Dennis N. Griffin has 8 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 5 ratings. The most-rated is The Rise and Fall of a "Casino" Mobster.
The Rise and Fall of a "Casino" Mobster
Summary
The true story behind the hit film Casino from an "enforcer" who lived it. Tony Spilotro was the Mob's man in Las Vegas. A feared enforcer, the bosses knew Tony would do whatever it took to protect their interests. The "Little Guy" built a criminal empire that was the envy of mobsters across the country, and his childhood pal, Frank Cullotta, helped him do it. But Tony's quest for power and lack of self-control with women cost the Mob its control of Vegas; and Tony paid for it with his life. "I was a little nervous before my first meeting with former mobster Frank Cullotta. It turned out we had a pleasant conversation that ended with an agreement for me to write his book. As I drove home, I realized I had made a deal with a career thief and killer on a handshake. What was I thinking?" (Dennis N. Griffin, author of Surviving the Mob)
©2017 Frank Cullota, Dennis N. Griffin (P)2017 WildBlue Press
Battle for Las Vegas
Summary
In the 1970s and thru the mid-1980s, the Chicago Outfit was the dominant organized crime family in Las Vegas, with business interests in several casinos. During those years the Outfit and its colleagues in Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland were using Sin City as a cash cow. Commonly referred to as the “skim,” unreported revenue from Outfit-controlled casinos was making its way out of Vegas by the bag full and ending up in the coffers of the crime bosses in those four locations. The skim involved large amounts of money. The operation had to be properly set up and well managed to ensure a smooth cash flow. To accomplish that goal, the gangsters brought in a front man with no criminal record to purchase several casinos. Allen R. Glick, doing business as the Argent Corporation (Allen R. Glick Enterprises) purchased the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina. They next installed Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal as their inside man, and the real boss of the casino operations. Rosenthal was a Chicago native and considered to be a genius when it came to odds-making and sports betting. Under Lefty’s supervision the casino count rooms were accessible to mob.
©2008 Books In Motion (P)2008 Books In Motion
Cullotta
Summary
From burglary to armed robbery and murder, infamous bad guy Frank Cullotta not only did it all, in Cullotta he admits to it - and in graphic detail. This no-holds-barred biography chronicles the life of a career criminal who started out as a thug on the streets of Chicago and became a trusted lieutenant in Tony Spilotro's gang of organized lawbreakers in Las Vegas. Cullotta's was a world of high-profile heists, street muscle, and information - lots of it - about many of the FBI's most wanted. In the end, that information was his ticket out of crime, as he turned government witness and became one of a handful of mob insiders to enter the Witness Protection Program.
©2008 Books In Motion (P)2008 Books In Motion
One-Armed Bandit
Summary
Four people are brutally murdered during the robbery of a Las Vegas convenience store. As the investigation of the killings moves forward, the cops begin to suspect that robbery may not have been the motive at all. It appears more and more likely that the killer was really after one of the victims and the heist was only a diversion. But which one was the real target? Was it the young clerk? How about the Hispanic man who worked at the airport? Or maybe it was the tough guy who was employed as a bouncer at a drug-infested club. Then again, could it be the young woman from New York State who spent her nights playing video poker? Detectives Steve Garneau and Terry Bolton follow the clues they hope will answer their questions and lead them to the identity of the killer dubbed the One-Armed Bandit.
©2003 Dennis N. Griffin (P)2008 Books In Motion
A 'Family' Business: The Life and Times of Joey 'the Fixer' Silvestri
Summary
Joe Silvestri was a tough kid from the mean streets of New York. He went from street brawler to wearing a tux at the glamorous Copacabana. He eventually provided “muscle” for the Mob, a highly respected and feared fixer - the guy you went to if you had a problem that needed to be resolved. He followed Mob protocol when having a sit down with an adversary: You never break bread with the enemy. Award-winning Mob author Dennis Griffin joins forces with Joey “the Fixer” Silvestri to tell a tale of a bygone era when organized crime dominated New York City. It was a time when neighborhood bosses controlled their turf, and some cops would look the other way for the right price. Your best friend one day might want you dead the next. It was a violent life in which only the strong survived.
©2019 Dennis Griffin (P)2019 WildBlue Press
Killer in Pair-A-Dice
Summary
Killer In Pair-A-Dice is the story of a serial rapist and murderer operating in the Las Vegas Valley. Not far from the glitter of this world-famous adult playground, the killer claims his victims. Driven by a deep hatred for women, he begins his reign of terror by seeking out those who remind him of someone from his past. Someone who caused him great pain. As the body count rises, the national news media pick up on the story. Pressure for a speedy apprehension is brought to bear by feminist groups and politicians. But the killer is both daring and intelligent. He leaves little in the way of clues or evidence that will lead to his being identified. His ability to attack in areas teeming with people without being seen, leads the press to dub him the Phantom.
©2003 Dennis N. Griffin (P)2008 Books In Motion
Wrong Numbers: Call Girls, Hackers, and the Mob in Las Vegas
Summary
"Wrong Numbers is an intriguing and well-researched crime story detailing the intersection of big money and quick sex in the city that contains a lot of both." (Jack Sheehan, author of Skin City) Was a hacker diverting phone calls meant for Las Vegas escort services? The FBI wanted to know, and so did associates of a New York Mafia family. In one of the most unusual undercover operations ever, the FBI had an agent acting as a manager in a real Las Vegas escort service. Federal agents expected to find prostitution and drugs in the Las Vegas escort industry. What their investigation uncovered was even more serious. "Wiseguys and wannabes are on the hunt for a shadowy hacker who may hold the keys to control of Las Vegas’ multi-million dollar call girl racket, while FBI agents are hunting them. The result is a gripping true-life crime story that reads like a collaboration between Elmore Leonard and Williams Gibson told with the knowing savvy of two longtime chroniclers of Sin City’s hidden underbelly." (Kevin Poulsen, author of KINGPIN: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground) "In ’90s Vegas, call girls worked for “entertainment” services that were little more than phone numbers, dispatchers, and drop safes. When a mystery hacker started diverting customer’s calls to one service’s number, it launched a series of dangerous events that involved the Mob, feds, hackers, service owners, and the phone system itself. This slice of Sin City history is as little-known as it is thrilling, and it’s well-told by investigative journalist Glen Meek and crime writer Dennis Griffin." (Deke Castleman, author of Whale Hunt in the Desert: Secrets of a Vegas Superhost)
©2019 Glen Meek (P)2019 WildBlue Press
Survival
Summary
Vinnie Curto was born in East Boston, Massachusetts, on July 10, 1955. His father Jimmy Curto was a raving, sick, alcoholic homosexual. Vinnie’s father and his drunken friends sexually abused young Vinnie, frequently raping him and performing other deviant sexual acts on him, while his mother Loretta stood by and let it happen. When Vinnie was 14, his father forced him to pursue a boxing career. Jimmy Curto told his son that the only way he could ever be proud of him is if he won a boxing championship. He said if Vinnie failed in that, his only other alternative would be to commit suicide. To make his point, Jimmy produced a handgun and made Vinnie hold it in his hands. It is a memory that has haunted Vinnie for years. To escape his living hell at home, at the age of 16, Vinnie lied about his age and joined the Navy. Although the falsification of his age was later discovered and he was discharged, while serving, he joined the boxing team and made many contacts that would benefit his career in the future. Vinnie’s decision to join the Navy not only altered his life, it may very well have saved it. After his stint in the military, Vinnie joined the Olympic boxing team, where he made several more valuable contacts, including the legendary trainer Angelo Dundee. The doors to his future were being opened. However, his road to a title fight would be long and paved with danger.
©2019 Vinnie Curto (P)2020 WildBlue Press