Chasing The Mafia

The ‘ndrangheta is one of wealthiest and most powerful criminal organizations today. Combining autobiography, travel ethnography, memoir, and investigative journalism, this book provides a global outlook on the ‘ndrangheta, taking the reader to small villages and locations in Italy and in different countries around the world.

The ‘ndrangheta – the Calabrian region of Italy’s mafia – is one of wealthiest and most powerful criminal organizations today. It is considered Italy’s most powerful mafia; it’s not only the main object of concern for anti-mafia units in Italy, but also for joint investigative teams in Europe and beyond. Combining autobiography, travel ethnography, memoir, academic rigour and investigative journalism, this book provides a global outlook on the ‘ndrangheta, taking the reader to small villages and locations in Italy and abroad to Australia, Canada, United States and Argentina.

Matteo: I don't have time for this. My men caught a spy down by the old abandoned shipyard and now I have to deal with him or else risk losing this alliance. Turns out the spy isn't a man. It's a woman. A lovely woman who says she was taking photos for her bookstagram account. Whatever that is. I can hardly take in her words, because her eyes are piercing my chest, right where my heart would be if I had one. They are crystal blue, almost transparent in this lighting. I can see fear in her clear blue irises, but also a quiet determination. This isn't the first time she's been threatened. I can't let her go. I have to protect this angel. Darlene: I was just taking pictures! I swear, I didn't know anyone else even knew about the creepy abandoned shipyard. The thugs who kidnapped me, however, don't let me defend myself before putting a bag over my head and shoving me in a car. The worst part is, they threw my books away in the dumpster. That's just rude and unnecessarily cruel. Before I know what's happening, I'm dragged into a room that smells like cedar and spice. The bag is finally removed from my head and I'm greeted with the culmination of every book boyfriend I've ever had. And apparently he's the guy in charge who gets to decide my fate. Ninety-nine percent of me is filled with abject terror. But one, teeny, tiny percent of me can't help but feel like I'm finally having an adventure of my own.

In 1978, the US government waged a war against organised crime. One man was left behind the lines. From 1976 until 1981, Special Agent Pistone lived undercover with the Mafia. Only able to visit his young family once every few months, Pistone - under the alias Donnie Brasco - ate, drank, partied, worked and sometimes killed with the wiseguys. He got so close that his Mafia partner, Lefty Ruggiero, asked him to officiate as best man at his wedding. Pistone's eventual testimony, in such spectacular prosecutions as 'the Pizza Connection' and 'the Mafia Commission' resulted in more than 200 indictments and 100 convictions of members of organised crime.

When the FBI turned an Irish mobster into an informant, they corrupted the entire judicial system and sanctioned the worst crime spree Boston has ever seen. This is the true story behind the major motion picture. James "Whitey" Bulger became one of the most ruthless gangsters in US history, and all because of an unholy deal he made with a childhood friend. John Connolly a rising star in the Boston FBI office, offered Bulger protection in return for helping the Feds eliminate Boston's Italian mafia. But no one offered Boston protection from Whitey Bulger, who, in a blizzard of gangland killings, took over the city's drug trade. Whitey's deal with Connolly's FBI spiraled out of control to become the biggest informant scandal in FBI history. Black Mass is a New York Times and Boston Globe bestseller, written by two former reporters who were on the case from the beginning. It is an epic story of violence, double-cross, and corruption at the center of which are the black hearts of two old friends whose lives unfolded in the darkness of permanent midnight.

A tale told by a dimension - a living consciousness to which some psychic minds are attune to. A tale about the Sicilian Mafia in the 18th century. The consciousness projects mental images of this period. Images of people, faces rarely distinct, in different situations. The opening words of Chapter 8 is one way to explain such projections: With night came a fierce storm with thunder and lightning and dark visions. Maria slept poorly, tossing and turning. The tale is developed to fit cohesively into those images. A tale about a Way of Life - not about organized crime. In the depression of the 1930s it was the gangster Al Capone who organized soup kitchens for hungry children in Chicago USA such a compassionate deed. Why? To aid the very poor is as much a trait of the Sicilian Mafia as are profits from prostitution. Prostitution always has been one of the largest sources of revenue for the Mafia. The Mafia Way of Life is not easily understood. One reason is that word Mafia is a modern invented word. This tale is about the people that became part of the Mafia in that period, about their background and what led them to accept this Way of Life. People like Pedro, an ox of a man and bodyguard; or Paulo, so talented and saving the life of a woman who would become his wife sets him on a path of no return; of Anastasia and Romeo, a high class prostitute and a killer who fall in love. Central to the tale is the seduction of the first Mafia priest which begins with mysterious notes slid under the church door. in a room full of women I saw her face When the Vatican hears a whisper in the wind young Sister Lucy becomes the key to solving the mystery what does Mafia want with our priests? Some still want the Sicilian Mafia to be a myth but read a modern researched book such as Into the Heart of the Mafia by David Lane and the question you may ask is not who in Sicily is Mafia but who is not? It is a Way of Life ancient in origin. The reader needs to bear in mind too that the original womans perfumes could only be made from an essence of a flower found on a tree that only grows in Italy. Thus the Most Elusive Scent mentioned all too often could have been the first true perfume ever discovered. Any wonder that scent had a powerful effect on men? And if we were to ask the Sicilian Mafia dimension what is the one word that can best explain Sicilian Mafia the answer is si. Italian for yes. Only a born Sicilian can say si and cosa nostra (our thing; our way) the Mafia way of saying those words. In Sicily there is even a Mafia (cosa nostra) museum and it is ever so popular with tourists!

"You're lucky he didn't have an ice pick in his hands. I know how this guy performs." -Mobster Paul Volpe speaking about a Buffalo-mafia enforcer named "Cicci" Canada is lauded the world over as a law abiding, peaceful country - a shining example to all nations. Such a view, also shared by most Canadians, is typically naïve and misinformed. Throughout its history, to present day and beyond, Canada has been and will continue to be home to criminals and crime organizations that are brilliant at finding ways to make money - a lot of money - illegally. Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada is a remarkable parallel history to the one generally accepted and taught in our schools. Organized crime has had a significant impact on the shaping of this country and the lives of its people. The most violent and thuggish - outlaw motorcycle gangs like Hells Angels - have been raised to mythic proportions. The families who owned distilleries during Prohibition, such as the Bronfmans, built vast fortunes that today are vested in corporate holdings. The mafia in Montreal created and controlled the largest heroin and cocaine smuggling empire in the world, feeding the insatiable appetite of our American neighbours. Today, gangs are laying waste the streets of Vancouver, and "BC bud" flows into the U.S. as the marijuana of choice. Organized crime is as old as this nation's founding, with pirates ravaging the east coast, even as hired guns by colonial governments. Since our nation's earliest times, government and crime groups have found that collusion can have its mutual benefits. Comprehensive, informative and entertaining - as you will discover in the remarkable period pieces devised by the author and the illustrations commissioned specially for this book - Iced is a romp across the nation and across the centuries. In these pages you will meet crime groups that are at once sordid and inept, yet resourceful entrepreneurs and self-proclaimed champions of the underdog, who operate in full sight of their communities and the law. This is the definitive book on organized crime in Canada, and a unique contribution to our understanding of Canadian history.

Ever since I learnt that people drive around Africa in 4x4s, sleeping in rooftop tents for months at a time, I dreamed of joining them. My obsession became reality in January 2020, when together with my boyfriend I bought a 20-year-old dark blue Land Rover Defender. She's called Nyala. After a few test weekends to check out the car, we were ready to go. Coronavirus struck. Borders closed, hard lockdown began. Our plans to spend six months overlanding through southern Africa were put on hold. Fast-forward six months, and we were ready to go again. Chasing Ostriches chronicles this journey of exploration through South Africa. We roamed the backroads and national parks in our trusty (and not so trusty at times) Defender. We climbed misty mountains, camped in empty deserts, sunbathed on tropical beaches, and saw wildlife galore under the hot African sky. I came back with dirty clothes, an even dirtier car, and memories to last a lifetime. I hope my book will help you do the same.