The New York Times bestselling author of The Westies and Paddy Whacked offers a front-row seat at the trial of Whitey Bulger, and an intimate view of the world of organized crime—and law enforcement—that made him the defining Irish American gangster.
For sixteen years, Whitey Bulger eluded the long reach of the law. For decades one of the most dangerous men in America, Bulger—the brother of influential Massachusetts senator Billy Bulger—was often romanticized as a Robin Hood-like thief and protector. While he was functioning as the de facto mob boss of New England, Bulger was also serving as a Top Echelon informant for the FBI, covertly feeding local prosecutors information about other mob figures—while using their cover to cleverly eliminate his rivals, reinforce his own power, and protect himself from prosecution. Then, in 2011, he was arrested in southern California and returned to Boston, where he was tried and convicted of racketeering and murder.
Our greatest chronicler of the Irish mob in America, T. J. English covered the trial at close range—by day in the courtroom, but also, on nights and weekends, interviewing Bulger’s associates as well as lawyers, former federal agents, and even members of the jury in the backyards and barrooms of Whitey’s world. In Where the Bodies Were Buried, he offers a startlingly revisionist account of Bulger’s story—and of the decades-long culture of collusion between the Feds and the Irish and Italian mob factions that have ruled New England since the 1970s, when a fateful deal left the FBI fatally compromised. English offers an authoritative look at Bulger’s own understanding of his relationship with the FBI and his alleged immunity deal, and illuminates how gangsterism, politics, and law enforcement have continued to be intertwined in Boston.
As complex, harrowing, and human as a Scorsese film, Where the Bodies Were Buried is the last word on a reign of terror that many feared would never end.
Published: September 15, 2015
My Review:
I grew up just south of Boston, where any reference to “Whitey” didn’t need to be followed by a last name. Even those of us who didn’t know the details, knew Whitey was a notorious local mobster, loved by some and hated by others. This book unravels the tangled mess of mobsters, connections, and the various law enforcement agencies involved from start to finish in Whitey’s criminal life.
Talking to Joe Salvati was like being in the presence of a living ghost. He was the link between what I had been observing daily at the federal courthouse in Boston during the Bulger trial, and the historical quagmire that had given rise to Whitey. For the first time, I realized that the trial wasn’t only about Bulger, it was about the vast network of people and events that were wrapped up in a historical continuum that seemed to never end.
I found this to be an easy read, as far as writing style and the way the content is presented. But it’s not a light or a quick read, nor could it be given the subject matter. The author provides a detailed account of events, with all the intricacies within the many relationships. We’re taken into Whitey’s life as his crimes become more blatant and brutal. Then we’re taken through his trial, where witnesses relive the events.
In the case against Whitey Bulger, history was on trial. There were those aspects of history that had been cobbled together to form the RICO charges against Bulger, acts of crime both depraved and voluminous. But there was also the history that was being omitted; history that the jury would never hear about because the prosecutors and the Court – meaning the judge – would do everything in their power to make sure it did not become a significant factor in the trial.
The corruption and complicity regarding the FBI’s treatment of Whitey and his associates is, for lack of a better word, astounding. This, I think, is the heart of the story, because without that complicity, Whitey’s criminal enterprise would never have gone on as it did.
Hoover authorized Jimmy Flemmi’s role as a Top Echelon Informant knowing that he was a homicidal maniac whose stated goal was to become the biggest hit man in Boston.
This book shines a spotlight on our government’s practice of recruiting high-level criminal informants, of protecting them, and of the shroud of secrecy surrounding it all. For that reason alone, whether you care about Whitey Bulger or not, this book needs to be read and talked about. Until we demand changes, this type of atrocity will happen again and again, and will remain cloaked in government secrecy.
Thanks for reading. 