The Squad

Library Journal

In one of the most successful prosecutions ever of organized crime, 17 members of the Philadelphia Mafia, including boss Nicky Scarfo, received long prison terms for murder and racketeering in 1988. Cox's book is based primarily on the trials he attended. The result is an adequate overview, but one which is repetitious and tedious at times. His good guys/bad guys approach, while not inappropriate (these Mafioso were very bad guys), does lack the vivid, human particulars supplied by Joseph Salerno, a witness against Scarfo, in his and Stephen J. Rivele's The Plumber ( LJ 1/90). Neither book is first rate, but this is a more complete account of the trial and is suitable for organized crime collections.-- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis