Whitey's Payback: And Other True Stories: Gangsterism, Murder, Corruption, and Revenge

by T. J. English

Overview

Sixteen stories of true crime from America’s foremost authority on the underworld

James “Whitey” Bulger is the last of the old-fashioned gangsters. As a polished, sophisticated psychopath—who also happened to be a secret FBI informant—his reign of power in Boston lasted for more than twenty years. When he went on the lam in 1995, the kingpin’s legend grew to rival that of Al Capone. Captured after sixteen years in hiding, he now sits in a maximum security prison awaiting trial on racketeering charges and nineteen counts of murder.
 
T. J. English has been writing about men like Bulger for more than two decades. And this collection, culled from his career in journalism and supported by new material, shows English at his best. In addition to the numerous pieces about Whitey, he reports stories about gangsters and organized crime from New York City to Jamaica to Hong Kong and Mexico. Be they about old school mobsters, corrupt federal agents, or modern-day narcotraficantes wreaking havoc on the US–Mexico border, English tells these stories with depth and insight. Combining first-rate reporting and the storytelling technique of a novelist, English takes his readers on a bloody but fascinating journey to the dark side of the American Dream.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781480411753
Publisher:	Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

As a journalist and nonfiction author, Thomas Joseph “T. J.” English (b. 1957) is one of America’s foremost authorities on the recent history of crime. Born in Tacoma, Washington, he moved to New York in 1981, where he spent his nights driving a taxi and his days writing for Irish America magazine, producing a series of articles that would lead to his first book, The Westies (1990), an account of the last decades of a once-powerful Irish mob.
 Since then English has written about Vietnamese gangs, mafia infiltration of pre-Castro Cuba, and, in Savage City (2011), the history of racial tension between New York City’s police and the Black Power Movement. He has written magazine articles on modern crime for Playboy, Esquire, and New York magazine, and has also written for the screen, producing episodes for the gritty cop shows NYPD Blue and Homicide: Life on the Street. He lives in New York City. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 5

I Bullet in the Ass

1 The Wiseguy Next Door: Playboy, April 1991 23

2 Rude Boys: Playboy, October 1991 37

3 Hong Kong Outlaws Playboy, June 1992 48

4 Cosa Nostra Takes the Big Hit: Playboy, September 1992 61

II American Dream, American Nightmare

1 Cain and Abel in the Skin Trade: Esquire, June 1991 79

2 Slaving Away: Village Voice, February 5, 1991 91

3 Forget it, Jake, Its Chinatown Village Voice, February 28, 1995 101

4 Who Will Mourn George Whitmore?: The New York Times, October 13, 2012 113

III Narco Wars, at Home and Abroad

1 Dope: Playboy, December 2009 127

2 Narco Americano: Playboy, February 2011 152

IV The Bulger Chronicles

1 Whitey's Payback Newsweek, September 19, 2011 181

2 The Man Who Saw Through Whitey: The Daily Beast, January 27, 2012 191

3 The Unlikely Moll: The Daily Beast, March 14, 2012 196

4 Whitey's Women: The Daily Beast, June 11, 2012 199

5 The Scapegoat Newsweek, June 25, 2012 211

6 R.I.P. Teresa Stanley: TJ-English.com, August 26, 2012 220

Epilogue 223

Acknowledgments 231

Interviews

·       True crime readers·       Organized crime readers 

Editorial Reviews

"Whitey’s Payback and Other True Stories is a scrumptious sampler of T. J. English’s best crime writing. Hard-hitting reporting so good you’ll find yourself wanting more when you’re done.” —Anthony Bruno, author of The Iceman 

From the Publisher