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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 364.1092 EAN: 9780060837167 ISBN: 0060837160 Label: William Morrow Manufacturer: William Morrow Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 304 Publication Date: March 01, 2006 Publisher: William Morrow Release Date: March 14, 2006 Studio: William Morrow Editorial Review: Product Description: You've met the Italian mob in The Godfather, now welcome to the real-life world of Irish America's own murderous clan of organized crime The man who has remained silent for more than a decade finally speaks, revealing the gritty true story of his life inside the infamous South Boston Irish mob led by the elusive, Machiavellian kingpin Whitey Bulger, who to this day remains on the lam as one of the world's Ten Most Wanted criminals, second only to Osama bin Laden. John "Red" Shea was a top lieutenant in the South Boston Irish mob, rising to this position at the age of twenty-one. Thus began his tutelage under the notorious Irish godfather James "Whitey" Bulger. An ice-cold enforcer with a legendary red-hot temper, Shea was a legend among his Southie peers in the 1980s. From the first delivery truck he robbed at thirteen to the start of his twelve-year federal sentence for drug trafficking at twenty-seven, Shea was a portrait in American crime -- a terror, brutal and ruthlessly ambitious. Drug dealer, loan shark, money launderer, and multimillion-dollar narcotics kingpin, Shea was at the pinnacle of power -- until the feds came knocking and eventually obliterated the legendary mob in a well-orchestrated sweep of arrests, fueled by insider tips to the FBI and DEA. While Bulger's other top men turned informant to save their own hides, Shea alone kept his code of honor and his mouth shut -- loyalty that earned him a dozen years of hard time even as the man he was protecting turned out to be, himself, a rat. For in the end, in a remarkable show of betrayal, Bulger turned out to be the FBI's "main man" and top informant -- tipping off the feds for decades while still managing to operate one of the most murderous and profitable organized crime outfits of all time. In Rat Bastards, Shea brings that mysterious world and gritty urban Irish American street culture into sharp focus by telling his own story -- of his fatherless upbringing, his apprenticeship on the tough streets of Southie, and his love affair with trouble, boxing, and then the gangster life. In prose that is refreshingly honest, personal, and surprisingly tender, Shea tells his harrowing, unflinching, and unapologetic story. A man who did the crime, did the time, and held fast to the Irish code of silence, which he was raised to follow at any cost, Shea remains a man of honor and in doing so has become a living legend. One of the last of a dying breed, a true stand-up guy. Shea expects no forgiveness and makes no excuses for the life he chose. His story is intense, compelling, and in your face. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Just bought it... couldn't put it down!Though I have read mixed reviews on this book, I am not very familiar with the topic and thought it would be worth buying and decide for myself. I can honestly say that I do not understand the negative reviews AT ALL!! What do I see? A guy who spent his childhood struggling in a poverty stricken area, that was filled with kids growing up in fatherless homes, with mothers just trying to make it through the day to day, drugs, etc., and a group of young kids who had no direction and most of whom, if ... Read More Rating: - Rat BastardsLoyalty goes along way when you read the life and times of John Shea. Mr Sheas portrayal of growing in the housing projects depicts the temptation of going for success in a criminal type of way. The emphasis on keeping your word will keep your honor and integrity high was right on, even from a criminal perspective. RB held my interest from cover to cover. Whitey's philosophy of recruiting athletes/boxers into fold demonstrates how we are all vunerable if a big enough carrot is held out. Young John ... Read More Rating:  - Nothing Honorable About SheaSouthie was never an easy neighborhood. The D Street projects, where my mother grew up, may be the toughest part of Southie. Shea captures the authentic, troubled neighborhood and adopts its credo -- never rat. While tough and violent, Shea is not the super hero he makes himself out to be. Throughout the book, Shea brags that, like Whitey, he accomplished his goals with violence, often mindless violence. Growing up fatherless, with little guidance and no discipline, he searches in vain for a father ... Read More Rating: - predictable entertainmentEntertaining insight to the 1970's - 80's Boston irish mob. Authentic story, predictibly leavened by the author's projection of himself as a "superman". Rating: - ExcellentI really enjoyed reading John Shea's autobiography Rat Bastards. Rat Bastards is an honest look into the life of a real human being that happened to be in the Irish Mafia. Filled with colorful rich and memorable characters, this is like a shot of testosterone for the weak, a page turner that is at times uncomfortable, at times sentimental but always unapologetically real.Forever My Lady |
