Search results for ""Author Phyllis Karas""

I grew up in the Old Colony housing project in South Boston and became partners with James "Whitey" Bulger, who I always called Jimmy. Jimmy and I, we were unstoppable. We took what we wanted. And we made people disappear-permanently. We made millions. And if someone ratted us out, we killed him. We were not nice guys. I found out that Jimmy had been an FBI informant in 1999, and my life was never the same. When the feds finally got me, I was faced with something Jimmy would have killed me for-cooperating with the authorities. I pled guilty to twenty-nine counts, including five murders. I went away for five and a half years. I was brutally honest on the witness stand, and this book is brutally honest, too; the brutal truth that was never before told. How could it? Only three people could tell the true story. With one on the run and one in jail for life, it falls on me.

Read more less

Women of Southie tells the story of six women, who grew up in and, in most cases, still live in their beloved town of South Boston, a place sadly and most notably recognized as the home of James “Whitey” Bulger, the organized crime boss captured in 2011 after 16 years on the run, and sentenced in 2013 to life in prison for 11 murders. But while Bulger might have been ruling the town with an iron fist, as depicted by Johnny Depp, in “Black Mass,” what the town ought to have been recognized for are the far braver women who ruled their own lives and their families with equally strong but far more beneficial hands. Six of these women are depicted in this book, each of whom faced hurdles more frightening than mobsters. Death of loved ones, suicide, murder, addiction, abuse, post traumatic stress disorder are some of the demons they faced. Yet, none of these women ever backed down from an important fight, each one emerging, on the pages of this book as a shining light of what love and courage and an indomitable spirit can accomplish. The stories of these women, whose ages range from 40-67, are filled with honest details, some heartbreaking but all ultimately courageous and inspirational. Talking always honestly, about their children, their men, their losses, and their successes, they are shining examples that, in today’s world, it is the words of strong women that offer the antidote to loss and pain.

Read more less

Even more compelling reading since the murder of Whitey Bulger! Writer Kevin Weeks was top Lieutenant to James "Whitey" Bulger, head of the South Boston Irish Mob, who was on the run for more than 16 years before his capture on June 22, 2011. While on the FBI Most Wanted list with a two million dollar reward, Whitey had been second only to Osama bin Laden. HUNTED DOWN is a story of murder, friendship and loyalty within the mob, using many situations that Weeks could have omitted from his NYT bestselling memoir, BRUTAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF MY LIFE INSIDE WHITEY BULGER'S IRISH MOB. While HUNTED DOWN is fiction, its insider knowledge makes it all the more intriguing, with hints toward where Whitey and his companion Catherine Greig may actually have spent those 16 years on the run. In this story, Joey Donahue is released from prison after serving six years for racketeering and crimes committed as deputy to the infamous South Boston Irish Mob boss and psychopathic murderer Whitey Bulger. This time, he is determined to stay clear of the life of crime that has supported him for the past twenty-five years. After a year of trying unsuccessfully to find a job due to his notorious association with Bulger, Joey finally surrenders to the temptation of a friend's offer to join him in a fast score, a simple robbery of a drug dealer that should pay the bills until he finds a viable job. The robbery turns out to be a sting operation set up by the FBI for the express purpose of forcing Joey to cooperate in the frustratingly unsuccessful search for his onetime mentor. With Joey reluctantly partnered with an FBI agent, the hunt for Whitey takes place against an international backdrop until the old friends finally meet up in a high-stakes climax, ending the game of cat and mouse once and for all. It is speculated that Bulger is also the inspiration for the ruthless crime kingpin Francis "Frank" Costello, played by Jack Nicholson in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning film The Departed (2006).

Read more less