Rat Bastards
Rat Bastards is a book written by John Shea. The book was published in 2006 and is listed under the Biography & Autobiography category. For readers who want to quickly understand what this title offers, this page gives a clear overview of the book, including its description, author information, page count, ratings, and ISBN details.
The full title of the book is Rat Bastards. When available, the subtitle is The Life and Times of South Boston’s Most Honorable Irish Mobster, which gives extra context about the theme, focus, or main idea behind the book. According to the available description, You’ve met the Italian mob in The Godfather, now welcome to the real-life world of Irish America’s own murderous clan of organized crime The man who has remained silent for more than a decade finally speaks, revealing the gritty true story of his life inside the infamous South Boston Irish mob led by the elusive, Machiavellian kingpin Whitey Bulger, who to this day remains on the lam as one of the world’s Ten Most Wanted criminals, second only to Osama bin Laden. John “Red” Shea was a top lieutenant in the South Boston Irish mob, rising to this position at the age of twenty-one. Thus began his tutelage under the notorious Irish godfather James “Whitey” Bulger. An ice-cold enforcer with a legendary red-hot temper, Shea was a legend among his Southie peers in the 1980s. From the first delivery truck he robbed at thirteen to the start of his twelve-year federal sentence for drug trafficking at twenty-seven, Shea was a portrait in American crime — a terror, brutal and ruthlessly ambitious. Drug dealer, loan shark, money launderer, and multimillion-dollar narcotics kingpin, Shea was at the pinnacle of power — until the feds came knocking and eventually obliterated the legendary mob in a well-orchestrated sweep of arrests, fueled by insider tips to the FBI and DEA. While Bulger’s other top men turned informant to save their own hides, Shea alone kept his code of honor and his mouth shut — loyalty that earned him a dozen years of hard time even as the man he was protecting turned out to be, himself, a rat. For in the end, in a remarkable show of betrayal, Bulger turned out to be the FBI’s “main man” and top informant — tipping off the feds for decades while still managing to operate one of the most murderous and profitable organized crime outfits of all time. In Rat Bastards, Shea brings that mysterious world and gritty urban Irish American street culture into sharp focus by telling his own story — of his fatherless upbringing, his apprenticeship on the tough streets of Southie, and his love affair with trouble, boxing, and then the gangster life. In prose that is refreshingly honest, personal, and surprisingly tender, Shea tells his harrowing, unflinching, and unapologetic story. A man who did the crime, did the time, and held fast to the Irish code of silence, which he was raised to follow at any cost, Shea remains a man of honor and in doing so has become a living legend. One of the last of a dying breed, a true stand-up guy. Shea expects no forgiveness and makes no excuses for the life he chose. His story is intense, compelling, and in your face.
This book has 304 pages, making it useful for readers who want to know the approximate length before starting. It has an average rating of 3.51, based on 34 ratings, which can help readers understand how other people have responded to it.
For cataloging and reference purposes, the ISBN-13 is 9780060837167, while the ISBN-10 is 0060837160. These numbers are helpful when searching for the exact edition of the book online, in libraries, or in bookstores.
The book cover image can be viewed here: http://books.google.com/books/content?id=YggEjFQfDisC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&source=gbs_api.
Overall, Rat Bastards by John Shea is a title that may interest readers looking for books in Biography & Autobiography. Whether you are researching new books, comparing editions, or building a reading list, this page gives you the most important details in one place.
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