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Rat Bastards: The South Boston Irish Mobster Who Took the Rap When Everyone Else Ran
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| Part No: | 0061232890 |
| Manufacturer: | Harper Paperbacks |
| MFG Part: | |
| Customer Rating: | 4.0 / 5.0 |
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John "Red" Shea, 40, was a top lieutenant in the South Boston Irish mob run, led by James "Whitey" Bulger. An ice–cold enforcer with a red–hot temper, Shea was a legend among his peers in the 1990s South Boston, as much as John Gotti, Bugsy Siegel, and Al Capone were in their time and place. When the actor and producer Mark Wahlberg, raised in nearby Dorchester, learned of a script based on Shea's life circulating in Hollywood, he immediately committed to playing the gangster on screen. A major feature film project is now in development.
From the age of thirteen, when he started robbing delivery trucks, to the age of twenty–seven, when he began serving a twelve–year federal sentence for drug trafficking, Shea was a portrait in American crime – a bantam–weight, red–headed terror, brutal with his fists and deadly with a lead pipe, a baseball bat, or a knife. At fifteen he was selling marijuana . At seventeen he was handling Bulger's cocaine. At eighteen he was loan sharking and laundering Bulger's money. At twenty, initiated into Bulger's inner circle at the point of an Uzi, he was running a multimillion–dollar narcotics operation for his mentor.
RAT BASTARDS was the first–ever, firsthand account of mob life that wasn't told by a rat. Red Shea did his crime, then did his time––and never informed, unlike Henry Hill of Wiseguy, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano of Underboss, and so many others. Holding fast to the code of his upbringing, he remained a man of honor.
| A familiar story | 2010-08-05 | 3 / 5 |
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| Shea's story could have been subtitled the Making of a Tough Guy. A tough upbringing makes him a tough kid. He gets noticed by established tough guys who see his criminal potential and further his development. It's a powerful story but one we've read and seen many times before. Shea takes pride in the fact that he never ratted anyone out, a clear jab at Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger's sidekick, Kevin "Two" Weeks, who took just that long to turn state's witness when he got jammed up. Like many other criminal memoirists, Shea is reluctant to reveal the specifics of crimes committed, obviously to avoid further prosecution. RAT BASTARDS isn't an awful book; it's just not the best of its genre. |
| Interesting Read! | 2010-02-25 | 5 / 5 |
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Though it is unlikely that most will admit it, cops do not respect informants either. No one really appreciates a rat. Unfortunately, as Red Shea discovered, informants far surpass stand-up guys in number. Shea is indeed one of a kind; a man of his word surrounded by weak links. The problem here was that his boss was included in the group of many without integrity. Shea was raised in poverty and found a way out, but at least he didn't stoop to the level of the rat in the end.
That being said, I am not so sure of how much of an informant Whitey Bulger was. He worked both ends to keep his own operation going, so it is hard to tell how many of the stories from the news and the feds are pure conjecture. The feds rarely give-up a true informant, and more often paint a picture for specific reasons. Usually the label is handed to the party that refused it. In my opinion Mr. Shea will not have a complete picture until Bulger is in custody. Bulger is still a fugitive at this time, though he has been spotted in various locations.
I doubt that Shea will find the "final justice" from his dream as it is highly unlikely that the elusive Whitey Bulger will ever darken the streets of New York, or South Boston, again.
This is a well-written account of a man with a story to tell. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in true crime, organized crime, and the U.S. criminal justice system.
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| Came in great condition! | 2010-02-18 | 4 / 5 |
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| I was happy with the speed this got to me and the fact that it looked like it had been well taken care of. My friend got me this book and I read it then loaned it to a loser who kept it. So, this is my second copy. And it looked better than the used copy my friend had gotten for me. And a SUPER price. |
| BORN IN SOUTHIE | 2010-01-27 | 5 / 5 |
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| The service was great,I got my book within a week and it was in wxcellant shape. Keep up yhe good work. Denny |
| Boston Irish Mobster | 2009-05-16 | 5 / 5 |
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| This is not my typical genre to read. I forget why I picked it out exactly (I am sure it was partly because it was about an Irish-American), but it was a very interesting read. I started it and then lost interest initially, but then I picked it up again and it became more and more interesting and I went right through it. I am not condoning what John Shea did or who he became, but it is certainly interesting. At times he comes across as arrogant and I am certainly not condoning him for that, but if you want to see things from the gang member's perspective, this is the book for you. |
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