In Crime's Way: A Generation of Secret Service Adventures

By Carmine J. Motto

A retired Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service's special anti-counterfeiting detail in New York and author of the bestseller Undercover, Carmine J. Motto has lived a long and storied life. From witnessing a triple execution at New York's notorious Sing-Sing prison to thwarting an assassination attempt on the life of Harry Truman, Motto's name would make the list of any Law Enforcement Hall of Fame. In fact, so renowned are his exploits, that they were portrayed in a 20th Century Fox motion picture starring Burt Lancaster as Motto (Mr. 880). Now, readers can learn all about the real-life experiences of this "Top Cop." In Crime's Way: A Generation of Secret Service Adventures, is a series of true, authentic and fascinating stories of Motto's 60 years in law enforcement bringing counterfeiters, conspirators and scoundrels to justice. Follow his colorful career from police officer to secret service agent as he tells about being a cop in New York the night of the famous Orson Wells's "Invasion from Mars" radio broadcast, tracking a suspect who murdered his parents for their life insurance, or showing up to arrest a suspect, only to find himself as the witness for the man's marriage. While the book is written by and is about Motto, he is not the central character, but can be viewed almost like a narrator. Motto observes and participates in the action, but the real story is about the people he encounters. Most are presented in their own environment and situations of their own making as a result of their pursuit of an "easy dollar." No hot pursuits, exploding cars, or gun battles here. With his remarkable aptitude for story telling, Motto has preserved actual stories of life and the underworld as he saw it from his position as a renowned counterfeit investigator.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0849322596
• ISBN13: 9780849322594
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: CRC Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Carmine and Robert Motto: brothers in the Secret Service

I highly recommend this thriller of a book. Very well written as well. For True Crime ethusiasts. For the Secret Service enthusiasts, some interesting background--- Robert J. Motto, 88, a former Secret Service agent who protected five presidents in his 21-year career, died Tuesday, March 19, 2002, in his Downers Grove, Illinois, home after a heart attack. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Motto attended City College of New York and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946 in counterintelligence. After the war, he was an investigator with the U.S. Postal Service in New York. Mr. Motto joined the Secret Service in 1949 and over the years worked in field offices in St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Springfield and Washington, D.C. He retired in 1970 as the assistant to the special agent in charge of the Chicago field office. Mr. Motto and his late brother Carmine, also a Secret Service agent, were renowned for their undercover work, colleagues and family members said. "Both my dad and my uncle were very, very low-key people," said Mr. Motto's niece, Irene Kaufman. "I think that's what helped them both be very successful undercover agents." Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.) Pittsburgh, PA BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)