cover image The Godson: A True-Life Account of 20 Years Inside the Mob

The Godson: A True-Life Account of 20 Years Inside the Mob

Willie Fopiano. St. Martin's Press, $20.95 (258pp) ISBN 978-0-312-09748-6

This inconsequential crime book presents the life story of a career gangster from Boston who loomed large enough in his circles to become a money-laundering courier for Meyer Lansky. Otherwise, the memoir is a repetitious tale of bank and jewelry store heists and of attempts to avoid being killed. Writing with New York Post reporter Harney, Popiano makes a number of allegations: Albert DeSalvo was not the Boston Strangler; Joseph Kennedy had mob ties (a fact already documented in other books); and JFK was assassinated by a French hit team brought into the country by the Mafia. Now 48 and retired in Las Vegas, Popiano has turned religious and makes much of his growing faith in God. His book is jam-packed with action, but little of it seems to matter. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)