Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia

George Anastasia

Jan 2015 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

From the New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Honor and The Last Gangster—“one of the most respected crime reporters in the country” (60 Minutes)—comes the sure to be headline-making inside story of the Gotti and Gambino families, told from the unique viewpoint of notorious mob hit-man John Alite, a close associate of Junior Gotti who later testified against him.

In Gotti’s Rules, George Anastasia, a prize-winning reporter who spent over thirty years covering crime, offers a shocking and very rare glimpse into the Gotti family, witnessed up-close from former family insider John Alite, John Gotti Jr.’s longtime friend and protector. Until now, no one has given up the kind of personal details about the Gottis—including the legendary “Gotti Rules” of leadership—that Anastasia exposes here. Drawing on extensive FBI files and other documentation, his own knowledge, and exclusive interviews with insiders and experts, including mob-enforcer-turned-government-witness Alite, Anastasia pokes holes in the Gotti legend, demystifying this notorious family and its lucrative and often deadly machinations.

Anastasia offers never-before-heard information about the murders, drug dealing, and extortion that propelled John J. Gotti to the top of the Gambino crime family and the treachery and deceit that allowed John A. “Junior” Gotti to follow in his father’s footsteps. Told from street level and through the eyes of a wiseguy who saw it all firsthand, the result is a riveting look at a family whose hubris, violence, passion, and greed fueled a bloody rise and devastating fall that is still reverberating through the American underworld today.

Gotti’s Rules includes 8 pages of black-and-white photographs.

Ratings and reviews

George Anastasia is a credible name when it comes to the underworld stories and writes the book well. Of course the whole thing is from one perspective with consistent mentions that the Gotti camp disagrees with these versions of events but that's to be expected. All in all a good book, especially if you want a peak inside the Gotti Cringe Family from an insider's point of view.

Most of it isn't even factual. John Alite was considered to be a poor witness in one of John A. Gotti's trails. Alite is known frequently make up stories to give himself "clout". The fact that George Anastasia would back his story robs him of all credibility as a journalist and author.

You only get Alites side of the story.I've heard Junior was a bumbling idiot but I'd like to hear his side.Hopefully in "the shadow of father" book/movie I'll learn more about Gotti Jr.I do know he was involved in the " scores" extortion but thats about it. All in all ,good book. Alite seemed like the genuine gangster.

About the author

George Anastasia, who spent more than thirty years reporting on crime for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is the grandson of Sicilian immigrants who settled in South Philadelphia. He is the author of six books of nonfiction, including Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob—the Mafia’s Most Violent Family (which Jimmy Breslin called the “best gangster book ever written”); The Last Gangster; and The Summer Wind: Thomas Capano and the Murder of Anne Marie Fahey. He lives in southern New Jersey.