{"product_id":"giovannis-ring-my-life-inside-the-real-sopranos-9781641608053","title":"Giovanni's Ring: My Life Inside the Real Sopranos","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGiovanni’s Ring \u003c\/i\u003eis the story of “Giovanni Rocco,” a New Jersey police officer, known undercover as “Giovanni Gatto,” who spent over twenty years in various undercover roles, penetrating biker gangs, drug cartels, white supremacist groups, and domestic and international terror groups. Most significantly, he was the mysterious agent at the epicenter of Operation Charlie Horse, a federal undercover operation that ultimately brought down ten members and associates of New Jersey’s DeCavalcante Mafia family—the criminal organization otherwise known to law enforcement as “the real Sopranos.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Giovanni spent nearly three years working his way into the DeCavalcante hierarchy. He was so convincing in his role that capo Charlie “the Hat” Stango (also known as Charlie “Beeps”) began to treat him as his “right hand.” Over time, the personal relationship between the two men grew to a point where Charlie treated Giovanni more as a favored son than just an associate. Giovanni became so fully trusted that Stango went “on the record” for him with the family’s administration and put him in charge of his own crew. Giovanni was permitted to attend meetings with other high-ranking members of the DeCavalcante crime family, as well as with senior members of New York’s notorious Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese Mafia families, and was authorized to speak on his capo’s behalf. Each passing day became a roll of the dice for Giovanni, plaguing him with doubts: \u003ci\u003eIs today the day my cover is blown? Is this the last day I see my wife and children? Will one of my deals between families or crews go bad and I’ll get clipped? Is this all worth it?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stango eventually assigned Giovanni the task of killing Luigi “the Dog” Oliveri, a troublesome made member of the crime family. That lethal assignment brought the undercover operation to an end in March 2015, and the resulting string of high-profile arrests eviscerated the criminal organization. In the course of the operation, Giovanni secretly recorded hundreds of conversations relating to a wide range of crimes including counterfeit and contraband goods trafficking, warehouse robberies, truck hijackings, and drug trafficking. Also, and importantly for his own safety, he learned that the DeCavalcante family had secured access to sensitive law enforcement information, including information about specific investigations into DeCavalcante members and associates.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGiovanni’s Ring\u003c\/i\u003e is not simply a chronicle of Giovanni Rocco’s adventures in the murky and dangerous Mafia world he inhabited, but also a fascinating window into the psychological struggles that such a life inevitably entails. Whenever Giovanni returned to his real home and his real family, he needed to perform an invariable ritual: he parked in his driveway, removed his jeweled pinky ring, and dropped it in a cup holder, trying to drop the Gatto identity as well. \u003ci\u003eGiovanni’s Ring\u003c\/i\u003e is a story that is by turns astonishing, electrifying, gut-wrenching, and always deeply human.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1: A Day in the Life\u003cbr\u003e 2: The University of Bayonne\u003cbr\u003e 3: Accidental Cop\u003cbr\u003e 4: Back on the Streets\u003cbr\u003e 5: T.F.O.\u003cbr\u003e 6: Home Fires\u003cbr\u003e 7: Small(s) Beginnings\u003cbr\u003e 8: Jealous Mistress\u003cbr\u003e 9: Lui “The Dog”\u003cbr\u003e 10: Making the Jump—Gambinos\u003cbr\u003e 11: Creeping Suspicions\u003cbr\u003e 12: First Contact\u003cbr\u003e 13: Operation Charlie Horse\u003cbr\u003e 14: Planting the Flag\u003cbr\u003e 15: Love and War\u003cbr\u003e 16: Charlie’s Waking Nightmare\u003cbr\u003e 17: Las Vegas\u003cbr\u003e 18: Too Close to Home\u003cbr\u003e 19: The Dog Picks Up a Scent\u003cbr\u003e 20: Game of Chairs\u003cbr\u003e 21: On the Record\u003cbr\u003e 22: Tested\u003cbr\u003e 23: The Bonds of Iniquity\u003cbr\u003e 24: Building a Crew\u003cbr\u003e 25: Cugine\u003cbr\u003e 26: Unwired\u003cbr\u003e 27: Whack the Dog—Act I\u003cbr\u003e 28: Controlling the Crazies\u003cbr\u003e 29: Whack the Dog—Act II\u003cbr\u003e 30: Mobster Conclave\u003cbr\u003e 31: Nut Job Freddie\u003cbr\u003e 32: Whack the Dog—Act III\u003cbr\u003e 33: Hotsy-Totsy Shrimp\u003cbr\u003e 34: End Game\u003cbr\u003e 35: Arrest\u003cbr\u003e 36: Home Alone\u003cbr\u003e Q \u0026amp; A with “Giovanni Rocco”\u003cbr\u003e  ","brand":"Chicago Review Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51359865536855,"sku":"9781641608053","price":15.26,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781641608053.jpg?v=1754125945","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/giovannis-ring-my-life-inside-the-real-sopranos-9781641608053","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}