| |
|
"I heard you paint houses" are the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa. Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures. When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself. Sheeran's important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history. Charles Brandt has written a page-turner that is destined to become a true crime classic.
|
«
Good Book
»
I purchased this book for my husband. He typically does not do much reading, but he could not put this book down. He finished it in only a couple days and loved it.
Rating: 
(5
out of 5) @ 2009-01-06
|
«
movie
»
martin scorsese has begun production of movie for this book starring robert deniro as frank sheeran
Rating: 
(4
out of 5) @ 2008-10-17
|
«
Terrific and nostaligic
»
Solves a mystery, and it's distant enough in time to be fascinating without seeming horrifying. It's basically a narrative confession, and it rings entirely true. Feels true. I was almost more fascinated by the flavors of the time, the cultural aspects of mob life in the "old days." Can you trust this account? Maybe not entirely, since at times the story seems so full of pride and bluster, and surely there's some exaggeration, but it does read like non-fiction, not fiction. Genuinely hard to put down.
Rating:
(4
out of 5) @ 2008-10-04
|
«
Poor condition
»
Received "I Heard You Paint Houses.." by Charles Brandt quickly enough however, the book was in very poor condition (ragged pages and food spots.) It was supposed to be "like new." I threw it out!
Virginia Perry
Rating: 
(1
out of 5) @ 2008-09-11
|
«
EVERYBODY BLEEDS... THE WAY I THINK IT WENT DOWN...
»
...Of course, this is just my opinion after reading Charles Brandt's book, but I have to say Brandt makes a compelling case for the unsolved mystery of Hoffa's dissapearence. "I Heard You Paint Houses," reads like a good detective story and creates a profile of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and his motive for killing Hoffa-- a leading suspect in his murder. The FBI could not get a deathbed confession out of "The Irishman," but Brandt comes close. The information is well researched, factual.
We'll never close the book on this case and Hoffa mystery theories will continue to abound, but myself, as a reader, have to say I think it was the way it went down.
Rating:
(5
out of 5) @ 2008-05-10
|