Hoffa's Man: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy Hoffa as Witnessed by His Strongest Arm

A product of Detroit's Italian street gangs, by the age of nine Franco had already killed twice and was soon accepting contracts to mutilate or kill. Assisted by Hammer (The Vatican Connection, etc.), but in his own colorful, obscenity-laced prose, Franco tells the story of his 30 years with Hoffa as Teamsters organizer and regent of affiliated unions during the post-WW II rise of union militancy. Applying his boss's credo that ""fear and money make power,'' Franco, through his close Italian Mafia contacts, helped extend Hoffa's empire nationwide, including Washington and Hollywood. The authors provide insights into the Teamsters' feud with Robert Kennedy, which landed both Hoffa and Franco in jail, and the union's inner power struggles that resulted in an anti-Hoffa faction selling out to Nixon and effectively removing Hoffa from the Teamsters presidency. The mystery of his disappearance in 1975 from a Detroit parking lot has never been solved. Photos not seen by PW. Major ad/promo. First serial to New York Times Special Features and Detroit News; author tour. (October 19)