Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob

435 Pages·2001·1.55 MB·English

by  Dick Lehr

Table of Contents

Praise
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue
Introduction

PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE - 1975
CHAPTER TWO - South Boston
CHAPTER THREE - Hard Ball
CHAPTER FOUR - Bob ’n’ Weave
CHAPTER FIVE - Win, Place, and Show

PART TWO
CHAPTER SIX - Gang of Two?
CHAPTER SEVEN - Betrayal
CHAPTER EIGHT - Prince Street Hitman
CHAPTER NINE - Fine Food, Fine Wine, Dirty Money
CHAPTER TEN - Murder, Inc.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - Bulgertown, USA
CHAPTER TWELVE - The Bulger Myth
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Black Mass
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Shades of Whitey
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Connolly Talk
CHAPTER SIXTEEN - Secrets Exposed

PART THREE
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Fred Wyshak
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Heller’s Café
CHAPTER NINETEEN - In for a Penny, in for a Pound
CHAPTER TWENTY - The Party’s Over

Epilogue
Sources
Notes
Acknowledgements
Index
Copyright Page
Praise for Black Mass

“A parable of what happens when law enforcement officers get too close to their
informers. It is a story that the FBI almost succeeded in suppressing. Black Mass
should prompt a re-evaluation of the uses and misuses of informers by law
enforcement officials throughout the country.”
—Alan Dershowitz, author of Reversal of Fortune: Inside the Claus Von Bulow
Case, The New York Times Book Review

“This is a heartbreaking and enraging story of corruption and crime, but it has its
heroes, especially Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill. These reporters were among
the first to shine light on the shadowy collusion of heinous murderers and an FBI
cut loose from its moral center. Now, with this powerful book, Lehr and O’Neill
bring the whole story into the open. Black Mass is a work of rare lucidity, high
drama, journalistic integrity, and plain courage.”
—James Carroll, author of An American Requiem and Boston Globe columnist

“More than an exposé on the abuses of power, Black Mass tells of the shameful
betrayal of all things decent.... Lehr and O’Neill give us all the details with a
journalistic precision that does not sacrifice the power of the story. After reading
Black Mass, you might wonder if any of us really knows who are the good guys
and who are the bad guys.”
—Michael Patrick MacDonald, author of All Souls: A Family Story from Southie

“What a marvelous read Black Mass is.”
—Dominick Dunne, author of Justice: Crimes, Trials and Punishments

“A jaw-dropping, true life tale of how two thugs corrupted the FBI ... a
disturbing account of corruption, blind ambition, and official complicity in dark
deeds.”
—The Baltimore Sun

“You don’t have to be a Mafia buff to enjoy and appreciate the story as told in
Black Mass.... Black Mass is all about the nation’s premier law enforcement
agency gone bad, with two or more of their own leading the way. . . . What
makes Black Mass simply great is not the fantastic reporting and writing of the
sordid story, but the way the two authors bring readers into the world of South
Boston. The story reveals the parochial ‘clan’ attitude that prevails in the
neighborhood where one’s word is higher measure of a man than his life’s
accomplishments.... It is a great story, a great book, and a rare look at how
deadly boyhood friendships in a neighborhood like ‘Southie’ can be.”
—The Providence Journal

“The book is a great read—it reels you in and holds you. O’Neill and Lehr have
the remarkable ability to put you in the room and on the street where the action
takes place. The dialogue is vital, gutsy, down and dirty.”
—William Bratton, author of Turnaround: How America’s Top Cop Reversed the
Crime Epidemic (with Peter Knobler), The Boston Globe

“[Lehr and O’Neill] vividly capture the turbulent culture and conflicting
loyalties of the Boston underworld.”
—Library Journal
“Black Mass is the hair-raising true story of the cozy and corrupt relationship
between the FBI, Bulger, and his sidekick Steven the ‘Rifleman’ Flemmi ... an
unholy alliance that shifted the balance of criminal power in Boston from the
Italians to the Irish and left Bulger and Flemmi shielded from prosecution for
two decades.... Lehr and O’Neill assemble a breathtaking account of corruption,
crime, and gross legal negligence.”
—The Legal Times

“A triumph of investigative reporting, this full-bodied true-crime saga by two
Boston Globe reporters is a cautionary tale about FBI corruption and the abuse
of power.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An eye-opening true-crimer. . . . The authors offer a pile of evidence that (in
South Boston at least) politics is all too local.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Black Mass tells a story of abuse of power and betrayal by those sworn to
protect the public and uphold the law. It leaves me wondering whether standard
operating procedures and agent-informant relationships throughout the country
should be reviewed.”
—The Federal Lawyer

“The corruption laid out by Lehr and O’Neill is pervasive and horrifying enough
to make even the most inveterate cynic gag.”
—The Boston Phoenix