“Joseph Barboza is the most dangerous individual known.”–FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, 1965
Joe Barboza knew that there were two requirements for getting inducted into the Mafia. You had to be Sicilian. And you had to commit a contract killing. The New Bedford-born mobster was a proud Portuguese, not Sicilian, but his dream to be part of La Cosa Nostra proved so strong that he thought he could create a loophole. If he killed enough men, if he did enough of the Mafia's dirtiest biddings, then they would have no choice but to make him a Made Man.
Barboza's brutal rise during one of the deadliest mob wars in U.S. history became the stuff of legend, both on the bloodied streets of Boston and in the offices of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney General. He took sick joy in his crimes, and it became increasingly difficult for the mob to keep the Animal on his leash. But soon the hunter became the hunted. Betrayed by the mob and now on the run, Boston's most notorious contract killer forged a Faustian bargain with two unscrupulous FBI agents–a pact that would transform the U.S. criminal justice system. From false testimony and manipulated evidence that sent mob leaders to death row, to the creation of the Witness Protection Program so the feds could protect their prized, cold-blooded witness, this was the horrific, dramatic first act in a story of murder and FBI corruption still being played out today in the news and the courtroom with the capture and trial of Whitey Bulger. Barboza's legacy, buried for years thanks to the murders or deaths of its participants, is finally coming to light and being told in its unvarnished brutality by one of America's most respected crime writers.
(Book discription by Amazon)
For you true crime fans out there I would highly recommend you read “Animal”. Being from Boston I may be a little bias do to the fact the books setting is my backyard . But it still reads brilliantly. Casey Sherman did a lot of homework on the subject of Joe “The Animal” Barboza. As a kid who grew up in and around Boston you would here stories of these larger than life Mobsters, and to read it in print you can't believe the stories really happened. The book starts out with Barboza as a youth and swiftly progresses to how Joe got the nickname “The Animal”. And that nickname fits perfectly. I don't think there is a better name for him. A ruthless killer who's only dream was to be the first Portuguese to become a Made Man in the Italian Mafia. By being the most vicious killer Barboza thought the Mob Bosses would have to let him in. So if you like good Mafia related books defiantly give “Animal” a try. I personally couldn't put it down.
Boomer