Chin, Larry McShane
Chin, Larry McShane
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Chin
The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante

Author: Larry McShane

Narrator: Paul Costanzo

Unabridged: 11 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/18/2016


Synopsis

Vincent "Chin" Gigante

He started out as a professional boxer—until he found his true calling as a ruthless contract killer. His doting mother's pet name for the boy evolved into his famous alias, "Chin," a nickname that struck fear throughout organized crime as he routinely ordered the murders of mobsters who violated the Mafia code.

Vincent Gigante was hand-picked by Vito Genovese to run the Genovese Family when Vito was sent to prison. Chin raked in more than $100 million for the Genovese Family, all while evading federal investigators. At the height of his power, he controlled an underworld empire of close to three hundred made men.

And yet Vincent Gigante was, to all outside appearances, certifiably crazy. A serial psychiatric hospital outpatient, he wandered the streets of Greenwich Village in a ratty bathrobe and slippers. He urinated in public, played pinochle in storefronts, and hid a second family from his wife. On twenty-two occasions, he admitted himself to a mental hospital. It took nearly thirty years of endless psychiatric evaluations by a parade of puzzled doctors for federal authorities to finally bring him down.

About Larry McShane

Native New Yorker Larry McShane is a thirty-five-year veteran city reporter, first with the Associated Press and currently with the New York Daily News. The Seton Hall University graduate was a two-time AP New York State Staffer of the Year, and received awards for both feature writing and breaking news coverage during his career. Larry is the author of Cops Under Fire and Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on May 03, 2016

Review originally posted at Book of Bogan I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Chin is a biography of a Mafia boss, Vincent Gigante, referred to by the nickname The Chin. He was a significant Mafia boss in the Genovese crime family who spent most of his life tryi......more

Goodreads review by Pete on October 18, 2021

This was a very good account of perhaps the most fascinating mobster in America's criminal culture. It is not difficult to see why Gigante's adversaries, in both organized crime and the legal community had a grudging respect for the man.......more

Goodreads review by Jkhickel on July 04, 2016

I was a little disappointed. First of all, I tend to distrust nonfiction books that don't have an index or list of references. Larry McShane is a New York Daily News reporter, and he seems to have simply locked himself in the clip room, conducted a search for all the news stories about Chin, then st......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on May 14, 2019

Interesting. I was attracted to this book because of the psychological aspects. The author wrote in a fast paced-dramatic way that kept the reader interested...I also have a perverse enjoyment of the various Mob nicknames.........more

Goodreads review by Jake on May 09, 2022

When I'd first heard of Chin Gigante, I was more fascinated with the idea that the mob had a thriving operation in Greenwich Village, an area I've always associated with Bohemians and the LGBTQIA+ community. Apparently, for a time, it was a landing spot for Italian immigrants. I was later fascinated......more