The Cigar: Carmine Galante, Mafia Terror

From the godfathers of American Mafia history, the brutal and blood-stained biography of Carmine Galante, the ruthless Bonnano boss who rose from tenement street thug to masterminding the legendary global heroin trafficking network, the French Connection – always with a cigar in his mouth.

HIS WAR CRY: “I RULE EVERYTHING.”
FOR HALF A CENTURY HE ALMOST DID.

The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan’s Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. At age ten his home away from home was juvenile detention. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the “errands” he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob’s top enforcers­–a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams: whack his way into controlling organized crime the world over, vowing to kill Mafia chieftains Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino and take control of their mob families.

Carmine “Lilo” Galante’s rise to Mafia star was infamous: hit man for the Luciano and Genovese crime families; named consigliere by Joseph Bonnano; he wiped out eight members of the Gambinos; on behalf of Mussolini he assassinated the publisher of an anti-Fascist newspaper. “The biggest dope peddler in the country” according to law enforcement, Galante helped orchestrate one of the largest heroin trafficking operations on record—a power move too dangerous for his rivals in the narcotics trade. The heads of the five New York families decided that the psychotic Galante had to be stopped. On July 12, 1979, finishing his lunch in a Brooklyn restaurant, Galante got what he’d dished out his whole life: a shotgun blast to the face, his trademark cigar still clenched in his teeth…

About the Author :
Frank DiMatteo is a lifelong Brooklynite, Mafia “survivor,” and publisher of Mob Candy magazine. He is the author of Mob Candy’s Brooklyn Gangsters and Manhattan Gangsters, and the co-author, along with Michael Benson, of more than half a dozen nonfiction books on the history of organized crime, including his acclaimed memoir, The President Street Boys: Growing Up Mafia. A retired gangster and the son of a Mob hitman, his past interviews and appearances include the New York Post, VICE, Business Insider, Late Night with Johnny P, One on One with Steve Adubato, and as an expert source in the HISTORY TV documentary American Godfathers: The Five Families.

Michael Benson is the acclaimed author of nonfiction history and crime books, including Gangsters vs Nazis, Hollywood vs Nazis, Evil Season, Betrayal in Blood, and Moguls, co-authored with Craig Singer. He is also one of America’s most accomplished and popular Mafia experts, having co-authored with numerous books on the subject, including Carmine the Snake, Mafia Hit Man, Lord High Executioner, Red Hook, and Carlo Gambino with Frank DiMatteo and Mafia Secrets with Gianni Russo. He is a regular commentator, appearing on numerous radio and television shows such as On the Case with Paula Zahn and Deadly Sins on ID: Investigation Discovery channel. A recipient of the Academy of American Poets Award, he can be found on Facebook @authorMichaelBenson.

Review :
Praise for the work of Frank DiMatteo and Michael Benson
  
“Carmine the Snake, written in a conversational style with street vernacular and sprinkled with Frank DiMatteo’s personal anecdotes and reminiscences, offers another look at the infamous crime boss.” —The Washington Times
  
“DiMatteo tells what it was like to grow up with mob royalty.” —VICE on The President Street Boys
  
“The authors give a detailed account of the suspected assassins . . . don’t shy away from discussing Gallo’s flaws . . . fans of true crime and mafia stories will appreciate the insider’s look at the figures and neighborhoods that comprised New York mob life in the 20th century.” —Library Journal on Mafia Hit Man

“The President Street Boys is nothing like any other mafia-related book I’ve ever read. I loved this book. I will be reading it again in the future. The level of detail is so high, to me, it requires multiple passes to absorb it all.” —Crimespree Magazine
 
“At times, this book is unsettling. Other times, it's humorous. No matter what part you're reading, it'll remain a tour-de-force.” —Criminal Element on The President Street Boys
  
“This title will please Mafia fans looking for gruesome details.” —Library Journal on Lord High Executioner

"Takes me back as if it was a time machine . . . compelling reading.  I loved the book because I was there.” —Sonny Girard, author of Blood of Our Fathers on The President Street Boys