A review by callieisreading
Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr

4.0

The Southie of the 1970's and 1980's was run by a gangster named Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger, who took over the Winter Hill Gang after its leader, Howie Winter, was put behind bars. Whitey and his right-hand man, Stevie "The Rifleman" Flemmi, controlled everything that happened there, from gambling, to drugs, to weapons. Beyond a penchant for violence and a ruthless reputation, the thing that kept Whitey and Stevie out of trouble with the law was a close friendship with Michael Connelly, a high-ranking member of the FBI in Boston who had grown up admiring Whitey as a kid in Southie. This friendship was mutually beneficial, as Whitey and Stevie provided information to the Bureau regarding the LCN, La Cosa Nostra, or the Italian Mafia, eventually to basically the nullification of the LCN in Boston. On the other side, Connelly protected his guys, tipping them off to potential wiretaps, pointing investigations in other directions, and according to Whitey and Stevie, giving them the green light to commit basically any crime, short of murder (which didn't stop them, Whitey is currently on trial for 19 killings). The experience of reading Black Mass was intensified as I followed Whitey's trial along, with parts from the book frequently coming up in the case. Made for a very exciting couple of days.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I thought there were some editing problems, but not enough to kill it for me, or really even distract me from the story.