Mary Jane Ross

Albert DeMeo

The son of Roy DeMeo, the head of the Gambino crime family's squad of killers and thieves, describes coming of age in the world of organized crime, the murder of his father when he was seventeen, his love for his father despite his criminal career, and his determination to escape his father's doomed and dangerous life. Reprint.

A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life

For the Sins of My Father

A suspenseful, emotionally charged real-life Sopranos: The son of New York's most notorious Mafia killer reveals the conflicted life he led being raised by a cold-blooded murderer, who was also a devoted family man, and the wrenching legacy of Mafia family life. Al DeMeo will never forget the day in 1992 when a coworker, a fellow trader at the New York Stock Exchange, taunted him with a copy of the hot new book Murder Machine, chronicling the horrific criminal life of DeMeo's father, Roy, the head of the most deadly gang in organized crime. The moment sent DeMeo into a psychological tailspin: How could he have spent his life looking up to, and loving, a vicious killer? For the Sins of My Father recounts the chilling rise and fall of the man who led the Gambino family's most fearsome killers and thieves, through the eyes of a son who had never known any other kind of life. Coming of age in an opulent Long Island house where money is abundant but its source is unclear, Al becomes Roy's confidant, sent to call in loans at age fourteen and gradually coming to understand his father's job description--loan shark, car thief, porn purveyor and, above all, murderer. But when Al is seventeen, Roy's body is found in the trunk of a car, a gangland slaying that places Al between federal prosecutors seeking his testimony and a mob crew determined to keep him quiet. Desperate to abide by the father-son bond, but equally determined to escape his father's dangerous and doomed life, Al Demeo embarks on a courageous quest for the truth, reconciliation, and honor. With the implacable narrative drive of a thriller and the power of a painfully honest memoir, For the Sins of My Father presents a startling and unprecedented perspective on the underworld of organized crime, exposing for the first time the cruel legacy of a Mafia life.

Roy DeMeo was one of the Mafia's most cold-blooded killers - personally responsible for up to 200 murders. His grisly methods of disposing of his victims appear to have been an inspiration for similar killings enacted in TV's hugely popular The Sopranos. Albert DeMeo is his son. who led the Gambino family's most fearsome killers and thieves, through the eyes of a son who had never known any other kind of life. Coming of age in an opulent Long Island house where money was abundant but its source was unclear, Al became Roy's confidant, sent to call in loans at age 14 and gradually coming to understand what his father actually did for a living: loan shark, car thief, porn purveyor and, above all, murderer. But when Al was 17, Roy's body was found in the trunk of a car, a gangland slaying that placed Al between federal prosecutors seeking his testimony and a Mob crew determined to keep him quiet. DeMeo's horrific criminal life, and the revelations led his son to a nervous breakdown. How could he have spent his life looking up to, and loving, a vicious killer? Roy's dangerous and doomed life, Al DeMeo embarked on a courageous quest for the truth, reconciliation, and honour. With the implacable narrative drive of a thriller and the power of a painfully honest memoir, For the Sins of My Father presents a startling perspective on the underworld of organized crime, exposing the cruel legacy of a Mafia life.

Albert DeMeo

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