For the Sins of My Father by Albert Demeo

For the Sins of My Father: A Mafia Killer, His Son, and the Legacy of a Mob Life by Albert Demeo

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Roy Demeo was a devoted father, a loving husband and a pillar of the local community. He took his children to school in the mornings, cooked Sunday breakfast for the family every week and organised 4th of July parties for the whole neighbourhood. Yet when his son Albert was asked in class what his father did for a living he was unable to give an answer. The truth was that his father was a mafioso, a wise guy, a car thief, extortionist and a brutal hit man for the Gambino family.

This autobiography is told from the point of view of Albert Demeo as he grows up in a prosperous Italian-American household in the seventies. The comfortable lifestyle is shown to have a darker edge as he slowly comes to realise exactly who his father is as he sees the contradictions between the family man at home, and the man who seems to have an endless supply of money in envelopes collected every week. As the family moves up in society, their million dollar mansion slowly becomes a prison, and Albert's father sinks into depression, knowing that he will never escape the life of a mobster that he has chosen.

Roy's fate is bloodily inevitable, but the question that kept me turning the pages is whether Albert would follow in his father's footsteps or if he would find a way to walk away from the cycle of violence and retribution. The back cover blurb compares the book to a true life Sopranos, and it is very easy to see the similarities in the expansive circle of family, friends and 'business associates', and the sleazy clubs and diners that the mobsters frequent to transact their dealings.

An utterly compelling view of life in the mob, well worth reading. Many thanks to Nancy for passing on her copy!


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