Former Goodfellas Gangster Henry Hill Dead at 69

Ex-Mobster Henry Hill died June 12, one day after his birthday, of heart problems apparently related to smoking. Inside word has it that his legs were amputated a short while ago due to diabetes. Check here for the full story: http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9VCDUL80%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1016.

Mob Killer: Crime Beat Radio Show, June 7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Strategic Media Books

803-366-5440

strategicmediabooks@gmail.com

www.strategicmediabooks.com

Crime Beat Radio Show
www.artistfirst.com
crimebeat123@yahoo.com
 

O.J., The Godfather, Donnie Brasco, Sammy the Bull, Sharon Tate and Norway’s 2011 Murder Rampage

May, 2012—Crime Beat: Issues, Controversies and Personalities from the Darkside on Artist First World Radio Network is pleased to announce its forthcoming schedule for May 31, 2012, through August 2, 2012. Topics covered include Sammy “The Bull Gravano, Mickey Cohen, the Sharon Tate murder, the Godfather saga, the continuing story of Joe Pistone and Donnie Brasco, and more. Here's the line up:

May 31— Joe Pistone talks about Donnie Brasco, the FBI and life since the movie and the book. Read more.

• June 7— In a command appearance, writer Tony DeStefano discusses his chilling investigation and book, Mob Killer: The Bloody Rampage of Charles Carneglia, Mafia Hitman for the notorious  and deadly Gambino Crime Family. Read more.
• June 14— Karen Gravano, the daughter of Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, talks about her best-selling autobiography, Mob Daughter: The Mafia, Sammy the Bull Gravano and Me. Read more.
• June 21— Investigator William Dear discusses his explosive book, O.J. is Innocent and I Can Prove It. Read more.
• June 28— Tere Tereba discusses her book, Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.'s Notorious Mobster, and provides insight into the history of the LA crime scene. Also, officials of the Poker Players Alliance discuss recent developments affecting online gambling. Read more.
• July 5 The documentary film show— Tommy Reid discusses his doc, Superthief, a captivating firsthand look at the life of Phil Christopher, a career criminal, Cleveland native, Mafia associate and one of the most successful bank burglars in U.S. history. Read more.
  Also director Yurij Luchovy discusses his doc, Genocide Revealed, the little known story of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian holocaust. Read more.
• July 12 The Fiction Show— Ed Falco discusses his prequel to the Godfather book, The Family Corleone, one of this year’s major literary events. Read more.
  Also popular crime fiction writer Jon Land discusses his just released novel, Strong Vengeance. Read more.
• July 19— Noted forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone discusses mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik, and his murder rampage in Norway in the summer of 2011. Also, Alison Statman and Brie Tate discuss their best-selling book, Restless Souls: The Sharon Tate Family's Account of Stardom, the Manson Murders, and a Crusade for Justice. Read more.
• July 26— Richard Muti and Charles Buckley, authors of The Charmer discuss the true story of Robert Reldan, rapist, murderer and millionaire, and the Women who Fell Victim to his Allure. Read more.
• August 2— In a command appearance, Howard Campbell discusses his book Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez. Read more.

---

On the air since January 28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex- mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.

Crime Beat is currently averaging 130,000 listeners plus each week, and the figure is growing. Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer and documentary producer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Will Hryb.

Ronald Herd II, the popular Internet radio host and regular listener of Crime Beat, said: "Crime Beat sounds like an organized crime greatest hits collection...I am loving it!" Tom Hart of Atlanta, Georgia, writes: “I am a BIG fan of your show and enjoy the variety of guests you have on your show.. “Keep up the good work.”  

---

Crime Beat airs weekly every Thursday at 8 P.M. EST on the Artist First World Radio Network at artistfirst.com/crimebeat

To contact the Crime Beat radio program for interviews, e-mail crimebeat123@yahoo.com or call 803-366-5440.

Mobdaughter: New book by Karen Gravano

Mob Wives Star Karen Gravano: "Being a Gangster Was Like Being Brad Pitt in Hollywood"

By Becky Bartkowski

Apr. 13 2012

When mob heiress Karen Gravano was in her late teens, her father Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano, who was second in command in the Gambino crime family, became an FBI informant and fed juicy bits of mafia info to hungry agents that eventually took down boss John Gotti.
And apart from Gravano's own brushes with the law (including involvement in her dad's Arizona ecstasy ring, for which he's now serving time in Colorado and Karen was put on probation), that scandal is what has defined her. And much like her father gave up mob secrets, Gravano gives up her own in her new memoir Mob Daughter.
Not that Gravano is a stranger to putting the spotlight on her family and its history.
Quite the contrary: Gravano is currently starring in the second season of Vh1's Mob Wives, a "Family"-friendly reality program that seems destined for a third season. In the vein of other spousal shows like Bravo's Real Housewives franchise and Vh1's Arizona-based Baseball Wives, the show features women with varying ties to organized crime including Renee Graziano, whose father is consigliere for the Bonanno family, and spinoff-worthy Angela "Big Ang" Raiola, a Staten Island bar owner whose late uncle was a high-ranking member of the Genovese family.
Gravano, who splits her time between New York and Arizona, talked with us about reality TV, her book, which she'll sign at Barnes & Noble on Satuday, April 14, and her relationship with her incarcerated father.

Read the rest of the interview here: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2012/04/mob_wives_karen_gravano_sammy_the_bull.php

May 2012

New Book Chronicles the Remarkable Story of a Rogue Mobster and the New England Mafia

When the infamous gangster Whitey Bulger went on the lam in 1995, the streets of Boston became a war zone between the Mafia and the renegades, with the Winter Hill Gang looking on. Co-written by Mark Silverman with Scott Deitche, Rogue Mobster: The Untold Story of Mark Silverman and the New England Mafia chronicles the inside story of the Boston mob wars of the 1990’s when over two dozen gangsters were killed in a vicious war for control of the Boston underworld. Rogue Mobster is told in the words of Mark Silverman, an outsider from Medford who got inside the mob and became an integral part of the ensuing war. His account is the first-ever inside glimpse into what went on at the street level, why people were killed, and what the stakes were.

Rogue Mobster: The Untold Story of Mark Silverman and the New England Mafia is available on StrategicMediabooks.com, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and bookstores near you.

Normally, we only deal with true crime on Mob Speak. However, our friends at Strategic Media Books offer real insight into the Arab-Israeli conflict by foreign affairs commentator and award-winning journalist, David Aikman. Many would call the Middle East saga a monumental crime of historic proportions. Read on...

Former TIME Magazine Correspondent Pens Timely Thriller About the Middle East

David Aikman’s Kidnapped in Gaza is a fast-paced, action-filled thriller about an American journalist, Richard Ireton, kidnapped while on assignment in Gaza. He is under threat of execution but may be rescued just in time by Israeli Special Forces who have identified where he is being held through a GPS tracking device installed in his belt.

There is a strong undertone of romance in the novel because Ireton meets a beautiful female Israeli intelligence officer who is drawn to Ireton and wants to help him get to the bottom of the story he is investigating. Ireton is in a dilemma because his long-time girlfriend, a beautiful Filipina, happens also to be visiting Israel as a tourist when the kidnapping takes place.

The story draws on author David Aikman’s long experience as a foreign correspondent (especially in Jerusalem) and his first-hand knowledge of Israel, Gaza and the Middle East tensions in general. Enthralling, drenched with both intrigue and an understated romantic backdrop, Kidnapped in Gaza is sure to keep you turning the pages until the very final moment.

David Aikman is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist, a best-selling author, and a foreign affairs commentator based in the Washington, D.C.-area. His wide-ranging professional achievements include a 23-year career at TIME Magazine with reporting spanning the globe of nearly all the major historical events of the time. Since leaving TIME, he has authored ten books, including The Mirage of Peace: Understanding the Never-Ending Conflict in the Middle East (Regal 20009).

“Riveting. packed-full of jaw-dropping action and spellbinding information. Award-winning author David Aikman really knows the Middle East and takes you behind-the-scenes.   A magnificent tour de force for readers of all backgrounds and ages.”   Donna Rosenthal, author of The Israelis.

“Aikman knows the Arab-Israeli conflict and how to spin a yarn. The result is a page-turner that educates. How can one do better than that?”  Daniel Pipes, Director, Center for Middle East Studies.

"Few could be better positioned than David Aikman to write so sensitively, honestly and courageously about life in the Middle East... A riveting tale from a fascinating mind!"  Rev. Dr. Robert Stearns, Executive Director, Eagles' Wings NY.

---

For more details about David Aikman and excerpts from his other works
please go to the website kidnappedingaza.com
For further information about the publisher: strategicmediabooks.com
For interviews or to request copy of the book e-mail:
strategicmediabooks@gmail.com or phone: 803-366-5440

Slick's Las Vegas Then and Now: 28th in Series

Floating Crap Game, Sand's Pool

Over a year ago I posted a series of episodes from Slick's unpublished manuscript, Slick's Las Vegas Then and Now. Inadvertantly, I left off the last couple of chapters. January 1, 2011 was the last entry, "Las Vegas Then & Now." So today I'm posting:

More Then & Now…

·         Stratosphere is where Vegas World Casino was
·         Mandalay Bay has replaced the Hacienda
·         Bellagio is where the Dunes once stood
·         Venetian property once held the Sands
·         Mirage has replaced the Castaways

Sure, there are a lot of others that have seen the wrecking ball. But this gives you an idea of what's happened through the years. Here's a pretty decent map showing the history of Strip casinos http://home.earthlink.net/~cyberlane/vegasmap.html.

A few older Strip casinos that are still around:
·         The Stratosphere
·         MGM Grand
·         Flamingo
·         Rivera
·         Sahara
·         Mirage
·         Bally’s
·         Harrah’s

For a terrific look at the Strip when the Mob ruled Las Vegas, check this out: http://www.whenthemobranvegas.com/slideshow.html

What Folks are saying about the Mob Museum: A hit or a miss?



The Real Donnie Brasco

Surveillance tools

Check here for recent takes on The Las Vegas Mob Museum: http://themobmuseum.org/media-room/in-the-news/


and here for a New York Times slide show: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/02/14/arts/artsspecial/20120214MOB.html.