Operation Family Secrets

How a Mobster's Son and the FBI Brought Down Chicago's Murderous Crime Family

By: Frank Calabrese Jr., Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman, Paul Pompian

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

The Calabrese family of Chicago is a close-knit, middle-class, multi-generational Italian-Irish-American clan. They operate family businesses. They work day and night striving for the American Dream. All three sons forge a bond with their controlling father, Frank Sr., and their soft-spoken favorite uncle, Nick. As a boy, the oldest son, Frank Jr., realizes that his father and uncle are also "made" members of another close-knit family: the outfit.

In Operation Family Secrets, Frank Calabrese, Jr., tells the turbulent tale of a family dominated by a violent patriarch who breaks a long-standing unwritten outfit code and "brings the street into his home" by enlisting two of his sons into the outfit's 26th Street/Chinatown crew. Calabrese reveals for the first time the outfit's "made" ceremony and describes being put to work alongside his father and uncle in loan sharking, gambling, labor racketeering, and extortion, and plotting the slaying of a fellow gangster, while they commit the bombing murder of a trucking executive, the gangland execution of two mobsters whose burial in an Indiana cornfield was reenacted in Martin Scorsese's blockbuster film Casino, and numerous other hits.

The Calabrese crew's colossal earnings and extreme ruthlessness made them both a dreaded criminal gang and the object of an intense FBI inquiry. Eventually Frank Jr., his father, and Uncle Nick are convicted on racketeering violations, and "Junior" and "Senior" are sent to the same federal penitentiary in Michigan. Upon arrival, Frank Jr. makes a life-changing decision: to go straight rather than agree to his father's plans to resume crew activities after serving his sentence. But he needs to keep his father behind bars in order to regain control of his life and save his family. Frank Jr. makes a secret deal with prosecutors, and for six months - unmonitored and unprotected - he wears a wire as his father recounts decades of hideous crimes.

©2011 Frank Calabrese, Junior, Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman, and Paul Pompian (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An undeniably engaging tale, capturing the nitty-gritty of daily life in the 'crews' of the Outfit. A useful and readable addition to Mob Lit." ( Kirkus)

Captivating

It always amazes me how differently we are all raised. To hear real stories of what Hollywood has been known to sensualize is interesting.

Inside knowledge of the outfit.

Milan Michigan is pronounced My Lan, not like the city in Italy. 15 word minumin.

What a Story!

Happened to see Frank Calabrese Jr. at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. Hpe is an eloquent speaker and has a fantastic ability to tell his story that keeps you interested. As a nation we are definitely intrigued by gangsters. He was so brave to testify against his Father. We all have toxic family members, his could have killed him. What insight he had to recognize how sick his father was and how toxic he was and decided to finally stand up to him which meant it could cost him his life.

The book is fantastic. Franks story is crazy. His love of his family is so genuine. Highly recommend.

Good Chicago Outfit Book

This book talks about well known Outfit guys who controlled the Pilsen/Chinatown area on Chicago's near South Side. Good and insightful. Horrific and ruthless sometimes. If you want to know the streets, this book is for you.

The best mob book I've heard

The best mob book I've heard in here. Definitely a must read/listen. get it now