Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob

Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob | Kevin Weeks, Phyllis Karas | Brutal

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Brutal: The Untold...

	Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob Kevin Weeks, Phyllis Karas Regan Books, 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 54 reviews view larger image
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I grew up in the Old Colony housing project in South Boston, a tough, working class, mostly Irish neighborhood. I went from being a Golden Gloves boxer to a bouncer in a popular Southie bar called Triple O's. I got into many fights, knocked out a lot of people, and got noticed by one person in particular. People paid him a great deal of respect, came to him with their problems. Sure, I knew who he was. I'd heard stories. He was tough. He could be vicious. He ran the rackets in Southie. His name was James "Whitey" Bulger, although I always called him Jimmy.

In 1982 I went with Jimmy full time. We became partners, running legitimate businesses and some not-so-legitimate businesses. Basically, we were gangsters. We took what we wanted. We shook down drug dealers, bookmakers, like that. What were they gonna do -- go to the police? We beat people up; shot and stabbed them. And we made people disappear -- permanently. We were smart -- experts at avoiding microphones and cameras. We made millions through extortion and loan sharking and protection. And if someone ratted us out, we killed him. We were not nice guys.

I was there when Jimmy went on the lam in 1994 and I was his contact after he'd left Boston for good. With Jimmy gone, I ran things. Shortly before my own arrest in 1999, I found out that Jimmy had been an FBI informant even before I entered the scene. My life was never the same.

When the feds finally got me, I found myself faced with something Jimmy would have killed me for -- cooperating with the authorities.

Do I have any regrets? Nah, not really -- only that I should have spent more time with my wife and sons. But I've got a second chance now, and I gotta tell what happened -- what really happened. It's a lot different from what you read in the newspapers.

I was brutally honest on the witness stand, and this book is brutally honest, too -- the brutal truth that was never before told. How could it? Only three people could tell the true story. With one on the run and one in jail for life, it falls on me.

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5 stars or you too could be on Weeks "List"

That's the kind of guy Kevin Weeks comes off as,a plain and simple bully,but at least honest.The book is full of one-sided accounts of people Weeks brutally beat up or murdered,where he acted as judge,jury,and executioner.His defense,they were all "players" and pretty much asked for it.Yet some of these victims come off as extreme "fringe" players like the girl they murdered for "stripping" and having knowledge of some of Weeks criminal activities.
Fortunately for Weeks the government uses "BAD GUYS" to round up other "BAD GUYS",otherwise he should have been made to pay the worst penalty for his nefarious activities.The story starts out telling his tale of woes being raised in the "projects" of South Boston,high school days and then working as a bouncer in a local bar.From here his criminal career really escalates,even though ironically his brothers go to Harvard.Kevin moves on to "shakedowns and loansharking" and graduates to murder,although insisting throughout the book only for "self defense".
The end of the book gets really interesting when he details the activities of "crooked cops" and FBI. There were 1 or 2 agents actually convicted on Weeks "States Evidence",so he is believable.Reminds me of a Clint Eastwood film when Dirty Harry,states in regard to a recently released criminal,"we'll hear from him again"Why--"Cause he likes it"!!This is the way Weeks comes off in the book,but at the end the author stresses Weeks is trying to live the clean life now.

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Brutal

I have read most of the many books on the Winter Hill Gang and rank this as #1 or #2 of all the books. The book provides much of the story behind the story.

Truly, BRUTAL.

Brutal, is a prefect name for this book. Its a first hand account, of the still most wanted Whitey Bulger, and his clan of South Boston murderous thugs. It reads as many "snitch" mob books do, but the difference is these guys are Irish. And they do it in a much more reckless and brutal way. If you like mob stories, and don't mind the bravado by the author, who happens to be what would be considered the lowest of the low, (a rat), then this book will captivate you. It's short, but to the point. Not as bad in the braggard depatment as Sammy The Bull's similar style account. A Bargain at Amazon, and that makes it definetly worth checking out!

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Less Truthful About the "Real" Whitey than Eddie Mac

I'm an Irish-Catholic guy in his 40's who grew up in Boston in the late 60's and 70's. I've read Streeet Soldier and Brutal several times each, and I personally believe much more of what Eddie Mac has to say about the "real" Whitey, as opposed to the relatively reverant tone in which Weeks still speaks of Whitey. Sure, Eddie Mac and Weeks are both equally dangerous sociopaths, and will surely go to Hell (assuming it exists) for all the evil they inflicted on their fellow human beings over the years. Having said that, Weeks still seems to be loyal to Whitey, and probably knows exactly where he is hiding out these days. For that reason, I don't believe a word he says when he defends Whitey against allegations that he was a rapist, a child molester, etc. Eddie Mac definitely gives the reader more insight into what Whitey was really like...and isn't that why we all read these books, anyway?

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