husband, devoted father, and generous and trustworthy friend over those of ruthless mob boss. The writing is workmanlike at best, rife with cliches and occasionally repetitive. However, because the story is enthralling and constitutes an important record of the last days of the great Mafia families, this book is essential for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/08.]--Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

True-crime veteran Carlo (The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, 2006, etc.) chronicles the extraordinary life of Lucchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso. Such is our Mob-obsessed culture that Paul Castellano, Vincent "the Chin" Gigante, John Gotti and Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, Casso contemporaries that figure prominently in this narrative, require no introduction. Because of widespread publicity surrounding the arrest and trial of dirty NYPD cops Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito (see Jimmy Breslin's recent The Good Rat) the public has only recently been alerted to Casso, the Mafia chieftain at whose behest the detectives killed. Within La Cosa Nostra, though, Gaspipe was famous, thanks to his vast network of law-enforcement contacts, stoolies and plants. As an inter-family bridge builder, he was celebrated for his lucrative crime schemes, feared for his expertise and readiness to use a .38 revolver and admired for his discretion and reliability. Notwithstanding his eventual decision to break his vow of omerta and cooperate with law enforcement, Casso sits today in a supermax prison, in part at least, because he knows too much. Fearful of opening him to cross-examination, prosecutors have declined to permit Casso to testify at Mafia trials where the lies fellow rat Gravano told--testimony upon which numerous convictions rest--would be exposed. Moreover, Casso knows too much about the crooked cops and FBI agents who for years helped him break laws and evade capture. Thanks to a family connection--his mother was once Casso's wife's best friend; his sister used to babysit the Casso children--Carlo has the real goods. He shares all the lurid particulars about a criminal career stretching from a South Brooklyn boyhood, to Casso's Mafia-arranged, no-show union job at age 17, to his early murders, to his notoriously effective B&E crew, to his becoming a "made" man in 1974, to his making the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 1990. Though the prose too often gets in the way--no observation unrepeated, no clich unuttered--the inside information about the lifestyle, rituals, killings and betrayals is priceless. An authoritative look at a once-rampant predator now at bay. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso was the boss of New York's Lucchese Mafia family. He worked himself to the top as a cold-blooded killer, responsible for more than 50 murders. He was also, for a while, the next-door neighbor of the author. Carlo's sister babysat for Casso; his mother was best friends with Casso's wife. That long and trusting relationship garnered Carlo, journalist and best-selling author (The Ice Man, 2006), unprecedented access to one of the most ruthless crime bosses in the history of the American Mob. Carlo portrays a man who is tender and loyal to his family but who ruthlessly killed or ordered the killing of scores of people, many of whom were former friends. Casso, who earned a handsome living selling drugs, robbing banks, and trafficking in stolen goods, became the reluctant leader of the Lucchese family as prosecutors moved in on the Mob bosses. When he, too, was finally captured, he eventually joined the ranks of the hated "rats" and gave prosecutors an earful, including the Mob's decision to hit John Gotti after he ordered an unapproved hit on Big Paul Castellano; how the Mafia controlled the unions; the truth behind the assassination of the Kennedys; and who killed Jimmy Hoffa. Readers interested in the inner workings of the Mafia will love this chilling look at a Mob boss. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

Having profiled a serial killer (The Night Stalker) and a Mafia contract killer (The Ice Man), Carlo turns to Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, once head of the Lucchese crime family. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, head of the Lucchese crime family, was one of the last "old-school" Mafiosi. A shrewd businessman, a gifted thief, and an ice-cold killer, he controlled a loyal army and a group of dirty cops and FBI agents—he called them his "crystal ball" because they gave him advance notice of raids and arrests. But after he himself was arrested in 1993, he rocked the law enforcement world by turning informant. Crime author Carlo (The Ice Man ) lived next door to the Casso family in Brooklyn as a boy. From prison where he is serving multiple life sentences, Casso has told Carlo his life story, revealing details never divulged before. Carlo paints this feared and revered Mafia boss in a generous light, emphasizing his roles as loving husband, devoted father, and generous and trustworthy friend over those of ruthless mob boss. The writing is workmanlike at best, rife with clichs and occasionally repetitive. However, because the story is enthralling and constitutes an important record of the last days of the great Mafia families, this book is essential for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/08.]—Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L.

One of the most dangerous, intriguing Mafia chieftains ever, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso served as an apprentice thief and killer before rising to boss of the infamous Lucchese crime family, according to Carlo, a childhood neighbor of the South Brooklyn native. Carlo (The Ice Man ) depicts a violent teen doted on by his gangster father and his mob godfather, Sally Callinbrano, groomed in the art of the kill and Cosa Nostra values. As his enterprises in hot goods and drugs prospered, Casso became the chief enforcer and mob royalty, able to buy a stylish lifestyle as well as an assortment of crooked cops and FBI agents. Tucked away in this book's blood-drenched pages is a picture-perfect love story between Anthony and his wife, Lillian Delduca. And for Mafia-obsessed readers, there are fascinating tidbits from the now jailed Casso about mob bosses John Gotti and Paul Castellano, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Hoover's FBI, the Russian mob and several thug rubouts. This powerful story is required reading for anyone with a yen for the Mafia, the criminal underworld and a law enforcement system struggling to keep up. 8 pages of b&w photos. (July)