Animal

The Bloody Rise and Fall of the Mob's Most Feared Assassin

By: Casey Sherman

Narrated by: Jim Goad

From the author of Boston Strong: A City’s Triumph Over Tragedy

“Joseph Barboza is the most dangerous individual known.” -FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, 1965

Joe Barboza knew that there were two requirements for getting inducted into the Mafia. You had to be Sicilian. And you had to commit a contract killing. The New Bedford-born mobster was a proud Portuguese, not Sicilian, but his dream to be part of La Cosa Nostra proved so strong that he thought he could create a loophole. If he killed enough men, if he did enough of the Mafia’s dirtiest biddings, then they would have no choice but to make him a Made Man.

Barboza’s brutal rise during one of the deadliest mob wars in US history became the stuff of legend, both on the bloodied streets of Boston and in the offices of the FBI and the US Attorney General. He took sick joy in his crimes, and it became increasingly difficult for the mob to keep the Animal on his leash. But soon the hunter became the hunted. Betrayed by the mob and now on the run, Boston’s most notorious contract killer forged a Faustian bargain with two unscrupulous FBI agents - a pact that would transform the US criminal justice system.

From false testimony and manipulated evidence that sent mob leaders to death row, to the creation of the Witness Protection Program so the feds could protect their prized, cold-blooded witness, this was the horrific, dramatic first act in a story of murder and FBI corruption still being played out today in the news and the courtroom with the capture and trial of Whitey Bulger. Barboza’s legacy, buried for years thanks to the murders or deaths of its participants, is finally coming to light and being told in its unvarnished brutality by one of America’s most respected true crime writers.

©2013 Northeastern University (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

animal indeed

givesa a food look into the life of ananimal and how he died and lived like one.

excellent!!!

good read! takes you there. really enjoyed all the different angles it is told from!!

Decent New England Mob Story

Animal was an interesting Boston mob story. I was not that familiar with the Boston mob group known as “The Office”. That alone was news to me. I knew Chicago called themselves “The Outfit” but the office was new to me. I knew of Whitey Bulger because who didn’t? I knew he was a part of the Irish mob and associated with the famous bank robbery and armored truck robbing crews out of Charlestown Mass. Bulger is mentioned in this book but he is not a main character. The Animal or Barbosa as was the sir name he used for most of his life, was an old school mob associate and most definitely a stone cold killer. If you like mob books you’ll enjoy this one. It was worth the read or being read to as it were. I gave it 4 Stars.

well written story. definitely keeps the listener engaged.

outstanding narration. a great reading that captured the darkness of the subject matter. a perfect performance

pretty good listen

The narrator did a good job. interesting story. There were a ton of avenues that could have been explored more but overall a good listen.