Last Don Standing: The Secret Life of Mob Boss Ralph Natale

by Larry McShane, Dan Pearson

Overview

As the last Don of the Philadelphia mob, Ralph Natale, the first-ever mob boss to turn state’s evidence, provides an insider’s perspective on the mafia.

Natale’s reign atop the Philadelphia and New Jersey underworlds brought the region’s mafia back to prominence in the 1990s. Smart, savvy, and articulate, Natale came up in the mob and saw first-hand as it hatched its plan to control Atlantic City’s casino unions. Later on, after spending 16 years in prison, he reclaimed the family as his own after a bloody mob war that left bodies scattered across South Philly. He forged connections around the country, invigorated the family with more allies than it had in two decades, and achieved a status within the mob never seen before or since until he was betrayed by his men and decided to testify against them in a stunning turn of events.

Using dozens of hours of interviews with Natale along with research and interviews with FBI agents, this book delivers revelatory insights into seminal events in American mob history, including:

- The truth about Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance
- The murder of Jewish mob icon Bugsy Siegel
- The identity of the man who created modern-day Las Vegas

With the full cooperation of Natale, New York Daily News reporter Larry McShane and producer Dan Pearson uncover the deadly reign of the last great mob boss of Philadelphia, a tale that covers a half-century of mob lore—and gore.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250095879
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/21/2017
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	641,892
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

LARRY MCSHANE is a 35-year veteran city reporter currently with the New York Daily News. The award-winning Seton Hall University graduate was a two-time AP New York State Staffer of the Year. He is the author of Cops Under Fire and Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante.

DAN PEARSON is the executive producer of Discovery’s I Married a Mobster and has been an entertainment industry veteran for over twenty years.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Cast of Characters xi

Prologue: Christmas Day 1973 1

1 A Sit-Down with the Boss 5

2 Kids in Philly 11

3 Love and Devotion 18

4 New York, New York 28

5 The Rise of the Docile Don 32

6 Mob Heavyweights 42

7 Doing the Work 48

8 Where the Sand Is Turnin' to Gold 51

9 An Irish Wake 65

10 The Razor's Edge 68

11 Union Sundown 80

12 Roll of the Dice 86

13 Meeting Mr. Stanfa 91

14 Something's Burning 94

15 Angelo Bruno, What Has Happened to You? 103

16 Et Tu, Tony Bananas? 110

17 The Wake 120

18 Rise of the Chicken Man 133

19 They Blew Up the Chicken Man 141

20 Life in Lewisburg 155

21 Mr. Natale Goes to Washington 159

22 A Mafia Prince 167

23 Stanfa Redux 178

24 A Marriage of Mob-Style Convenience 183

25 Don't Call It a Comeback 206

26 Where Did It All Go Wrong? 218

27 The Big Payback 229

Epilogue: Last Words 234

Postscript 236

Index 239