Unlocked: The Life and Crimes of a Mafia Insider

By Louis Ferrante

Book Overview

From Louis Ferrante, a one-time mafia thug and federal prison inmate, comes this remarkable and moving memoir of his journey from a life of crime to that of a promising writer

Up until his incarceration, Louis Ferrante led the life of a mobster. As a young ruffian, he made his reputation by leading a street gang and shooting a neighborhood bully. Later, he became connected with John Gotti Jr. and the Gambino crime family. During his time with the mob, Ferrante committed the most lucrative robberies in US history, many of which are still unsolved. But soon enough, the law caught up to him. Indictments came from the Secret Service, the Nassau County Organized Crime Force, and the FBI (twice) and Louis found himself behind bars.

In jail, Louis read his first book and a new world was opened up to him. During the course of his 8 years he read everything from Caesar's Gallic Wars to Danielle Steele and everything in between. With only what he could teach himself, Louis successfully appealed his own conviction, a landmark case that now appears in textbooks. In addition to law, Ferrante studied the three major faiths, including Buddhism. He eventually chose to become an Orthodox Jew.

Free from prison, Ferrante's memoir retells his meteoric rise to the upper-echelon of the mafia hierarchy, his time in prison, and the astonishing turn around his life has made. After spending most of his life involved with crime or in jail, Louis Ferrante has reinvented himself as a writer. With a crisp yet harsh writing style similar to Charles Bukowski, Ferrante's stories of crime with the mob and his time spent in prison are sure to captivate audiences.

--Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061133868
• ISBN13: 9780061133862
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Well told story in a non-politically correct way - thank God!

I don't usually read books about prison or crime. I bought this book because the sub-title said "from prison to Proust". I happened to be reading some Proust at the time and became intrigued at the thought of a convict reading the same. So, after reading the book description, I decided to take a chance on it. Worth every cent. If the "f" word terrorizes you, you'll be a basket case by story's end. Yet this isn't gratuitous cursing like in the movies. It's part and parcel of Ferrante's world, which would sound completely ridiculous if you tried substituting "freakin" like they do when certain movies make it to the television wasteland. I won't go through the events Ferrante records. This is a very honest book told in a straightforward manner. It is NOT politically correct in any sense of the word, and I found that alone quite refreshing. All the blemishes of Ferrante's pre,ongoing and post-prison life are presented without any cosmetics, racial slurs and all. If you're one of those types who takes obligatory offense at everything not sanitized for your perusal, spare your phony sensibilities the counterfeit shock and stick to books already pre-chewed for your intellectual malnutrition. When this book arrived in the mail I didn't intend to read it right off because I had two other books I needed to finish. But when I started skimming the book I read the first chapter. After that I was hooked and put my other reading aside. Just finished it today. Ferrante tells his story very well, makes no excuses and embellishes nothing. Much of it is sad to contemplate. But his own tenacious overcoming of a bad life strictly by awakened sincerity of desire through the vehicle of literature in the most hostile of environments is storytelling in the grand tradition. I've read a lot of books and not all of them made me feel like I got a good return on my money or time. When I closed the book I felt like I'd been touched in the place where a good book is supposed to touch you. It made me think and feel differently from when I did before I read it. And, in my view, that's what a good book is supposed to do.

A journey worth taking...

A thought provoking look into the underworld, and one man's journey to better himself in a harsh reality that followed. Louis Ferrante walks you throught pages of his life in the mob, solitary, and finding faith and strength in religion to carry on.

Incredible story

I picked this up on Friday and was done by dinner time on Saturday. Incredibly written, will no doubt be a major motion picture soon. A great story of redemption from an author who uses his time in prison to better himself to the Nth degree. Make this the next book you purchase. You can't go wrong.

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "A CLASSIC! FROM THE MAFIA, TO PRISON, TO BECOMING AN ORTHODOX JEW!"

This book is the no-holds barred true story of Louis "Lou" Ferrante's life, which started out as a seventeen-year-old hijacker of trucks in New York. It traces his rise (or dissent, depending on your point of view.) from a teenage criminal who slowly built his own "crew", pulling enough successful jobs and creating enough mayhem to come to the attention of famed Gambino mob leader John Gotti. His connection with Gotti then helped elevate his scores from trucks full of bra's, electronics and garments, to million-dollar armored truck heists. Numerous state and federal convictions including credit card fraud and armed robbery were aided by the lowest form of a criminal organism, the totally despised "RAT"! The words penned in this book are straight from Lou's gut and soul, with no "ivy-league" filtering to "pretty up" the words. I was born in New York and fifteen minutes into this book it was as if I was back on the streets "talkin" with the people I grew up with. After one of Lou's first big hijackings which was a truckload of tools and toolboxes worth over a $100,000.00 he summed up his view on life at the time: "I was seventeen-years-old, I liked girls. I liked fist fighting; I liked to drive fast cars. I liked hamburgers and French fries. I liked playing stickball in the school yard. And I'd just realized that I liked to hijack trucks." The author describes everyday mob life down to the smallest detail and shares insights with the reader such as ways of "respect" that don't include a gun: "Jimmy the Jeweler" ran alone, didn't need a Mob to make him tough. He took no orders, gave none, and reported to no one. In a world in which fear and muscle rule, Jimmy never even threatened anyone. He was respected because of his word. And everyone liked him." As Lou pulled bigger and better jobs, "Mafia Rats" a heretofore unheard of trend due to the code of "OMERTA" was starting to become a growing phenomenon. At this point in time Lou was so "wrapped up in his "bullsh*t life that he didn't realize that he was rising in the Mafia at the same time the Mafia was in decline." The "life" that Lou was in, included as many "sit-downs" to settle disputes between different families and "made men" and associates, as it did actual crime. One particularly poetic dispute over a difference of opinion regarding a brother of one of Lou's friends beating up a mob associate, as a retaliation for his having been beaten up by that same mob associate. (understand?) Then the associate ratted to the police. So a meeting between Lou and a representative for the rat went like this: Lou asked: "You sticking up for a rat?" "He ain't no rat!" "He called the cops on my friend." "Yea but he dropped the charges." "So he ain't a rat no more? Is that like I'm only gay on weekends? He dropped im cause I threatened his life, he's still a rat." "It only matters that he dropped im." "Really? Why not take this upstairs." I was referring to John Gotti. "See what he thinks about defendin' a c

A real winner....

This book is a must read. You'll be captivated by the first page and won't put it down until the last. Not your typical Mafia story. Interesting and compelling, it is well written with honesty and amazing life experiences. Although brutal at times, it is funny and heartfelt. A true triumph for the author. I highly recommend it!