Synopses & Reviews
Tommy Karate Pitera was not like other men in the mob. Sure he was a made man for the Bonanno crime family. Sure he dealt drugs, kept women, and flaunted his money. Sure he killed people. But there was something different about him, something unhinged. There were lots of guys in the Five Families who killed people, lots of guys who did ghastly things, but most if not all of those killers were afraid of man they called Karate.
There were stories, rumors really, that floated around about Pitera, and if even half the rumors were true, that was enough to make people stay away from him. The rumors talked about his squeaky high voice--Mickey Mouse with a Brooklyn accent--that didn′t fit his large, lanky frame. They talked about the strange ways that he killed people and the things he did when he was angry. The rumors discussed how people had a way of disappearing when Pitera was around, but instead of turning up dead, they didn′t turn up at all. The rumors spoke of a secret cemetery he had somewhere in the five boroughs, a place where the bodies of his victims would remain forever nameless.
Jim Hunt came from a long line of law enforcement. Originally a member of the NYPD, he joined the DEA and never looked back. Like his father and grandfather before him, fighting crime was in his blood, and during his storied career at the DEA he′d bagged his share of bad guys. But nothing like what he encountered when he first started investigating Tommy Karate Pitera. What started as a routine look into a cocaine and heroin ring in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn during the 1980s grew exponentially, as Hunt uncovered the layers of death that surrounded Pitera. Entering into the shadowy world of wire taps, stakeouts, and informants, Hunt managed to turn the handful of Pitera′s closest confidants against him in his pursuit. By the end, Hunt estimated that Pitera might have killed as many as sixty people.
Offering the first ever detailed look at the life and crimes of Pitera, Philip Carlo explores the man behind some of the most horrific murders in the mob′s history and the multi-year DEA investigation that brought him down. Getting inside the mind of both killer and detective, Carlo details the delicate game of cat and mouse that resulted in the conviction of a mafia killer unlike any other. A dual tale of murder, drugs, money, and ultimately justice, Gravesend gives us Carlo′s most frightening portrayal yet of the depraved depths of the psychopath′s mind.
Synopsis
The
New York Times bestselling author of
Gaspipe and
The Ice Man, Phillip Carlo returns with a hair-raising portrait of arguably the most depraved psychopath in the history of the Mafia, mob enforcer Tommy "Karate" Pitera.
The Butcher tells the riveting true story of a hit man who loved his work too much--a maniac believed responsible for more than sixty remarkably brutal murders--whom even organized crime's most cold-blooded assassins feared. Another riveting journey into the darkest corners of the underworld, Carlo's
The Butcher is destined to be a true crime classic alongside
Wiseguys by Nicholas Pileggi and
Underboss by Peter Maas
. Synopsis
Written by the bestselling author of "The Ice Man, The Butcher" is a gripping and disturbing account of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's four-year hunt to bring down Tommy "Karate" Pitera, a drug-dealing, murderous killer in the Bonanno crime family.
Synopsis
Tommy “Karate” Pitera was not like other mafiosi. A capo in the notorious Bonanno family—a deadly martial artist highly skilled with knives and other lethal weapons—Pitera murdered his way to becoming one of the premier assassins in the New York mafia during the 1980s. He didn’t just whack people; he diabolically made them disappear forever. In hushed whispers people spoke of Pitera’s secret burial grounds and the grotesque things he did to his victim’s bodies. If the Mafia had a Jeffrey Dahmer, it was surely Tommy Pitera.
Offering the first-ever look at the life and crimes of Tommy Pitera, New York Times bestselling author Philip Carlo exposes the man behind some of the most horrific murders in Mafia history—and tells the story of the heroic investigator who brought him down. Cloaked in the bloody history of La Cosa Nostra, The Butcher is Carlo’s most frightening portrayal yet of the depraved depths within a psychopath’s mind.
Synopsis
Tommy “Karate” Pitera was not likeother mafiosi. A capo in the notoriousBonanno family—a deadlymartial artist highly skilled with knives andother lethal weapons—Pitera murdered hisway to becoming one of the premier assassinsin the New York mafia during the 1980s.He didnt just whack people; he diabolicallymade them disappear forever. In hushedwhispers people spoke of Piteras secret burialgrounds and the grotesque things he did tohis victims bodies. If the Mafia had a JeffreyDahmer, it was surely Tommy Pitera.
Offering the first-ever look at the life andcrimes of Tommy Pitera, New York Timesbestselling author Philip Carlo exposes theman behind some of the most horrific murdersin Mafia history—and tells the story ofthe heroic investigator who brought himdown. Cloaked in the bloody history of LaCosa Nostra, The Butcher is Carlos mostfrightening portrayal yet of the depraveddepths within a psychopaths mind.
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling author of Gaspipe and The Ice Man, Phillip Carlo returns with a hair-raising portrait of arguably the most depraved psychopath in the history of the Mafia, mob enforcer Tommy “Karate” Pitera. The Butcher tells the riveting true story of a hit man who loved his work too much—a maniac believed responsible for more than sixty remarkably brutal murders—whom even organized crimes most cold-blooded assassins feared. Another riveting journey into the darkest corners of the underworld, Carlos The Butcher is destined to be a true crime classic alongside Wiseguys by Nicholas Pileggi and Underboss by Peter Maas.
About the Author
Philip Carlo was born and raised on the mean streets of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn—the same streets Tommy Pitera hailed from. There, Carlo earned a Ph.D. in street smarts, and he escaped a life of crime by writing about it with unusual insight. He is the author of the bestsellers The Night Stalker, about notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez, and The Ice Man, about infamous Mafia contract killer Richard Kuklinski. Carlo lives with his wife, Laura, in New York City.