Hitman, Howie Carr
Hitman, Howie Carr
1 Rating(s)
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
Club: $11.47

Hitman
The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano, Whitey Bulger’s Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld

Author: Howie Carr

Narrator: Keith Szarabajka

Unabridged: 12 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/26/2011


Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Brothers Bulger comes the story of Johnny Martorano, whom the FBI called “the most feared man in the underworld.”Martin Scorsese’s The Departed barely touched his story, but radio talk show sensation, crime reporter, and Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr takes us into the heart of the life of Johnny Martorano. For two decades, Martorano struck fear into anyone remotely connected to his world. His partnership with Whitey Bulger and the infamous Winter Hill Gang led to twenty murders, for which Johnny would serve only twelve years in prison. Carr also looks at the politicians and FBI agents who aided Johnny and Whitey and at the vibrant city of Boston which they so ruthlessly ruled. But most of all, Carr depicts Johnny—the most fascinating crime figure Carr has ever encountered. A plethora of paradoxes, he was Mr. Mom by day and man-about-town by night. Surrounded by fast-living politicians, sports celebrities, and show-biz entertainers, Johnny was charismatically colorful—as charming as he was frightening. After all, he was, in the end, a hitman.

About Howie Carr

Howie Carr is an award-winning front-page columnist for the Boston Herald and the host of The Howie Carr Show, a popular New England drive-time talk radio program. Known for his scathing exposés of local politicians, he is regularly featured on NBC’s Today, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and CNN. In 1985 he won a National Magazine Award, the magazine industry’s equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize. He has been nominated for an Emmy. He lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

About Keith Szarabajka

Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins’s Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michaela on October 26, 2012

The stories of the Mafia, Irish Mob, and the Winter Hill Gang, are stories of death, loyalty, betrayal, secrets and corruption. In Howie Carr's fascinating novel Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger's Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld, the crime world is......more

Goodreads review by Danny on March 03, 2024

Brutal and Ruthless This is a fabulous account of the bloody Boston mafias and the story of Whitey Bulger, and to a lesser extent, his POS brother the politician who lives like a king still. It's amazing how many dirty cops and politicians were in bed with these ruthless killers, and more amazing how......more

Goodreads review by Liz on October 26, 2024

A lot of very good information in this book, however, if you are newer to the history of the Boston mob scene, there are a ton of names and places and events and not a ton of organization of info (it does meander chronologically), so for a newbie to this subject it would probably be confusing. Excel......more

Goodreads review by Walt on April 26, 2012

There is so much information available about Whitey Bulger that this book risks being left in the middle of the pack. The fact that Bill O'Reilly endorsed the book was a major handicap for this reader. There is the occasional jab at the Democrats; but maybe I am overly sensitive after seeing O'Reill......more

Goodreads review by Paul on December 18, 2020

3 and 1/2 stars out of 5. Having lived in Boston for a number of years during part of the period covered in this book, I found this to be an intriguing read. Lots of interesting details about various well-known criminals. My major complaint with the book is the author's failure to give more backgrou......more


Quotes

“Howie Carr weaves a frightening tale of unlawful conduct, and it’s all true.” Bill O’Reilly, Fox News commentator and bestselling author

“The indictments of mobster-mangled Boston continue to rain down in Howie Carr’s superb new true-crime book, Hitman. It’s horrifying, it’s deadpan shocking, it’s a brilliant treatise on criminal psychopathy and a portrait of a city defined and subverted by hoodlums run amok. Read this book—it will grab you, garrote you, and leave you gasping for breath.” James Ellroy, New York Times bestselling author of American Tabloid and LA Confidential

“Boston Herald columnist Carr has produced a rat-a-tat journey through Boston’s underworld…This will especially appeal to those interested in the history of organized crime and Boston.” Library Journal